Ah, dinosaurs. How cool are they, eh? And Jurassic Park, what an epic franchise! While we all know that running a dino zoo can go a bit pear-shaped, it's sure fun to try your own hand at it, like in Jurassic World Evolution 2: Complete Edition. I tried it out on Nintendo Switch 2 to see how the port performs, and I'm in two minds.
Jurassic Park (and World) is a favorite franchise of mine. I've seen the films, read the books, played the games, got the rare 1990s plush - you name it. So, when Jurassic World Evolution reared its head, I was excited. The first game got me stuck into it for hours and hours, as did the original release of 2 on PC.
But how is it on a portable platform? I need to preface this by saying I don't like playing precision games on Switch. PowerWash Simulator, anything with fiddly pathing - it's not for me. This is one of those games. The menu has so many little tiny options, and building stuff doesn't gel with me. Why?
There's no mouse mode. What the hell?
For games with lots of menus (JWE2 has many) and precise building needs, I require a mouse and keyboard. I just can't do it with joysticks. Or Joy-Cons, in this case. This isn't a very common issue, though; this is definitely a me thing. Judging by Reddit threads and other reviews, other players find no issue at all. It's just a baffling oversight. Civilization 7 launched with mouse controls when the console debuted; Stardew Valley's Switch 2 version has them, but other than that, they're actually quite few and far between. Hopefully, we get mouse controls in an update to the game.
My other gripe is that you can't seem to change the size of the UI - only the subtitles for characters' conversations. As you can see by the screenshot below, playing in handheld mode makes this quite small to read.
Now that's out of the way, you must know that this is a great game. I have hours in it on Steam, along with Frontier's other management and simulation games, Planet Zoo, Planet Coaster, and Jurassic World Evolution 1. If you can peacefully place enclosure walls, paths, and decor with just Joy-Cons, you'll have a great time.
The Complete Edition includes all of the game's DLC so far, which means you get more marine species, feathered options, Cretaceous dinosaurs of all kinds, secret species, and both Dominion Malta and Biosyn expansions, among other additions. So, on top of the base story mode, you can now make plenty of parks in different scenarios and see just how good a manager you are when it comes to keeping giant dinosaurs happy.
The game also has most of the actual movie cast in it, which is a plus. Yes, THE Jeff Goldblum, along with Bryce Dallas Howard and BD Wong, provide narration in the game. That's on top of music from the series, great cutscenes, and quite frankly impressive graphics. I know we've had the Switch 2 for a year, but it still astounds me how good things can actually look on it, compared to some OG Switch titles that were a little crispy.
If you like dinosaur games, this is for you. Ever wanted to jump into the movies? Then test out the Chaos Theory mode, where you can continue scenarios based on the iconic trilogies… before the uh, issues happen.
Or, take matters into your own claws and make whichever park you want. Just prehistoric predators? Sure. A leafy herbivore-themed sanctuary? Lovely. A huge aviary? Excellent. All three? Even better. You could even do what I did and make a sanctuary of just raptors and watch them run around all day.
In conclusion, a simulator such as this shouldn't work on Nintendo Switch in my opinion, but life, and Frontier, finds a way. While it's not my type of game to play on Switch due to the sheer amount of menus, buttons, and controls, that doesn't mean it's bad; it just means it's not for me on this particular platform. I'm redownloading it on PC as I type. Overall, it's an impressive port… just except for the lack of mouse mode.