Pico Park is a fascinating success story for developer Shunsuke Miyake, who created the original game over a decade ago while working at Sega. A cute, minimalist and deceptively challenging puzzler, it exploded in popularity with the introduction of online co-op and a feature-packed sequel that was released on Switch in 2024.
This new spin-off takes the escalating challenge of multiple puzzle modes and invites Sonic and his ever-expanding menagerie of friends to the party. Available on both Switch 1 and 2, Sonic Pico Park takes the core mechanics of Pico Park and adds a suite of design features from the Blue Blur’s 16-bit heyday.
Challenges range from effortless, like walking forward and pressing a button, to lateral conundrums involving spikes and insta-kill barriers. Other mechanics offer slightly taxing fun, especially anything that requires the party to be tethered together. Then there are the absolutely punishing experiences that will have you yelling at each other or laughing your heads off (sometimes both).
Three distinct modes offer a balanced spread of co-operative and adversarial challenges. World Mode separates 15 distinct puzzle scenarios into four stages of increasing difficulty. Battle pits teams against each other to collect the most rings. Endless has you run a gauntlet, trying to last the longest without making a mistake.
All of this is livened up by the inclusion of Sonic and pals, with some nicely presented nostalgia to help ring (pun intended) in his 35th anniversary. All of the series’ characters are selectable, with a couple specifically tuned for large-character puzzles, like Big the Cat. The series’ iconic rings form the basis of Battle mode while also adding an extra mechanic to certain puzzles that require precise calculation of invincibility frames. Elsewhere, there’s a pinball minigame and a top-down version of the Sonic 2 bonus stage.
It’s a great game to play on the go, although you will need others, because there is no solo play available. Its bright colours and visually sparse stages are complemented by simple controls well suited to the Joy-Con. There’s also something deeply satisfying about hearing those classic Sega sound effects coming out of the undocked speakers.
Sonic Pico Park is a good little game for multiple players to have fun with, and it more than caters for Sonic fans looking for yet another nostalgia fix.