Parkasaurus review for Nintendo Switch, PC

Parkasauraus obviously isn?t unique on the Switch. There?s no shortage of management sims. In fact, there?s not even a shortage of dinosaur theme park management sims, given that last year we got Jurassic World: Evolution on the console.

However, there?s a decent argument to be made that Parkasaurus is one of the better management sims you can play on the Switch ? and that it achieves that designation by not trying quite as hard as some of its competitors.

This doesn?t mean, I should clarify, that Parkasaurus is lacking in content. Indeed, there are more than a dozen parks to manage here, each of them built around different scenarios, all of them featuring a good number of dinosaurs. On top of that, there are plenty of features you can install in your park, from a science centre for guests to toys for the dinos to keep them happy.

Rather, I mean that Parkasaurus doesn?t fall into the trap that games like Jurassic World and Tropico (and numerous other world-building sims) fell into of trying to look insanely high-end, only to have to make compromises for the Switch?s hardware. Parkasaurus is a 3D game, but it?s got much more cartoony graphics, and rather than trying to show everything in painstaking detail, it focuses on performing well instead. Given how lousy some of those other sims look, it?s hard to argue that Parkasaurus didn?t make the right choice.

Mind you, because it?s a sim, that means that Parkasaurus still has plenty of small menus to read through. The text is a little clearer to read here than in some of those other games, but be aware that you may need to do at least some squinting. Similarly, there?s no way around the fact that you need to be a little precise when building fences and adding doors, and it?s a lot harder to do that with thumbsticks and buttons than it is with a mouse. Again, Parkasaurus is a little more forgiving than some other games, but the challenge is still there.

Even with those flaws, though, Parkasaurus is still a lot of fun. You can build to your heart?s content, devote hours upon hours to building a great theme park, and, best of all, you can make your dinosaurs wear hats. There may be a few better management sims on the Switch, but Parkasaurus makes a solid argument for being counted among them.

Washbear Studio provided us with a Parkasaurus Switch code for review purposes.