SEGA has famously killed Sonic many times, in a figurative sense. Sonic, at one time, had an honest to God rivalry with Mario. They were the two faces of the video game industry. Sonic was a legitimate superstar. Michael Jackson even famously worked on the soundtrack for a Sonic game. It seemed like he couldn't possibly fall off. Then the cracks started showing. Several games came out that were poorly reviewed, really only seeing defense from the most devout fans of the Blue Blur. Ever since the early 2000s, Sonic has been on a rollercoaster of sorts; seeing huge pops in popularity and critical appreciation, and then a plummet down into a mire of poor reception again. So it felt almost insane when SEGA kinda leaned into the bit in 2023 and released The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.
The Murder of Sonic is a free visual novel developed by the famously witty SEGA social media team. It was created as an April Fool's Joke, but has remained available and was well received by critics and fans alike. I've actually only completed a few Sonic titles, mostly the good ones. I beat this game in just a couple of hours, so for the free price tag, it felt like a nice use of my time. The game is far from perfect though. While the art and writing are charming and fun, the Phoenix Wright-esque investigation was essentially on rails. You couldn't really fail and the game pushes you toward the correct answers, so please don't go into it expecting a proper challenging caper that requires brain power. It just isn't that kind of game.
The story is themed around a Victorian murder mystery party on a train. You play as an employee of the train, who along with the Conductor (an adorable old dog character who is retiring soon to be with his beloved wife) are running the train and hosting the party. The Sonic cast is participating in the murder mystery party for Amy's birthday. This is a fun conceit for a story. Each of the characters are game for role-playing for the murder plot, even characters that you'd think wouldn't be like the typically dour Shadow. They each have their roles in the mystery. Most of the gameplay revolves around interacting with the various characters and investigating them and trying to prove their innocence or guilt. The other part of the gameplay, and my chief complaint with the whole experience, is an extremely repetitive minigame that you have to complete to progress the story in several instances. It's an isometric platforming sequence where you control Sonic and have to collect a certain amount of rings while avoiding obstacles. The controls don't feel tight or precise. In the later iterations of this minigame, they will throw so many simultaneous hurdles and hazards at you that it requires several attempts to complete it. It doesn't feel like you have enough space to navigate around the obstacles and enemies, and Sonic does not control well enough to evade things that he should be jumping over or through. These minigames were the bane of my existence in the short run time of The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.
There really isn't much more to say about the game. I don't want to spoil the twists and turns of the story, as it's already pretty limited. But. if you're a Sonic fan and you enjoy a decent visual novel, you should consider checking this game out. With it being free, you're not really out anything but your time if you don't like it. It's a cute game though and a fun idea for a Sonic spin-off.
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