The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

In the series' first visual novel entry, Sonic is dead, and you're investigating the case. Can you figure out who committed The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog?

While the game's release date (one day before April Fool's) may suggest otherwise, the game actually isn't a joke. It was also surprisingly well-received.

Sub-Pages#

Prerelease Info Unused DialogueTest conversations, trailer-only dialogue, playtest text, and more!

Debug Features#

Level Select#

A level select menu that allows for on-the-fly switching between scenes. It also appears in the top-right corner while playing.

Instant Win Button#

In addition to displaying the current level name, buttons labelled "I WON!!!" and "I LOST :(" appear during the Sonic 3D Blast-esque minigame. As the labels says, clicking these buttons instantly triggers either a win or a loss. The instant loss button is however, absent in the final game.

Settings Button#

There's an unused settings button, which is identical to the option page in the menu. Unlike the other debugging graphics, it is not enabled with the debug flag and must be enabled separately.

Unused Music#

Mirage Saloon Act 1#

Knuckles' version of the Mirage Saloon Zone music, straight from Sonic Mania is present among the Lounge Car music folder, nicknamed 23 - Mirage Saloon Act 1 _ Wildstyle Pistolero - K Mix.

Spagonia (Night)#

The night version of the Spagonia hub theme, straight from Sonic Unleashed is present among the Conductor Car interrogation sequence music files, nicknamed 29 - Spagonia - Night.

Unknown Song#

music fun funky whistle groove loop
An unknown original track is present among the game's sound effect files, with the filename of music fun funky whistle groove loop. Possibly used for testing purposes.

Oddities#

Default Character Name#

The default main character name is Barry. This can be seen both when loading scenes from the debug menu and in the dialogue files. This name is also used for the footage in the game's launch trailer.

Portrait Name Oddity#

One of Shadow's dialogue sprites is humorously named "portrait_shadow_tsundere".

Internal Project Name#

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is named "ChooChooBooBoo" internally, according to the paths of various Unity files listed in a TXT file found in the launch version's The Murder of Sonic The Hedgehog_BurstDebugInformation_DoNotShip directory.

--output=/Users/gbatha/Documents/Unity Projects/ChooChooBooBoo/Temp/StagingArea/Data/Plugins/x86_64/lib_burst_generated
--root-assembly=/Users/gbatha/Documents/Unity Projects/ChooChooBooBoo/Temp/StagingArea/Data/Managed/UnityEngine.UI.dll
--root-assembly=/Users/gbatha/Documents/Unity Projects/ChooChooBooBoo/Temp/StagingArea/Data/Managed/Unity.VisualScripting.Flow.dll

This is a silly reference to the story taking place on a train (choo-choo) and involving an injury (boo-boo).