Steam Curator
Yes this is real, yes it’s official and… oh my god its actually kind of good? Because despite a lot of warranted skepticism I’m sure most have towards the increasingly popular ‘advertisement game’ subgenre of the visual novel-sphere, I think “The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog” contains a key ingredient that betrays its release date: sincerity.
Despite the fact that the premise, framing, and April Foolishness suggest this should be one big meme filled joke: it actually isn’t. Low stakes and silly as it may be, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog takes itself just seriously enough to get to the other side of its 2 hours to deliver a heartwarming story within the bounds of a gameplay-lite visual novel… and its well worth the single sitting it asks of you.
Sonic is dead, at least in the context of a themed murder mystery game aboard the Mirage Express, setting of our story and location of Amy’s birthday party. You play as an earnest young railway employee but otherwise blank slate through which to view sonic and his friends, as well as partake in the whodunnit-ness.
Because there’s been a murder, and how much of it is part of the game and how much of it is real is an ever burning question as you go from cart to cart performing your intense deliberations and information gathering.
Or not so intense, to be honest. Because above all else The Murder of Sonic is light and fluffyy…and asks very little of you from a reading comprehension or sleuthing standpoint.
Detective tails runs point and leads you towards most of the right answers. Decisions and scenarios are all compartmentalized into individual train carriages, split into information gathering and alibi pressing sections respectively.
But between inventory resets between each carriage that keep relevant clues to a minimum, and obvious verbal queues from Tails that signal once you’ve collected everything you need in your cartt… you’ve got a game that’s pretty actionless even by the standards of the genre.
The one exception to that rule is the kind of hilarious visualization of making mental breakthroughss…which is a simple ring collecting minigame justified by it answering the question “what would sonic do.”
The true reason to play is unsurprisingly the writing, earnest writing that resonated with me a whole lot more than it’s ironic dating sim peers. Because The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is as much about comfy vibes among friends as it is whodunnit.
Each of the themed carriages is a small 10 minute exploration into the characters that inhabit it, seeing if their alibi lines up to their murder mystery role and also getting a chance to see their reaction to Amy’s birthday and whatever present they may have brought.
As expected its also filled with in-jokes and easter eggs galore that cement it as a treat for existing sonic fans rather than something to draw in new folks.
But I think where I was most impressed was where the story and characters played with the very ‘murder mystery on a train’ premise. As you’d expect there are twists and turns and they deliver in ways that are well written, hilarious, and very appropriately sonic.
This game does escalate into an excellent final act; and its carried by some heartwarming and realistic woes for our characters. In addition to being Amy’s birthday party, its also coincidentally the retirement day for the games original character: the train conductor, and the trains crew simultaneously treating the day as a send-off retirement party for him is the source of some thoughtful and unexpected moments… moments that made me consciously thankful that this game wasn’t just the joke it so easily could have been.
Love em our hate em, these super short brand-advertising free-to-play visual novels are a part of our industry…and I think “The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog” is not only one of the best ones, but proof that they don’t have to lean into their parody excessively to be successful…, and can use the genres storytelling emphasis to deliver writing that’s character focused, real, and sincere if not the next big save the world story.
I hate the term that something was ‘better than it had any right to be’, I feel like it can be a little dismissive to the studios and genres that thrive with lower stakes… but if there’s anywhere that phrase is appropriate I think it would be an April Fools game. Make no mistakes about what The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is: there’s no mechanical or puzzle solving depth to be found here despite its detective premise, anything that can be considered ‘gameplay’ is explicitly simple with no way to fail because they want you to finish this.
Its linear and on rails in hopes that you don’t get stuck and quit out of frustration; it redirects all of its focus towards the novel of its visual novel and its a focus that’s not misplaced. Its a fun premise with a well written story that doesn’t overstay its welcome; and it lacks the sort of diminutive smarmy tone that this free-IP visual novels usually have: giving the story and characters a chance utterly real when they want to be.
With a short 2 hour run time and an entry fee of 0 dollars, I think you’d be a fool not to try it.
