You’ll Love Sonic Pico Park, And Hate Everyone You Play With

Sonic the Hedgehog is celebrating his 35th anniversary this year, and Sega isn’t letting that pass on by without a brand-new game – enter Sonic Pico Park, the latest spinoff in the indie Pico Park series from developer TECOPARK. It’s developed in cooperation with Sega for a new type of adventure both for Sonic and players alike.

If you’re not familiar with Pico Park, it’s a series of co-op puzzle games typically played by 2-8 people, in which they must work together to pass the level (or trial). This is not a game that can be completed alone, and it’s not a game that any one person can carry the others – well, technically there’s a moment in Sonic Pico Park in which Tails literally does carry everyone else.

In very much the same vein, Sonic Pico Park is a 2D platform puzzler that can be played with 2-8 people. It starts off easy, but each level gets progressively more difficult – sometimes you have to jump on top of each other in a specific order, and sometimes you’re tied together and if one person accidentally hits a spring barrier, you’ll all launch backwards – and each one requires everyone to think about how to thoughtfully execute the challenge.

The thing is, this game is simple – it’s so simple, it becomes a frustrating nightmare depending on who you’re playing with. People will be yelling at each other, people will be laughing, and people will be crying. We played as a team of four, and one of us, at least for a time, was one of the PR reps, so they at least knew what to do. I can’t imagine what this will be like with eight random players, especially if, considering it’s somewhat of a party game, people have been drinking. Chaos will ensue.

After seeing the game’s announcement, I was a bit skeptical – a Sonic indie game, come on? – but after playing it, I’m looking forward to getting this one for me and my friends. We had an audience watching my group play at one point and I felt like I was going to start cry-laughing. It was really fun.