The Pico is a cool curiosity, and for me, a total waste of money.
I picked up a Pico a few years ago for a good price online. What compelled me to collect an obscure "edutainment" console?
Simply put, I think obscure consoles are cool.
Also, my son was very young when I bought a Sega Pico. Since he loved to watch me play Sonic 2, I thought I could get him started on Sonic Gameworld. How cool would that be? And how convenient of an excuse to buy a Pico?
Well, it would have been cool, but it took years before I found Sonic Gameworld for less than $100 (much less!). And now that I have it, my son is too old to be interested. He just beat Mario Wonder with 100%, for instance. The moment has passed.
But my son was only half the reason to collect for the Sega Pico. The other reason was my obsessive need for another obscure game, and the dopamine rush that comes with it. And as I learned, this desire should not always be fulfilled.
I learned my limit as a collector. Now I know when to say no. Because I could have used this money towards a credit bill, or a cool game I actually want, like Princess Tomato for NES, or Towers II for Jaguar, or Chase the Chuckwagon because I'll take any Atari 2600 game.
This isn't to say I didn't get some enjoyment out of the Pico titles. But the enjoyment was less the thrill of playing a cool game and more the quenching of curiosity, which could be done by watching an online video.
That said, let's take a look at the Pico and some major franchise titles.
A Note on the Awesome Sega Pico Technology
If you've heard anyone talk about the Pico, they've probably crowed about the impressive, if simple, technology.
The Sega Pico is big and colorful. So what's special about it?
The games contain physical books composed of plastic pages, called Storyware. When you turn a page, the screen changes to match the current page. Cool!
Also, the Pico comes with a pen and an early sort of touch pad. You don't even have to touch the pad; you can hover the pen just over the pad, and it registers. The pad corresponds to whatever is on the screen. The pen also clicks, so you can pick an item on the screen and "click" on the item.
What I found most impressive was clicking the pen on the plastic pages of the book. For instance, in Sonic Gameworld, you don't click on the pad to select a game. Instead, you click an actual image in the book. I have no idea how the Pico recognizes where I click, or confirms one image over another. Now that's impressive.
You can also click off-screen to "escape" or go back.
My pen was glitchy at times; sometimes I had to click it extra hard. I think this is because the wiring had come loose, so I tightened the wires with some electrical tape, and it worked a little better. I have to wonder if other Pico owners have issues with the pen wiring.
Also, during games, I had no idea what to do about half the time. It wasn't apparent where I could click, and the games don't always contain in-game instructions. I had to refer to the manuals. This isn't unusual for a console from 1994, but I imagine there were little kids that had no idea what to do.
The manuals are called Parents' Guides, and for good reason. The Overview in the Sonic Gameworld manual, for instance, tells us how the Storyware will build our child's confidence, dexterity, and creativity. The Gameworld manual is also loaded with activities to aid your child's learning when they're not playing Pico, such as playing "Penny Toss" and drawing mazes together. At the end of this manual, there's even a list of books about rhymes and stunts to check out. Really, I think this is pretty cool, and I hope some parents played some games with their kids, in real life, all because of a video game manual.
Ecco Jr. and the Great Ocean Treasure Hunt!
Wow, this game looks fun! Right? Just look at that long title! With an exclamation point!
To be fair, I was interested in Ecco Jr for Pico because I enjoy Ecco Jr for Genesis. The Genesis title feels like it's from a strange parallel reality, where Ecco games are incredibly easy instead of insanely hard. It's whimsical, and a peculiar curiosity, and you can finish it in one session. I enjoy a casual playthrough of Ecco Jr now and again. Now that's something obscure worth collecting!
When I heard an entirely different Ecco Jr game was made for the Sega Pico, my collector instincts went into overdrive. I had to play it.
Unfortunately, instead of a simplified form of the Ecco titles, the Pico game is strictly educational.
Here are just a few of the screens and games from Ecco Jr for Sega Pico.
Tails and the Music Maker
As with Ecco Jr, I'll let the pictures do the talking here.
Green Hill Zone looks pretty good on the Pico. No wonder; the hardware is apparently similar to the Genesis. As Tails, you've got to tip-toe past the coconuts, run across the falling bridges, and jump over the gaps. Since you need to click the proper action, and since my pen was kind of glitchy, this made for a very non-intuitive process. You can also jump with the big red button.
Also, what's up with the egg flower?
Sonic Gameworld
Now we're talking! Sonic Gameworld is the killer app for the Pico, as for as I'm concerned, and not just because it's a Sonic game. Sonic Gameworld is notable because it's not educational, but instead composed of many mini-games.
Hilariously, the box still sticks with the whole educational thing. The box claims kids will "develop good hand-eye coordination and motor skills," as well as "memory skills." The box also says Sonic Gameworld contains "Strategy and Dexterity Activities." Yeah, it's a bunch of mini-games, tied together by "Gameworld" being a kind of arcade.
A note on sound: The music sounds very similar to the music from Sonic Game Gear titles! I guess the music hardware for the Pico is similar to the Master System. Also, all the characters have voices, which sound quite accurate. The Pico has a chip for voices, I think, so many of its games featured voices, a big deal for 1994.
So let's check some of them out, and some other screens. The last game is my favorite!
Diamond Maze is the best game on Sonic Gameworld, in my opinion. In Diamond Maze, you travel through all the previous stages (or pages?) of the arcade. You've got to find the diamonds (or Chaos Emeralds?). To do so, you get to flip and throw every game machine in Gameworld, in general going on a rampage and destroying all the stages. It's fun!
Diamond Maze feels the most complete or complex, for a mini-game, anyway. Yeah, a lot of it is based on luck, but it's still fun. There's a bit of strategy with avoiding hazards, and deciding where to go. Do you try to outpace Robotnik, or work one side of the room while he gets the other? When you complete Diamond Maze with majority diamonds, Robotnik is furious, and you get an end screen with "The battle is won." You also get a character roll call, in which they name every little animal, and an official "The End," which makes Diamond Maze feel more like a "real" game.
Something to note is the casino room in Diamond Maze, which has slot machines and card tables. That stage is not in Sonic Gameworld! Oh wait, it is? Yes, the Japanese version of Gameworld has gambling games and, from what I've seen online, a fortune-telling game. I have to wonder if that's Amy's "Love" game. The U.S. version of Gameworld removed some games because they weren't "educational," but I have a feeling it has more to do with the adult themes, given that none of the Gameworld games are particularly educational, no matter how you spin it.
So, since the Pico is region-free, I could order the Japanese version of Gameworld for the complete experience . . .
. . . Or, I can learn from my mistakes. I won't be ordering a Gameworld import. And though the Sega Pico was a waste of money, I still had fun writing this article. Thanks for reading, and happy gaming!
Comments