Frontier's Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition is the studio's latest title to make it to the Nintendo Switch. The simulation game is based on the popular franchise of the same name and allows you to build and run your very own dinosaur theme park. This complete edition includes the original game as well as the three narrative-based expansions; Claire's Sanctuary, Secrets of Dr. Wu, and Return To Jurassic Park. It even includes Jeff Goldblum.
Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition offers a huge amount of dinosaur goodness that's equally playable on both the Switch and Switch Lite.
The game offers you the chance to create your very own Jurassic World theme park. You'll send out research teams to acquire fossils and these are used to create viable genomes that allow you to breed dinosaurs. You'll need to create suitable enclosures for your creations and ensure they're well looked after.
Once the exhibits are open, visitors will flock to see the real-life dinosaurs. You'll need to add some entertainment, a few safety precautions, a couple of ranger teams to look after the dinosaurs, and a handful of utility buildings to allow you to continue researching.
As with any simulation and building game, constructing buildings in the right order is key. Push too much too soon and you'll run out of money, go too slowly and visitors won't be enticed. The game doesn't allow you to speed anything up, so the start can feel slow as money trickles in, but there are several unique ways to increase your cash flow.
You can take on contracts and missions based on science, entertainment, or security. These award cash for meeting specific goals. You can also breed and sell dinosaurs and don't always need to keep everything that comes out of your lab. Finally, sending teams on expeditions will yield fossils. Some you can sell for a cash injection and others you can choose to sell or extract DNA from in order to create more stable dinosaur genomes.
There are campaigns that take you to the different islands you see in the movies and there's also a standalone sandbox mode that unlocks once you've hit four stars on the first campaign island. The inclusion of the main narrative DLC packs in this edition also means that you'll have access to all the islands, as well as the Jurassic Park pack, which allows you to build with items from the original movie trilogy, rather than just the Jurassic World movies.
Frontier was a wise choice for a studio to transform the Jurassic Park franchise into an engaging game. Its previous experience in producing games in this genre means that the gameplay mechanics are well thought out and easy to master.
For those who are fans of Frontier's simulation and building games, you can almost split them into two camps. The first is the Rollercoaster Tycoon style title. These are the games that utilize simple menus and prioritize a gameplay experience that's easy to pick up and play. While they do contain some elements of micromanagement and there is an art to success, overall, they are mainly focused on being accessible as well as enjoyable.
The second camp is the Planet Coaster style title. These games, which include Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo, are focused on pushing the genre to the next level and offering a huge amount of customization. Micromanagement is vast and there is a far steeper learning curve, adding complexity in all aspects of the game.
Jurassic World Evolution falls into the first category and the game is incredibly versatile as a result. The controls are easy to master, items are well categorized, and the gameplay flows naturally. It's a perfect fit to enable a wide range of players, from city-builder newcomers to simulation veterans to enjoy the game fully. It also helps hugely when it comes to the port.
The team fully embraced the challenge of porting the title to the Nintendo Switch. The game's director, Rich Newbold, promised us the Switch version would "still have that high standard, these are the best dinosaurs you're going to see." So, does the game deliver?
Overall, yes. The menu system was designed in such a way that using a controller feels very natural. It's just as easy to click through the options with your Switch as it is with a mouse. Often city-builders come unstuck when controllers are involved, but this one has no such issues.
I tested the game on both the regular Switch and the Switch Lite, and it's equally playable on both. The small screen means you'll see less, but the game's design means that this isn't a huge issue. The buildings are different enough that you can tell from a distance which is which, and the use of shortcuts when problems arise means you aren't spending time scrolling around in search of your ranger station.
For a Switch title, the graphics have scaled well. They do lack the depth of the PC version but strike a good balance between appearance and performance, with the game running as smoothly on Switch as it does on PC. At times, you may notice some blurriness, but the gameplay experience more than makes up for any issues in this area.
Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition offers Switch gamers all the dinosaur goodness they could ever want in an enjoyable, engaging, and easy to play package.
A PC review code for Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition was provided to TheGamer for this review. Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition is now available on Nintendo Switch.