Given the excitement around Nintendo Switch 2 rumors, it’s uncomplicated to miss recent games released for current Nintendo Switch consoles. The recent Nintendo Direct presentations seem to feature a few random titles, with little attention given to each game, and the console hasn’t had any major recent releases in a while, save for the recent The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. However, with both the excitement of the future Switch and the tardy death of the current one, I’m writing here to make sure one special game in particular doesn’t get buried: Pico Park 2.
While gameplay may vary depending on the mode you’re playing and even the set of levels you’re on, the overall flow of the game Pico Park 2 it’s quite basic. You and your friends will team up and take on various platforming challenges together. You’ll jump on top of each other, hit switches, and work together to solve each miniature level. Pico Park 2 allows up to eight players to join at the same time, but you can play with up to two, and the game automatically adjusts the level design to the number of people playing.
In my opinion, the more people, the more fun it is, and having at least four players is ideal. Much of the fun comes from the chaos (and coordination required) that comes from eight players jumping around the screen at once. You may have to carefully stack one on top of the other to create a bridge to cross a gigantic gap, or figure out how to cross slender platforms while everyone is connected by a single bungee cord. Gameplay varies greatly, with some level sets even featuring cooperative arcade gameplay where you shoot down monsters together.
Every time a level screen loads, you don’t know what’s waiting for you. Still, everything can be played with a basic control scheme and a single Joy-Con. There may be a special gimmick, like a vacuum gun, that you apply to suck out your friends and complete the challenge, but the controls remain fairly basic. In my experience, this made the game enjoyable due to all the variety, but also accessible to all types of players.
The game has different groups of levels organized by theme and gameplay, so if you get stuck on one set of levels, you can always try one of the dozen others. If you don’t want to cooperate, you can play some basic competitive mini-games. I played it with my partner’s parents, who haven’t touched a video game controller since Wii Sportsand my 8-year-old cousin who loves Mario, and they were all able to easily start the game and have fun. Regardless of the range of skill levels, the high of a team successfully completing a challenge never got ancient, no matter how much screaming there was.
So if you’re looking for a fantastic game to keep you entertained until the Switch 2 releases, or just want to remind yourself that the Nintendo Switch is still as good, I suggest you pick up a sleeper… ON Pico Park 2.
Pico Park 2 can be played on Mac, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
