the logo for the murder of sonic the hedgehog game

RAGHHHHH i'm so autistic about this game!! the murder of sonic the hedgehog is an april fools visual novel game with endless runner elements, worked on mainly by the sonic social media managers and was released on march 31st 2023. the game takes place during amy's murder mystery themed birthday party that's happening on a train, where (as title suggests) sonic gets murdered. well not like murdered murdered he was just knocked out. anyway it's up to amy, tails and the player to figure out who did it. this game was the catalyst for my sonic obsession (even if i played it nearly a year after it came out) and it will forever hold a special place in my heart :] that being said PLEASE play the game it's free on steam and takes under four hours PLEASE

in the game you play as a quokka (nameable by the player, however in promotional materials they're known as barry so that's what i will call them from now on) and it's your first day working on the mirage express as a microwave chef. your first day of work is also the train conductor's last day, as he's retiring after controlling the train for the past thirty two years.

after collecting everyone's tickets and offering them the train's menu, barry decides to join in on the murder mystery game. they go on and spend an hour in the dining car with tails (the detective) and amy (the journalist) while the other players mingle and/or kill someone. as the trio are about to set out, the train suddenly speeds up and they get thrown into a closet in the back of the car. after a little tutorial and a hammer repair, the gang gets out to see that sonic has been "killed".

screenshot from the game. in the middle of the screen is an image showing sonic lying down on the ground by a table, his back turned to the viewer. on the sides are the sprites of a shocked tails and a gleeful amy. the dialogue box at the bottom of the screen says 'AMY: someone murdered my darling sonic!'

yes that is the family guy death pose. the game kicks off properly with barry and tails teaming up and amy doing a solo investigation. during the course of the game the player explores five different cars and interrogates all passengers of the train: knuckles (the sheriff) in the saloon car, vector (the butcher) and espio (the poet) in the library car, blaze (titan of industry) and rouge (business tycoon) in the casino car, shadow (the locksmith) in the lounge car, and sonic (the captain) who was in the conductor car before the. whole death thing.

at the end of the game – after checking everyone's alibis and getting roped into a heist – barry and tails successfully deduce who the murderer is, however the game's not over as they also discover the train itself might be hiding some secrets.... DUN DUN DUUUN

image of a crimson-furred, anthropomorphic quokka with green eyes and tan skin. they have large dark crimson ears, a black nose, and a dark crimson patch between their eyes. They also have two small strips of hair on their head and a short pointy tail that is barely visible

can i talk about barry for a second. i will talk about barry. ever since i played the game all these months ago they have not left my brain. their swagless looks and cringefail personality have captivated me immensely and i just KNOW that if they were real we would be best friends. truly the definition of a blorbo

despite only being in a three hour april fools game we actually get to know quite a bit about them!! they play endless runners. they can beatbox. they love caves. they believe there is always something in the trash bin. they sweat a lot. they like swimming. they get nauseous easily. they have some sort of self esteem issues. they ate only microwave lunches for a week straight. two separate characters said they would fight them AND SO ON. this isn't even including the three billion headcanons i have for them

i just love them so fucking much they're such a loser (affectionate). i hope they show up in future media more because i can't even begin to describe how much it sucks that besides the game all they have is two little cameos. i'm not suffering at all ^_^ /s

fun facts about the game:
  • during production it was known as choo-choo boo-boo. i mean there's a choo-choo and there's a pretty major boo-boo so the name checks out
  • the conductor driving the train for 32 years is a reference to the sonic franchise turning 32 in 2023 (the year the game came out)
  • in the game files alongside placeholder music from other sonic games there's a file called "fun funky whistle groove"
  • the game takes place on amy's birthday because 2023 marks 30 years since the release of sonic cd, her debut game :]
  • at one point rouge's design was changed was because ian multcher's wife said "she needed to look hotter". iconic tbh

in conclusion:

a photo of an iceberg. the part above water is labeled 'dude this game fucks'. the part below the water is labeled with an insanely long keysmash covering up the rest of the image