Sonic Pico Park is a collaboration between the team at Pico Park and SEGA/Sonic the Hedgehog to create a wildly fun game full of puzzles, yelling at your friends, and playing as your favorite Sonic characters or Pico Park characters. I got to play through the preview with Brian Shea from Game Informer, a developer, and one other person! We made it through the whole demo and had a blast along the way.
Gameplay is Pico Park with some additions to make it feel more Sonic the Hedgehog. You’ll have Tails able to pick people up and move them around, and Knuckles will have his gliding mechanic. These are two examples, but there’s a chance of more characters being added as they get closer. (Take a look at our interview with the team for their tease. You also have the iconic spin-dash, which keeps the gameplay feeling fast while still keeping the core Pico Park vibes intact.
This game, among the other Pico Park games, is all about solving puzzles together. Sometimes, that can get a bit rowdy. For example, there was a level that showed us how rings worked in Sonic Pico Park, as you can take a hit if you have a ring. If not, you die. The first two to three times, Brian (who played as Amy) grabbed all of the rings, leaving myself (playing as Tails) and the rest of our team to die from an electrical strike. We, of course, fussed at Brian for taking the rings, and after a couple of times, we got it right.
I had so much fun with Sonic Pico Park. While it’s not a collaboration that I ever would have expected, the team has done a fabulous job of getting Sonic and friends faithfully added to the Pico Park world. This game will be perfect for families wanting to work together, friends wanting to cause some chaos, or streamers playing online, screaming when someone messes up.
I was pleased to award Sonic Pico Park with one of GamingTrend’s “Best of Summer Game Fest” awards. I can’t wait to see what the full release has in store for us!
