The simulation genre of game has, for the longest time, provided gamers with the opportunity to try their hand at managing often important tasks with a somewhat loose emphasis on reality. Here, Oxygen games have produced a fast-paced hospital-themed simulation, available on both the Wii and DS systems. Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward inevitably faces comparison to the classic hit simulation Theme Hosptial, which had the player managing several aspects in order to maintain a prosperous and successful hospital. The serious question to ask, though; "Is this any fun?"

Hysteria Hospital has taken a different approach to the standard managerial role; you will oversee the events of a hospital as a nurse rather than a miscellaneous all-powerful cursor, with the primary objective being to aid swift patient treatment. Your nurse character recently graduated from a nursing school and eventually lands a job in a small hospital. The aim of the game is to physically move patients through the various stages of hospital care; diagnosis followed by treatment, and possibly an overnight rest. Curing patients will fund the player so that they may purchase additional hospital equipment or amenities to enhance patient treatment, as well as counting towards the daily requirement to proceed to the next stage, and periodically; better hospitals. With only a certain amount of time to each day, it's a race against the clock to cure a given number of patients to advance to the next stage.

The concept, while remarkably simple, could induce stress in even the most calm of gamers. While initially relatively slow and easy, the pace soon turns up. Patients begin to arrive at the hospital at an alarming rate, and their treatment becomes ever more complex. A patient may require diagnosis followed by an x-ray, surgery and a bed rest; not to mention medication! The player will have to juggle a number of patients simultaneously, and have to put up with the delay of your sluggish character reaching the target area and performing tasks such as cleanup after operations and making beds. The condition of your patients deteriorates rather quickly in your hospital, as indicated by a heart above their heads, adding that extra stress. A dead patient means a loss of funds as well a terrible waste of virtual life!

Unfortunately, the game suffers from some less than spectacular controls and game mechanics. The collaboration between Wii remote movement and on-screen feedback is irksome; the delayed responsiveness makes playing through this fast-paced game rather tedious. To complicate matters, later hospitals have a second floor which the player must routinely switch between. Not only does this significantly cut up gameplay and distract, dragging patients into the elevator to transfer them to the other floor is somewhat volatile. It is not uncommon for patients to miss their mark, thus requiring a second interaction. The game offers the option to upgrade the salary of your staff to improve their performance – a welcome addition, but completely absent on the first day of work in each new hospital. The first day therefore becomes a sluggish annoyance that you have no choice but to endure.

There is no saving grace in the presentation, either. While the cartoon style of the graphics do work, it's hard to shake off the low budget vibe this game has – both because of its appearance and the somewhat cheap still cutscenes. Staff and patients are portrayed as low-detail sprites, and there doesn't seem to be all that much improvement over the DS version. That said, the level of detail is acceptable for a game of its kind – the majority of the player's attention is directed solely at completing tasks, as opposed to taking in the surroundings.

Overall, while Hysteria Hospital provides some hours of entertainment initially, the core concept of the game rapidly becomes stale. The majority of upgrades presented to the player are merely additional pieces of equipment to drag patients on to; superficial improvements at best. This game may have a longer appeal to particular fans of simulations, but it pales in comparison to many good sims of the past; not forgetting Theme Hospital. If you're dead set on this game, perhaps try renting it first.