The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog PC Review
| Game: | The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | SEGA |
| Developer: |
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog launched unexpectedly one day before April Fools, with many thinking it was an early April Fools joke, myself included. Fortunately it was not and is currently a very real, full free game to play on Steam. Lasting around 3-4 hours, the game sees you take on the role of a newly recruited attendant–of The Mirage Express–who becomes involved in the mystery of a lifetime, when Sonic the Hedgehog is found dead! This happens during Amy Rose’s murder mystery birthday party, with the new train attendant–who you get to name–and Tails taking on the role of investigators to uncover Sonic’s murderer.
It’s a cute mini adventure with Sonic taking a back seat to other characters, which include Knuckles, Rouge, Blaze, Espio, Vector, Shadow and, of course, Amy and Tails. Each character is assigned a role by Amy prior to the murder; Knuckles is a sheriff–complete with a hat that pays homage to his hat from the Sonic OVA–Rouge & Blaze are put together and play a Business Tycoon and a Titan of Industry repsectively. Espio and Vector play a poet and a butcher, and Shadow plays the role of a locksmith. Sonic is a Sea Captain, Amy a Journalist, and Tails, of course, is an homage to Sherlock Holmes and plays a Detective.
Each character is also assigned a station on a different car of the train, from a Saloon Car and Library Car to a Casino. As you play, you enter each car one at a time, examining each room to collect clues and then interrogating the character/s who are in that room using the clues to get answers. The game is very easy to play, with not much thinking to be done at all on the part of the player. As you search and find clues, Tails is the one that mostly pieces them together, you simply watching as he solves everything. You only visit each train car once, so there’s no backtracking; it’s not the type of game whereby you find a clue in one area to use in another. Everything that can be found in a room will usually be used only in that room, and there is no possible way for a player to miss something important as any object that can be interacted with is highlighted bright green and indicated with a bleep sound.
Decisions you make are also inconsequential thanks to the very linear nature of the plot. Usually you are presented with multiple dialogue choices, one more positive than the other, but choosing either doesn’t make a difference to the story, only to how characters respond. Sometimes you’ll be presented with more than two choices; there’s a fun little section of the game with Rouge, Blaze, Tails and the attendant that gives you some humourous options, but for the most part responses are straight forward.
Considering it is more like a visual novel, it’s surprising then that there is a mini game. Sometimes you’ll be quizzed by Tails to get your thinking cap on as he asks you try and help piece together clues and prepare your argument. This is called your “train of thought”, in which you’ll start a mini game via your DreamGear and sees a pixellated Sonic running along a straight path while avoiding obstacles. This mini game is the most challenging aspect of the game, especially later on when levels become more hectic with bombs, spikes and spikeballs to avoid. Your goal is to collect a set number of rings to continue the story, a lot easier said than done. Controls are easy, using the up, down or left, right keys on your keyboard to move Sonic side to side, and the space bar to jump.
What makes the game interesting are the characters, who are full of charm. It’s enjoyable to see characters interact with others who they barely interact with in the mainline series, such as Rouge and Blaze, and Shadow, Vector and Espio. The latter three you don’t visually see together, but it is hinted they interacted off-screen by another character. It’s enjoyable to find out what certain characters were up to while you were elsewhere, finding out who saw who and when. The personalities of each character is also more in line with their actual personalities than the mainline series is, which baffles really as it was SEGA who developed this entry.
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is a game that nobody asked for, but that everyone wants. It’s fun to see characters in different settings from time to time, to help explore more of their personalities, and while the game overall is on the easy side, it is still nonetheless enjoyable to play. Characters ooze likability and if you are very observant, you’ll also see some little nods to the franchise. Unfortunately there’s not much in the way of replayability, but it’s a nice, memorable little game to pass away a few hours (and it’s free).
