Sonic Pico Park preview: a fun, frustrating surprise

Sonic Pico Park is an unexpected spinoff that pairs Sega’s blue blur with indie developer Tecopark’s cooperative Pico Park formula. Rather than another mainline sequel or retro platformer, this title brings Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles into a lo-fi, puzzle-focused multiplayer experience.

The game is a puzzle platformer for two to eight players that asks teammates to coordinate across increasingly tricky trials. A hands-on demo at Summer Game Fest covered two trials of four levels each, and at a glance it plays very much like Pico Park: stack on one another, move while tied together, and send a player ahead to press buttons.

Tecopark weaves Sonic staples into those puzzles. Springs can fling a whole team into trouble when players are tied together, rings let a character survive hazards to trigger switches and extend bridges, and elements like loop-de-loops and end-level signs add hedgehog flavor.

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