Pico Sim Date
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The content below is not official to the Pico franchise. |
Pico has a softer side for love! - Newgrounds Description
Pico Sim Date is a point-and-click Flash game created by Moosh and released on April 30, 2006. As a dating simulator, the main goal of the game is for Pico to earn the affections of Nene in a fixed period of 75 days to ensure the existence of his future son. Created for Pico Day, it is the first installment in the Pico Sim Date trilogy, spawning two sequels after the game's critical success.
Plot
The game starts with Pico getting ready to leave for school, until he is interrupted by a voice claiming to be his son from the future, "Pico Jr.". He explains that if he doesn't get with Nene, then his existence will cease and, hence, he would be dead. Pico then leaves for school and meets up with his friend Darnell, and tells him about his morning experience. Darnell then gives the tutorial, and explains how he'll be fighting people, since many boys have their eyes on Nene.
Darnell also reveals that he has 75 days to ask Nene to the dance, since Pico Jr. was conceived on the night of the school dance, and she'll only accept if they have two successful dates. When Pico first tries to talk to her, an "emo" boy comes out of nowhere and starts mumbling about how Nene belongs to the boss. After defeating the emo, Pico learns that Cyclops is also after Nene.
Later, Pico starts to talk to Nene and the relationship grows. He begins going out with her. Once he has at least two successful dates, he'll automatically ask her out to the dance, and, of course, she accepts. The two meet at the dance and talk, but are interrupted by Cyclops, who is deeply infatuated with her. He then grabs her to "go to a quiet place", but Pico barges in and the two begin to fight. Once Cyclops is beaten, Pico and Nene "go to a quiet place" and we find out that Pico Jr. isn't real, it was just Tom Fulp wanting his creations to be happy.
Reception
Pico Sim Date received positive reception upon its release to Newgrounds, with users enjoying the game's approach as a lighthearted dating simulator. Since then, it has gone on to be featured on the website's front page, and earned the Daily 5th Place award. As of today, it holds over 5.7 million views and a review score of 4.39/5.00. Thanks to this success, it has spawned two sequels: Pico Sim Date 2, which follows directly after the events of the original, and Pico Sim Date <3, a soft reboot that features more explicit content.
Additionally, Pico Sim Date is featured in the Pico Day 2006 & Dating Sim collections.
Trivia
- Nene's fictional e-mail that was used for the game, "[email protected]", was actually used by someone in real life.
- Here, it's revealed that Darnell lied about having five years to live. This is an obvious reference to his infamous poster in Pico's School promoting his presidential campaign, in which he claims "I only have 5 years left to live!".
- According to Darnell, the game takes place in "NG City" rather than the series' usual setting of Philadelphia.
- There is implied to be a relationship between Darnell and the teacher of the school.
- The battle theme is a remix of Trainer Battle from the games Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow.
- The final battle theme uses the alternate version from the anime's first season.