Densha de Go!!

There are also PC versions released by the Japanese publisher Unbalance. All of the games in the series are exclusively available in Japanese.

• Width — 1 • Title — Densha de Go! • Platforms — Arcade, Windows, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, WonderSwan, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, Saturn, Dreamcast, Neo Geo Pocket Color, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Switch, mobile • Developer — Taito, Unbalance (PC only), Ongakukan (in cooperation with Taito), Square Enix, Gree • Publisher — Taito, Square Enix • Genre — Train simulator • First Release Version — Densha de Go! • First Release Date — 1996 • Latest Release Version — Densha de Go!! Hashirou Yamanote Sen • Latest Release Date — 2020

Each Densha de Go title contains actual train (or tram) routes based on real services in Japan. For the most part, the user's task is to drive the train and adhere to a very exacting timetable, including stopping at stations to within as little as 30 cm of a prescribed stopping point, ideally within half a second of the scheduled arrival time. While the specifics vary slightly between versions, the user is expected to obey speed limits and other posted signs, sound a warning for work parties along the track, arrive at between-station waypoints on time, and perform similar tasks. Densha de Go differ from Ongakukan's Train Simulator series primarily in that while the Ongakukan series uses video taken from cameras mounted to the front of real-world trains for its graphics, Densha de Go titles rely upon computer-drawn graphics.

The concept for a train-based video game originated at Taito around 1991–1992, but was initially shelved because management considered trains "plain and boring." Programmer Akira Saito developed the idea based on his observations of the popular Yamanote Line simulation machine at Tokyo's Transportation Museum in Akihabara, which consistently drew crowds of all ages. When Saito formally proposed the concept around 1996, Taito was divided between supporters and skeptics who questioned the appeal of train simulation in an arcade market dominated by fighting and racing games. Support from train enthusiast employees within Taito helped secure approval for the project. Official development began in July 1996 with a compressed timeline of three to four months. The small team consisted of Akira Saito as lead programmer and planner, Masayuki Kikuchi and Masaya Kinoshita as programmers, Yukihiro Moriyama handling graphics, and Tetsuyu Yamaro creating the opening demo. The team decided early to use real Japanese train lines and stations rather than fictional locations, and invested heavily in an authentic control panel despite management cost concerns. Saito argued the control panel represented "80% of the game" and insisted on functional elements like working pressure gauges and authentic lever mechanisms. During development, several features were cut including a "reckless driving mode" that would have allowed players to skip stations, and fantastical elements were abandoned in favor of realism. The game launched in Japanese arcades in 1997 to immediate success. In general, simulation games such as Densha de Go! or Tokimeki Memorial were more popular in Japan than in America which preferred more action oriented video games. The 2004 title Densha de Go Final! was so named to signal that it was intended to be the last in the series. While still popular in an absolute numbers sense, the series had lost the novelty of its heyday while development costs for individual titles continued to climb due to the detailed virtual worlds that needed to be created. Taito and Ongakukan subsequently released a few co-produced titles for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, and iOS with the title Railfan. Taito also divided the four routes in Densha de Go! Final into separate titles and released them on the PSP system. In April 2010, 5 years after Square Enix acquired Taito Corporation as a wholly owned subsidiary, Densha de Go! Special Version -- Revived! Showa Yamanote Line was released for the Nintendo DS on July 22 the same year. This was a departure from the traditional publisher and distributor of Densha de Go, Taito. Densha de Go! Special Version—Revived! Showa Yamanote Line offers a variety of trains to control, from the early Yamanote Line up through the current rolling stock. Exclusive to the Nintendo DS, the controls are completely stylus driven, unlike the variety of custom controls offered in non-handheld versions. In June 2011 a version of the game also covering the Yamanote line was released for Apple's iOS (only available in the Japanese App Store). There is the option of using a simulated "master controller" on the screen or using touchscreen buttons to move the lever up and down. Unbalance, who had long supported the franchise by publishing ports of each title to the Windows platform in Japan for over a decade, discontinued the last of its released Densha de Go! titles from retail as of August 2011. The company had been steadily discontinuing titles beginning with the "1480¥ Series", so-called due to their price point and comprised the earliest titles, in late 2010/early 2011 as supplies depleted. Later-released titles in the series—the "1980¥ Series"—were the last to be discontinued as of August 2011. A line of custom USB controllers for the series had been discontinued even earlier and now command a large premium on sites such as Yahoo! Auctions Japan. Support through Windows 7 compatibility guides, FAQs and patches remains available through the Unbalance site, however. In 2017 Taito, which is now owned by Square Enix, released a new arcade cabinet in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the game series. According to an article from Geek: "The cabinet includes four displays, three of which act as windows showing the track and simulated outside world, whereas the fourth forms the dashboard the player sits at. All the buttons from a real train are present, as are the two physical controls required to make the train move". They also released a new mobile game for Android and iOS in Winter 2016.

• Illustration — Densha de Go! Type 2 Controller A large number of hardware train controllers were available for a number of platforms (PC, PS, PS2, Saturn, Wii, N64, etc.) for which Densha de Go was available. This included versions that had buttons, levers, and pedals to suggest real-world train controllers, including traditional brake-and-throttle train controllers, "mascon"-type controllers (single lever for throttle and brake), shinkansen controllers, and tram controllers (ostensibly similar to the traditional brake-and-throttle style, but with different styling). One of the most extravagant controllers for the Densha de Go! series was the Shinkansen Controller, which was released with the Densha de Go! Shinkansen EX game for both the Wii and PS2. The Shinkansen Controller for the PS2 comes with a LED screen display of speed and controls and a foot pedal to blow the horn, whereas the Shinkansen Controller for the Wii lacked these features, replacing the LED screen with a representative sticker. The Wii version of this controller commands much higher prices than the PS2 version only by virtue of relative rarity.

A doujin manga and game series, Densha de D, is a parody crossover of the series in combination with the auto racing-based franchise Initial D; it is popularly associated with a meme regarding "multi-track drifting".