It looks like we’ll soon be able to solve Picross puzzles starring beloved Sega characters like Sonic the Hedgehog. Though we don’t have more than a title at this stage, Jupiter Corporation has announced Picross S: Mega Drive and Mark III Edition, coming soon for Nintendo Switch.
The reveal came at the end of a video during BitSummit Gaiden for Picross S4, which came out in April this year. It shows what looks like a title screen for the game, with a logo and “Press Any Button” against a backdrop with a picture of Sonic the Hedgehog that emphasizes his pixels.
Related: If you like nonograms, you owe it to yourself to try Pictopix—one of the best nonogram games you’ll find on for PC. Here’s our review.
Given that tease (and the title itself), it’s probably safe to assume that the game will follow a similar format to Jupiter’s other Picross S games, only with assorted Sega pixel artwork. Sega’s Mega Drive and Master System (which was released as Sega Mark III in Japan) consoles have a wealth of interesting characters and worlds to draw from.
The Picross series is probably the best-known videogame version of nonograms, logic puzzles that see players using numerical clues to reveal a picture within a grid. Pixel art is a natural fit for such puzzles, being grid-based anyway, and Jupiter has been refining its approach to such puzzles for decades. As well as their own unlicensed games, they’ve worked with numerous other franchises including Super Mario, Pokemon, and Final Fantasy.
An international release for Picross S: Mega Drive and Mark III Edition hasn’t been announced yet, as far as I can tell, but it seems likely. Every other Picross S game so far has released simultaneously across Japan, America, Europe, and Oceania, so it’d be odd for this one to not follow suit—especially when you consider the worldwide popularity of Sega’s games.
Source: Jupiter Corporation, via Gematsu