Nintendo Switch Port Review: Two Point Hospital
As with all Nintendo Switch port reviews, this will talk over the simple aspects of how well this game has been ported over to Nintendo’s hybrid console. If you want to read our full review of Two Point Hospital, the link can be found at the bottom of this particular review.
Porting just about any sim management or real-time strategy from PC to console, has historically been a hit or miss process. In most cases, porting a more traditional game such as an FPS or action-adventure from console to PC, often works out to be fine, because most PC’s can perfectly accommodate the traditional controller, as well as of course it’s more natural keyboard and mouse. However, porting games from PC that have been original designed to be played using a keyboard and mouse, over to a console to primarily use a controller, that is where it often gets very tricky and inconsistent to say the least.
Thankfully, developers such as Frontier Developments have shown great ports from PC to console can be achieved with Jurassic World: Evolution. However, while Jurassic World: Evolution was ported to the more technically superior PS4 and Xbox One, as great as the Nintendo Switch is and as many defining features that it may have, technically, it is less superior from a power standpoint to that of the PS4 and Xbox One. So not only does Red Kite Games, the developers responsible for this port have an uphill task of porting from PC to console, they also have the added challenge of making Two Point Hospital work seamlessly on the Nintendo Switch. So I am glad to report, the team at Red Kite Games have done a marvellous job in handling this port, in particular to the Nintendo Switch.
Two Point Hospital is largely considered to be the spiritual successor to the beloved Theme Hospital, but this game is more than just that, not only is it a modern take on the genre, but it’s an immersive game that will not only have you hooked for hours, but it’s also one of the most humorous and funny games that I’ve ever played. When you begin your career as the hospital manager, you will start off small by constructing and managing a quite simple hospital. Here you will learn much of the basics such as specialist departments including the GP’s office which diagnoses incoming patients, the pharmacy to provide medication following a diagnosis to hospital wards and more.
You’ll also learn about what staff to hire, how to keep them happy, as well as your patients. In the end, your goal is to run a successful hospital, earn lots of money and awards, and if you can, try not to have to many patient deaths in your wards, because your janitor will be working overtime, chasing off their ghosts. The opening hospital can very much be considered to be a tutorial as you learn the ropes, but unlike many tutorials being quite the chore, this simply isn’t the case with Two Point Hospital, as it feels like you’re already at the start of your hospital management career and much like the entirety of Two Point Hospital, you’ll be having a blast from the get-go.
Visually, Two Point Hospital looks great on the Nintendo Switch, both in handheld and docked with its 1080p/720p screen resolutions. Its full of bright and pleasing colours on the eye, and despite with so much going on the screen at any one time and never really feels to over bearing, even when your corridors and wards are filled with employees and patients alike. However, it can feel quite frantic as you are alerted to a near patient death and your GP has decided to go on a wonder, despite the queue of patients outside of his door, but that’s all part of the fun and charm of Two Point Hospital.
I’ve also never really experienced any form of slow-down to cause a concern, which is quite remarkable when you consider how busy this game can be, even when playing in handheld on the smaller screen. I really have to give credit to the developers who have handled this port, because by taking advantage of being an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, I checked out Two Point Hospital on my Xbox One, and on the surface, there’s very little to distinguish between the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One ports, which is a testament to the fantastic work done on the hybrid console.
While I can’t speak from any recent experience playing on PC, because it’s been many years since I’ve had a system capable of playing any decent game, let alone a management sim or real-time strategy, naturally this game would feel far more at home on the PC with a keyboard and mouse. However, despite this, whether you’re playing with the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons or the Pro Controller, nothing feels clunky about how this sim feels using a more traditional controller and I firmly believe that if Two Point Hospital was originally developed for the console, it would feel nothing short of a natural method of play using a controller. Along with Jurassic World Evolution, Two Point Hospital is proof that if done right, management sims is can belong on the console, as well as PC.
Additionally, as well as of course coming with the base game, Two Point Hospital on all console versions come with two previously released PC expansions, Bigfoot and Pebberley Island. However, while not available at the time of writing this review, Two Point Hospital will also have two additional modes, Sandbox and The Superbug Initiative. In Sandbox mode, as long as you have reached level 3 in the game, this mode will allow you to run any of the hospitals from the campaign, as good or as poorly as you choose, all with unlimited resources. In The Superbug Initiative, you will work with other players across the world to complete challenges, which will reward you with new in-game content. Both Sandbox mode and The Superbug Initiative will be available via a free update on March 31st.
All in all, Two Point Hospital on the Nintendo Switch is a prime example of how well this genre can work if ported with the right amount of care, detail and dedication. Yes some discrepancies would no doubt have been made when perhaps comparing visuals and performance to that of a top-end PC, but just like other ports that we never thought we’d see on the Nintendo Switch such as The Witcher III: Wild Hunt and Alien: Isolation, Two Point Hospital is further proof that this hybrid console in the right hands, is truly capable of achieving unthinkable ports. It’s a term so overused in today’s gaming industry, but Two Point Hospital is nothing short of a technical marvel and one of the best ports that I’ve experienced on this fantastic system. But above all else, Two Point Hospital on the Nintendo Switch is every bit is immersive, engaging and fun as its big brother PC counterpart and I can’t recommend it enough!
You can read our full PC review of Two Point Hospital here.