"The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog" releases for free on Steam
SEGA is showing everybody up for April Fool's Day 2023 by not only releasing an ambitious, impressive product, but doing it a day early. Earlier today, SEGA released The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a visual novel-style point-and-click adventure game. Drawing inspiration from Murder on the Orient Express, it places Sonic's supporting staff on a train (in period-appropriate attire), creating a locked room mystery when Sonic turns up dead. You play as a new character who teams up with detective Tails to interrogate everyone onboard and solve Sonic's murder.
There's more depth here than one might expect from an April Fool's joke. The game takes a little over an hour to complete, and while there isn't any challenge to the puzzles or brief platforming sections, the script, music and art direction show that this was clearly a labour of love. It may not be worth the time for anyone not invested in Sonic as a franchise, but there are some cute moments here for anyone already invested and there's a lot of fun to seeing them transplanted into a new setting and genre like this.
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is available on Steam now.