Pico's School

Pico's School
Pico holding a gun once some new students come to his school after killing Casandra
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Director(s)
Producer(s)
Designer(s)
Programmer(s)	Tom Fulp
Artist(s)	Tom Fulp
Writer(s)	Tom Fulp
Composer(s)	JohnnyGuy
Series
Engine
Platform(s)
Genre(s)
Mode(s)
Cabinet
Arcade system
CPU
Sound
Display

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Pico's School is an independently created browser game created by Newgrounds creator, Tom Fulp in 1999 for Newgrounds itself. The game stars Pico, a young ginger boy from Philadelphia as he attempts to escape a school shooting committed by goth students, many of whom possess strange powers.

Although the second game in the Pico series (preceded by Nene's Interactive Suicide), it is the first to feature the titular Pico as the protagonist.

Gameplay

Pico's School features point-and-click gameplay, in which the player clicks on objects to affect certain actions. Shortly into the game, the player is equipped with a gun which is used to attack enemies. Bosses encounters appear frequently in which the player must click on their opponents to shoot them, reducing the enemy's HP meter to zero. A marijuana cigarette can be found within a locker, which replenishes the player's health.

Plot

During a school lesson regarding apples and bananas, Pico's classmate, Cassandra emerges from her seat and explains that, having listened to goth music all her life, she has deduced the lesson is meaningless and that the American education system is "bullshit" before proceeding to massacre her teacher and fellow students, with the titular Pico blacking out during the chaos. Upon awakening, Pico discovers that the entirety of his school (with the exception of Nene, an Asian-american student with herpes, and Darnell, an african student running for class presidency) has been killed, and "goth kids" have overtaken the facility.

Upon defeating Alucard, a blue-skinned boy with telekinetic powers, Hanzou, a young ninja impersonator with night-vision goggles who brandishes a katana, and either intimidating or killing Cyclops, an eyepatch-wearing young Neo-Nazi sporting a Mohawk (depending on player choice), Pico makes his way to the backroom of the school where he confronts Cassandra once more. Cassandra explains that Pico is already too late to stop her, claiming the "time of the punk rock/goth gestapo" has already begun, and laments that Pico failed to express his individuality in manners other than his choice of clothing, to which Pico retorts that, although he too observes the failings of American society, the goth students could have proven their individuality through different methods, though ultimately deduces they have "failed the test of life". Angered, Cassandra claims that she had little care for the goth's cause, instead having "other plans for this world" before shooting her accomplices and morphing into a large black monster with a prominent purple penis, who Pico must defeat.

Six months following the events of the game, Pico returns to school, and discovers that, to replace the dead students, youth from the ghetto have been bused in to be given access to an improved education program. In the unfinished follow-up Pico 2, it is revealed that these students are cybernetic "ghettobots" created by Cassandra's alien race to eliminate Pico.

Development

Pico's School was notable at launch for its usage of variables within the Flash engine, which at the time of its creation was not supported natively. As a result, it is considered to be one of the most advanced Flash 3 games. Creator Tom Fulp claimed to have created a complex work-around to allow for Pico's School's mechanics to function,

Fulp credits the Columbine massacre as a key influence in the game's thematics.

In 2016, Pico's School was updated to feature a custom soundtrack created by Newgrounds user RealFaction, as previously the game had made use of segments from the track Ultrasonic Sound as the game's background music, causing problems with copyright holders.

Legacy

The titular protagonist, Pico, has appeared in several games created by Tom Fulp and other Newgrounds users, such as "Pico vs The Uber Kids" and “Resident Pico”, and he has been featured in several instances as a mascot for Newgrounds. Additionally, Newgrounds hosts an annual holiday titled "Pico Day" named for the character in 2006 in which fan made content surrounding Newgrounds mascots such as Pico is created, with some works competing for cash prizes.

Pico has made crossover appearances in a variety of external games in large part due to his presence as an honorary mascot for the Newgrounds website, including Friday Night Funkin', Madness: Project Nexus, and the flash prototype of Super Meat Boy. There have been several remakes and reimaginings of Pico's School by members of the Newgrounds community similarly due to the character's presence as a mascot.

Cancelled Sequel

Pico's School 2 (Also known as Pico 2), in June 2001, Pico 2 was in development using Flash V.5 for keyboard support, a test demo was made to show off gameplay, but in October of that year, it was scrapped due to Tom Fulp saying that ''It didn't live up to expectations of a Pico School sequel.''

Shortly after that Pico 2 restart development with a new artist nicknamed MindChamber who was hired to be the artist of Pico 2 and Newgrounds itself, but later got cancelled when Alien Hominid was in development for consoles.

Pico's School: Love Conquers All

On Thursday April 1st 2021, roughly 22 years since the game's initial release on Newgrounds, an update for Pico's School was created by the game's creator, Tom Fulp, due to popularity with Pico in Friday Night Funkin'

Within this update, the events of the game unfold drastically differently; with Pico sympathizing with the antagonist Cassandra due to his enjoyment of goth music. This leads the two to attempt to discourage the other goth students from committing their planned shooting.

The protagonist of Friday Night Funkin', Boyfriend, makes a cameo appearance within this update, with Pico explaining that the two are in a homosexual relationship, which his classmates care little about. The following day, Pico's School was reverted back to normal and this "update" was reuploaded as a standalone game titled "Pico's School: Love Conquers All".

Pico's School

This article "Pico's School" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Pico's School. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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