Imagine they killed Mario.
Really, try to imagine. Can you? I mean it: can you really? Does that seem like something that could go through Nintendo green-lit by every required department in its complex, multi-national corporate structure? And does that seem like something that can not only be given the green light, but can actually be produced, marketed and shipped? And released for free?
Because that’s what Sega did with it The murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.
It would be very easy to be cynical about it The murder of Sonic the Hedgehog both critically and creatively. It would be tempting to think that what we have here is a glorified infomercial simply designed to capture our accumulated social media attention and drive that attention into positive brand recognition. Such a view would be warranted if the game were equally cynical in its construction: a hurried and ill-conceived meme of a game, made without love and with only the amplification of IP in mind. But both positions are only conceivable for actual play The murder of Sonic the Hedgehogwhich is much better and much more generous than was necessary.
The premise of the game is simple: Amy Rose is throwing herself a birthday party, and as 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 dubbed “Sanic” when given the option, taking a tongue-in-cheek attitude to the game that I would eventually regret – but more on that later.
Image: SEGA via Polygon
‘Sanic’, or whatever you want to call them, is a new employee of the Mirage Express. In fact, it’s their first day on the job. As Sanic you have an explicit role: keep Amy Rose, Sonic, Tails and the rest of the group happy during their experience on the Mirage. You get this task from the conductor, an amiable gentleman who happens to retire after this last ride.
Things are set in motion quickly. Actually too fast. The train springs into action so violently that Tails, Amy and the player become trapped in a small room, where you are tasked with solving your first mystery. It’s not hard: there’s a big piece 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 evidence you’ve gathered, which you piece together through a platforming mini-game played on “Sanic’s Dream Gear,” or, again, whatever you called your character. Amy then capitulates: Yes, now she remembers – her did bang that filing cabinet with her hammer.
This is the core of the gameplay loop. Enter a room, collect evidence, and interrogate a Sonic character about their alibi, a loop that takes on instant narrative weight when, just minutes into two hours of gameplay, you notice that Sonic has been killed.
Image: SEGA via Polygon
Amy, the staunch true crime fan that she is, takes the news gleefully: “Someone killed my darling Sonic!” The party is off to the races. It’s all for fun. Or is it? When Sanic approaches Sonic’s body (dear reader, please make better naming decisions than me), they discover that Sonic is either a convincing imposter, or something is seriously wrong.
Whether Sonic is actually dead or just dead depends on the runtime of the game, and I won’t spoil it for you here. Is this the world’s most original game plot, Steam worthy of saying it was relevant to me because I played it Disco Elysium And Papers, please? No. Did I have my frustrations with it, including the simplistic linearity and somewhat jarring increase in difficulty of the Dream Gear minigames towards the end? Sure, yes. But does that matter in light of the sheer improbability and quality of this game? No not at all.
The murder of Sonic the Hedgehog features a poignant denouement to a series of gags about searching trash cans for clues, as well as a reflection on the nature of retirement and our relationship to the work that has come to define our lives. I am 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 calling my character “Sanic,” like I was above it.
Against all expectations, The murder of Sonic the Hedgehog has a more heartfelt script than you’d expect from something released on April 1, Ninety Nine Free. This is a fun game with real laughs, great art, and a great soundtrack, and you don’t have to pay a dime to play it. I could quibble over little things if I wanted to, but at the end of the day I’m glad it exists at all, and that it not only exists, but that it’s so joyful.
So, kill Mario, you cowards. Missing won’t make it in 2023.
The murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was released on March 31 on Windows PC. Vox Media has partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy here.