When Sonic the Hedgehog fans caught wind of a huge announcement that promised “a new direction” for the franchise, they certainly weren’t expecting The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. But on April Fools' Day, Sega delivered a delightful click-and-point visual novel that sees Sonic and his friends participate in a murder mystery aboard the Mirage Express.
Thanks to the game’s storyboard format, there’s a lot of opportunity to take in the gorgeously fun art style that The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog provides. Which, of course, involves scouring every inch for Sonic-related Easter eggs. While some are pretty obvious, there are a lot that players might have missed as they enjoyed the wildly popular game.
9 Sega DreamGear
It’s always wise to think about what Sonic would do in any situation, but players probably weren’t expecting this nostalgia trip. The isometric platformer levels are played on a new Sega console: the DreamGear. But as Sega fans will have noticed, this handheld device is modeled after the Game Gear with a little Dreamcast thrown in.
The design takes more inspiration from the Game Gear than the Dreamcast, with an obvious nod to the 8-bit console with the red, green, and blue logo. While visually different from the popular 90s handheld, the vaporwave feel of the Dream Gear’s pink to purple color scheme and, of course, the Sonic mini-game and its music.
8 Cream The Rabbit
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog features a bunch of familiar faces, but there is one bunny missing out on all the fun. While Cream the Rabbit may be too young to participate in a murder-mystery party, she was certainly there in spirit. Blaze mentions her in conversation with Tails in the Casino car, while Knuckles suggests they get Cream’s mom Vanilla to make dinner for Amy’s next birthday.
And if that wasn’t enough, there are plenty of Chao aboard the Mirage Express to remind players of Cream’s best friend, Cheese. There's Big Chao Ban, the adorable bouncer wearing novelty glasses and a mustache in the Casino car, and many more.
7 The Trip Of A Lifetime
When players hover over clickable items in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a green border will appear as a prompt. Across the top of each train car are what seem to be windows, but are actually billboards advertising various things related to the Sonic universe – but they only appear if players click on them.
Amy says one wished her a happy birthday, but there are also adverts for Chaos Cola and its “Here We Go” and “Primal Venom” flavors from Sonic Adventure 2 and another reference to Sonic Adventure via the NiGHTS Pinball level from Casinopolis. There are also travel posters in some of the cars, enticing train goers visiting previous franchise levels like Sonic Adventure’s Twinkle Park, Sonic Rivals’ Colosseum Highway, and Sonic Advance 2’s Music Plant Zone.
6 Sonic's Anniversary
2023 marks the 32nd anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, and this game doesn’t let players forget about it. In the beginning, the Conductor reveals that this is his last trip after 32 years of service and that he and his wife will take a special trip to Spagonia, a country near Greece in the Sonic franchise.
Speaking of important dates, Amy’s birthday just so happens to be on April Fool’s Day, which is referenced further on the blueprints that Rogue finds in the Library car. The code for the safe written on them is 230401: the date that The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was released.
5 Sonic Frontiers References
The last mainline game in the Sonic series was Sonic Frontiers, which has taken the franchise in a brand new direction, much like The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. While this game was a surprise to many, it seems like it is canon within the Sonic timeline, as Sonic Frontiers is brought up in two major ways.
Firstly, Sonic directly references his "last adventure" in Sonic Frontiers before taking on the speeding train, expressing that "maxing out my ring count gave me an extra boost of speed." Then at the end of the game, when Dr. Eggman's plan is thwarted, it cuts to him sitting with Metal Sonic and Sage, who both wear party hats and shirts that read, "Let's go, dad!" Dr. Eggman also suggests that he should turn Sonic and his friends into robots so that Sage can play with them.
4 Train Full Of Chao
Despite Cream’s absence, there are lots of Chao aboard the train, both physically and through artwork. Players may not have noticed that in the Library and Saloon cars, there are two hilarious posters depicting two Chao in precarious situations, both of which are directly referenced by Tails through them being clickable clues.
Tails is upset to see Omochao on a wanted poster in the Saloon car, while he finds motivation in the “Hang in There!” poster extremely inspiring. “That’s beautiful. If this Chao can stick to his principle and find strength, then I can too,” he notes.
3 Memories Of Sonic Unleashed
Aside from Spagonia, another reference to Sonic Unleashed is hidden within The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. In the Library car, the player can click on the globe to start a conversation with Tails. When they ask the fox whether he’s been to Spagonia, he replies and gives a shout-out to Professor Pickle.
As fans will know, Professor Pickle is a supporting character in Sonic Unleashed who works at Spagonia University and is an expert in ancient literature. The professor finds himself in quite a pickle when he’s kidnapped by Dr. Eggman, but thankfully Sonic, Tails, and Chip come to his rescue.
2 My Head Is Spinning
Sonic Heroes had a lot of fun (and sometimes annoying) conversations between its characters, and the writers managed to weave one iconic line into The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. After the train bolts ahead at full speed, the player, Tails, and Amy find themselves trapped in the storeroom of the Dining car.
As the trio comes to, the player asks how Tail and Amy are, to which Tails replies, “Yeah, my head’s spinning a bit, but I’m ok!” That “my head’s spinning” line will bring flashbacks to any Sonic Heroes player, regardless of whether it’s being spoken or not.
1 Sonic Iconography
Each car of the Mirage Express has little nods to the Sonic franchise within its design, and it doesn’t take long to find them. For example, the vases in the Dining car resemble the flowers found in Green Hill Zone, there’s a Chaos Emerald chandelier in the Lounge car, and there are rings and Chaos Emeralds on the slot machine in the Casino car.
The doors leading from the Casino car to the Lounge car look like a Star Spring, as does the bass drum of the Big Chao Band, and the chair in the Conductor’s car looks suspiciously like a yellow Jump Spring.
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is available now on PC.