Sega Killed Sonic As An April Fool's Treat

Sonic is dead, according to Sega's new release, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. The game is an April Fool's gift, and The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is free on Steam.

The game takes a visual novel format and opens with Sonic dying on the Mirage Express during Amy Rose's murder mystery party held to celebrate her birthday. It's up to you, the player, to find out who killed Sonic and what sinister things are afoot.

As for whether this game is canononical, the answer is no. "This is not a Sonic Team title, but we strongly believe in the power of headcanon," the Steam description says.

Sonic Frontiers is the most recent canon Sonic game, an open-world game released on November 8, 2022. In GameSpot's Sonic Frontiers review, critic Richard Wakeling rated the game 7/10. He praised the game for its departure from the conventional formula found in past Sonic games. "There are frustrations that arise and break the flow, whether it's a middling mini-boss or a struggle with Sonic's floaty movement, and it's a big departure from what Sonic fans are used to," Wakeling said. "I'm fully on board with this new direction, though. Sonic Adventure set the template for the last 24 years of 3D Sonic games, and I'm hopeful Frontiers will do the same for the next generation. It has its flaws, and there's definite room for improvement, but the spiky mascot is finally moving in the right direction."

Sonic Frontiers' first DLC arrived on March 22 and is the first of three waves. The DLC included two new Challenge modes, Cyber Space Challenge and Battle Rush, as well as a new photo mode.