Featured Image Credit: PICO PARK Inc.
Sonic Pico Park was an unexpected announcement at Summer Game Fest 2026, but it’s more than welcome. It’s so much fun.
Those unfamiliar with Pico Park should do themselves a favour and grab a copy on the Nintendo Switch for $4.99/£3.99. It’s a simple but intuitive co-op platformer and now it’s even better, as it features Sonic The Hedgehog characters as part of the cast.
I’ve seen a bit of confusion about whether Sonic Pico Park is an add-on or not. It’s a spin-off that features all the bells and whistles of the original Pico Park, including its max playercount of eight players.
You and your friends will work together to get to the end of the stage. Some puzzles will require some brute force whereas others will require careful player positioning and timing.
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With the introduction of Sonic characters comes abilities found in the Sonic The Hedgehog platformers. All players can spin-dash for example, and if you’re playing as Tails you’ll be able to fly around and carry your friends across gaps.
I played Sonic Pico Park at Summer Game Fest and had a blast alongside three other attendees. Perhaps the blistering California heat wasn’t the most ideal climate for proper communication but we soldiered on, and had a great time doing so.
Only four characters were available, Sonic The Hedgehog, Tails ‘Miles’ Prower, Knuckles The Echidna and Amy Roe but the regular Pico Park characters will be drafted in should you need more. Additional characters from the Sonic franchise will also be playable, and I’m personally hoping both Metal Sonic and Shadow The Hedgehog are amongst them.
It was an absolute joy to play a game via couch co-op after so many years. Online gaming has unfortunately become the norm and while it’s still fun and very convenient you can absolutely argue that something was lost on the way off the couch.
Sonic Pico Park will be playable online and perhaps that’ll be the ideal way to play, but I’d wager you’ll have a better experience playing locally.
The only downside is local multiplayer will only support four players instead of eight, but have you ever tried to pry seven other people away from their busy lives? Perhaps four players is for the best.
You can of course play the game with just two or three players as well. The levels adapt based on how many people are playing at once so you’ll still have fun.
Sonic Pico Park doesn’t have a release date at the time of writing but it's believed to be dropping sometime this year for PC and other platforms.
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