TrainCrasher

TrainCrasher Review

By, Herman Y.

TrainCrasher is a free-to-play, side-scroller beat ‘em up action RPG developed and published by Softmax, the Korean game company behind the hit game series, Magna Carta and The War of Genesis. TrainCrasher is a new mobile RPG that resembles a mixture between the classic beat ‘em up game, Final Fight, and the more modern PC MMORPG, Dungeon Fighter. The game completely takes place on a moving train with hundreds of stages to fight through and features a unique steampunk world with beautifully drawn anime-inspired graphics. While its progression system, PVP, and RPG elements are fairly standard compared to other mobile RPGs, the arcade-like, combo-oriented combat system is TrainCrasher’s most impressive and distinctive feature that offers a breath of fresh air in the action RPG genre.

Character Creation and Classes
When players begin, they can choose one of four character classes which include: Ron (Sword), Mei (Axe), Zett (Brawler), and Hound (Gun), with many more classes coming soon. Players can create their first two classes for free but will have to spend a good amount of Diamonds (premium currency) to create additional characters. Ron is an all-around swordsman that is well-balanced in attack and defense with a high critical chance rate, Mei is a mid-ranged combatant armed with a large axe with medium attack speed and powerful combos, Zett is an unarmed brawler specialized in blows and grabs with high defense, and Hound is a ranged gunman with low attack and defense but specialized in long-ranged attacks and hit-and-run tactics. After completing the Story campaign on Normal difficulty with Hound, players can unlock a secret character named Alice who generally plays the same as Hound but with a different appearance. Each class generally has the same button combinations for attacks but the moves differ for each class which makes them fairly different to play. The different classes all have various playstyles, combos, and gameplay which add a lot more variety and strategy to the game.

Crashing the Train
TrainCrasher takes place completely on a train, which is divided into many stages or parts of the train. The story, which isn’t a large aspect of the game, basically involves the player seeking revenge on a villain named Meleck who happens to be at the end of the train, and the player will have to go through over 100 train cars full of bodyguards to get to him. Although the entire game takes place on a train, there are many different maps, moving environments, and a steam-punk theme that makes the game look quite varied and charming. Each map contains 5 stages and there is a powerful boss battle in the 5th stage of each map, although every stage also has a mini-boss battle at the end of it. Every stage consists of moving along the train, which is littered with explosive barrels, boxes, and other obstacles that can be destroyed, and defeating waves of enemies and a boss. Completing stages gives gold, experience, and equipment, and each stage is fairly short which makes it a great game to pick up and play at any time. There are also different difficulties that can be unlocked after completing the Story mode on a previous difficulty. However, even in Normal difficulty, the stages become progressively more difficult and will require players to upgrade their equipment via enhancement and/or farming previous stages to become more powerful.

Beating People Up in Style
TrainCrasher features a side-scrolling, beat ‘em up style combat system that easy to use yet fast-paced and full of interesting combats. If you combined the classic arcade/SNES game, Final Fight, with the PC MMORPG, Dungeon Fighter, and put it on mobile, you would get something like TrainCrasher. Players can move their characters with a virtual joystick and attack with three buttons: A, +, and S. While the 3 button layout appears very simplistic, there are actually a bunch of different moves that can be executed with the A and S buttons that can create special combos and unique attacks. For example, some button combinations might look like this: AAAS, AAAASS, AAAAASSS, etc. The + button grabs enemies (the + really means A+S but allows players to simply press one button for both) and then players can either press A to punish a grabbed enemy or press S to throw enemies into the side of the train or completely off the train (if the side is exposed). There are also various combinations that include running, grabbing, and more for a bunch of unique moves with only three (mainly 2) different buttons. The combat is incredibly fun, fast-paced, and flashy, and each class varies in playstyle and combo moves.

While there are no skills to activate like in other RPGs, characters do have an AP (ability power) bar to watch out for. Skills are replaced by special combos, which are any moves other than pure A spamming, and these combos use up AP to perform. Once a character runs out of AP, they can no longer perform certain combos and must refill their AP by either using basic A moves or switching to a secondary character via the Chain system. When players attack enemies, their Chain bar fills and when it is full, players can switch to a secondary character (that they can choose before the stage) that takes the place of the original character. This character generally won’t be as strong since they won’t have the original character’s equipment, but using them will allow the original character’s AP and HP to refill. However, the secondary character cannot be switched out until they refill the Chain bar again and if they die, the stage is over. Therefore, it is important to use the Chain system strategically when the original character is running low on AP and/or HP in order to maximize the chance of defeating stages.

PVP and Additional Modes
Like most mobile RPGs, TrainCrasher features asynchronous PVP which is the game’s only online feature. In the Arena, players are given a choice of three players to fight against asynchronously, which means the opponent is controlled by the computer AI. Before a PVP fight, players can assemble their party of a main character and a secondary character that they can switch between in battle. When players attack others, they play as their main character, with full control of the combat, and can switch characters when the Chain bar is full (which will almost never happen since the PVP matches are very short). However, the system works differently for the asynchronous opponents. Instead of being able to switch characters, the opponents simply have both of their characters out at once, which actually gives them a slight advantage. Alternatively, if someone attacks the player, they will have to go up against the player’s two characters at the same time. It is an odd system but the PVP works as one would expect and there is a ranking system that gives rewards based on the players rank at the end of the season. The PVP is somewhat fun but getting stun-locked and quickly killed by two of the opponent’s character at the same time can be quite irritating.

In addition the PVP and Story Mode, there are two other PVE modes that players can participate in. These modes include: Gold Rush and Ghost Train. The Gold Rush mode resembles an endless runner game in which the player’s character is constantly running forward (can’t be stopped) and players have to destroy boxes/barrels and defeat enemies in order to obtain the most amount of gold before they die. Players will die after they get hit a certain amount of times, which is made harder by the unstoppable running, and defeating things will give out gold. Ghost Train, on the other hand, plays more like a survival mode. Players control their characters like in the Story Mode, and fight through train cars of never-ending enemies. The goal is to get as far as possible without dying. Both modes give gold as a reward, which is used for enhancing equipment, and increases the player’s ranking in those modes which give rewards at the end of the season.

Cash Shop/In-App Purchases (IAP)
TrainCrasher’s in-app purchases mainly revolve around equipment summoning and convenience-related items. With Diamonds (premium currency), players can summon random weapons and purchase in-game gold, Coins (energy), and temporary experience boosts. Players can summon random 1-3 star equipment with friendship points and in-game gold, random 4-6 star equipment for any class with Diamonds, and random 4-6 star equipment for a specific class with a little more Diamonds. Equipment summons, energy for stages, and the experience boosts are the main advantages of spending money and will allow players to play longer, defeat stages more quickly, and level faster. Spending money isn’t required for progression, but players will have to grind and farm previous stages in order to enhance their equipment until they are powerful enough to progress, and spending money helps reduce that process. Spending money can, however, make the PVP slightly pay-to-win since certain players will be higher level and have better equipment. Overall, spending money is not required but provides advantages in faster stage/Story progression and a slight edge in the asynchronous PVP.

Final Verdict – Great
TrainCrasher is a great mobile beat ‘em up RPG that brings something new to the table via its unique action-packed combat system. With charming steampunk and anime-inspired graphics, a unique combat system full of interesting combos, and many classes to choose from, TrainCrasher is a fun RPG to pick up and play at any time that all action RPG fans should try out.

TrainCrasher Screenshots

◄ 1 ... 3 4 5 6 ►

TrainCrasher Videos

TrainCrasher Links

TrainCrasher Facebook
TrainCrasher Google Play
TrainCrasher iOS

TrainCrasher Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Android 4.0.3 and up / iOS 7.0 or later

TrainCrasher Music & Soundtrack

TrainCrasher Additional Information

Developer: Softmax
Publisher: Softmax
Platforms: Android, iOS
Release Date: December 29, 2015

Shut Down: July 15, 2016

TrainCrasher was developed and published by Softmax, a Korea-based game company behind the popular Magna Carta and The War of Genesis game series. Softmax was founded in 1993 and developed many big titles on a variety of different platforms including console (Mega Drive, PlayStation1 and 2, PSP, Dreamcast, NDS and XBox360), PC, and more recently mobile. TrainCrasher is a beat ‘em up mobile game similar to Final Fight and other classic console beat ‘em up titles with an anime twist to it. It was out in South Korea for about a month before it launched worldwide on December 29, 2015. Softmax is also the publishers of the mobile games, Chaos Battle Hero and Fishing Fishing: Set the Hook! On June 06, 2016 the publisher announced that the game would shut down on July 15, 2016, less than 7 months after its initial release.