The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog review: way better than it needs to be

Now imagine if Mario was killed.

It’s possible to picture it. Is it possible? Yes, you can. That seems like something that would be able to pass through Nintendo. It could get greenlit by every department within its multi-national corporate structure. Does that sound like something that could be not only greenlit but also produced, marketed and shipped? Released for no cost?

Because that’s what Sega did with Sonic the Hedgehog’s Murder.

You could be very cynical. Sonic the Hedgehog’s MurderOn both the creative and critical sides. You could easily think that this infomercial is just a glorified infomercial that aims to grab our attention via social media, and then galvanize it into brand recognition. This view is only possible if the game’s construction was similarly cynical: it was a poorly thought-out meme, made without any love or with the sole purpose of strengthening IP. However, both of these scenarios are not possible without actually playing. Sonic the Hedgehog’s MurderThis is far better than the original and much more generous than what it should have been.

The premise of the game is straightforward: Amy Rose is throwing herself a birthday bash, and being a fan of true crime podcasts, she’s decided to book a murder mystery party on the Mirage Express, a train that seems to specialize in such things. You play as a new character, whom I promptly named “Sanic” when given the option, taking an ironic posture toward the game that I would ultimately regret — but more on that later.

Photo: SEGA via Polygon

“Sanic,” or whatever you choose to call them, is a new employee of the Mirage Express. In fact, it’s their first day on the job. You have a specific role as Sanic: To keep Amy Rose, Sonic and Tails happy on their Mirage experience. You receive this task from the train’s conductor, an amiable gentleman who happens to be retiring after this one last trip.

It is easy to set things in motion. Too quickly, actually. You are given the task of solving your first mystery as you watch the train move so quickly that Amy and Tails get trapped in a room. It isn’t a difficult one: There’s a big chunk of a filing cabinet missing and the broken handle of a giant hammer near Amy, who swears she Didn’t do anything before you and Tails woke up. You then present her with the gathered evidence, which you piece together via a platforming minigame played on “Sanic’s Dream Gear,” or, again, whatever you happened to name your character. Amy then capitulates: Yes, now she remembers — she didBonk the filing cabinet using her hammer.

The gameplay loop is based on this. When you enter a room to gather evidence and question a Sonic character about their alibi, the loop immediately gains narrative weight. Sonic is dead.

Photo: SEGA via Polygon

Amy, being the stalwart true-crime fan that she is, takes the news in gleeful stride: “Someone murdered my darling Sonic!” The party is off to the races. It’s all for fun. It’s all for fun, or is it? When Sanic approaches Sonic’s body (dearest reader, please make better naming decisions than me), they find that Sonic is either a convincing faker, or that there is something seriously wrong afoot.

The question of whether Sonic is really dead or just play-dead hangs over the game’s runtime,And I won’t spoil it for you here. Is this the world’s most original game plot, worthy of Steam saying it was relevant to me because I’ve played Disco Elysium and You can use paper? No. Yes. It did frustrate me. There was a lack of linearity in it and an increase in difficulty for the Dream Gear minigames towards the end. Sure, yeah. But does any of that matter in the face of this game’s sheer improbability and quality? It doesn’t.

Sonic the Hedgehog’s MurderThe ending is a poignant reflection about the nature of retirement, and how we relate to the labour that shapes our lives. I’m being serious. It didn’t have to have these things, but it does! In fact, the game is so unironic in its approach to its silly concept that I quickly felt like a total ass for naming my character “Sanic,” as if I was above it all.

In spite of all odds Sonic the Hedgehog’s MurderYou would not expect a better script from anything released for ninety-nine dollars on April 1, 2019. This is a fun game with genuine laughs, terrific art, and a killer soundtrack, and you don’t have to pay a dime to play it. I could quibble about minor stuff if I wanted, but at the end of the day, I’m happy it exists at all, and that it not only exists, but that it’s this joyful.

Kill Mario you cowards. Missing doesn’t cut it in 2023.

Sonic the Hedgehog’s Murder wasWindows PC version released March 31. Vox Media is an affiliate partner. Although these partnerships do not impact editorial content, Vox Media could earn commissions for products sold via affiliate links. Here are some links to help you find. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.