As a fan of the original 2016 game, I was surprised to see Sonic Pico Park get announced, but even more surprised when I finally played the game, as my expectations were left in the dust as far as what I thought the game would offer after the game ran its roughly three hour course.
Sonic Pico Park combines the beloved SEGA property with Pico Park, which, for those unfamiliar with the latter, is a fun Japanese-made party game with a focus on cooperative platforming and puzzle solving. The original game contained 48 levels that challenged players with fast but equally escalating challenges that got even more chaotic when additional players were thrown into the mix, capping out at 8.
“Thankfully, Sonic Pico Park also introduces Sonic-inspired rings into some of its levels, which behave exactly like they do in Sonic proper, mitigating some of the madness.”
Sonic Pico Park takes the same basic approach but bumps the number of levels up to 60, while going above and beyond what I expected to simply be a case of Sonic the Hedgehog-inspired skins for the existing roster of playable characters. Instead, Sonic Pico Park cleverly utilises gameplay elements and fun throwbacks to Sonic’s legacy in its level design, including being faithful to some character-specific quirks and gimmicks.
A good example of how Sonic Pico Park feels authentic to its roster of Sonic representation is the fact that characters like Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and Rogue all feature flying and/or gliding options that feel ripped straight out of Sonic’s 2D era. Additionally, some later stages within Sonic Pico Park also include level gimmicks that utilise Sonic-inspired mechanics, such as loops, escorting Chao creatures, and some other fun surprises that I won’t spoil.
Outside of the aforementioned characters and the titular Blue Blur himself, Sonic Pico Park also includes Shadow, Tails, Silver, Charmy, and Espio. Big the Cat and Omega also make appearances, but only in specific levels, acting as temporary power-ups for players to swap into. I played through Sonic Pico Park with two others, which is half of the total number of players allowed for the game, something the game accounts for and adjusts to, and let’s just say that some of the later encounters in Sonic Pico Park will be guaranteed to be chaotic as the game eventually asks players to master its mechanics.
The addition of some fun boss encounters, even with just four players, felt maddening at times, in the best way possible, taking the concept of what was once a simple SEGA Genesis/Megadrive encounter and turning it into a multi-phase gauntlet where a single death results in a team wipe. Thankfully, Sonic Pico Park also introduces Sonic-inspired rings into some of its levels, which behave exactly like they do in Sonic proper, mitigating some of the madness. On the topic of rings, Sonic Pico Park utilises the classic mechanic well, not just in its faithfulness and adherence to the one-ring rule, but also in clever ways that the game uses in its puzzle and problem-solving mechanics throughout some of its later levels that feel more and more like Sonic proper.
“At the end of the day, Sonic Pico Park feels like an authentic Sonic experience made for fans with love for both Pico Park and Sonic the Hedgehog in equal measure.”
Examples of this include requiring players to ration rings accordingly, passing them back and forth in order for everyone to make it to the goal post, while other levels take it a step further by introducing ring-specific gimmicks that I won’t spoil, but add a lot of charm to the overall experience. All can enjoy Sonic Pico Park as it is very light on story. In fact, there really isn’t much of a story at all, which is a little odd, considering even Fortnite’s Sonic collab featured some story elements to contextualize the event. Ultimately, however, the lack of overcomplicating things with the addition of story beats was a smart move, as Sonic Pico Park is simply put: a fun and brisk party game to enjoy with friends.
In terms of difficulty, I’d say Sonic Pico Park is slightly more forgiving than Pico Park proper, but that may just boil down to the fact that I played with a different group of friends versus the first time I played the original. With its strong adherence to the source material, players will also benefit greatly from having friends who are skilled in Sonic games, making the experience all that much better for fans of both franchises.
At the end of the day, Sonic Pico Park feels like an authentic Sonic experience made for fans with love for both Pico Park and Sonic the Hedgehog in equal measure. And for those who might not have an affinity with either, Sonic Pico Park is still a solid party game made better with more players.
