Visual Novel / The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

Is this really an innocent game, or is something more sinister afoot?^note  Clockwise from the top: The Mirage Express train, Rouge the Bat, Shadow the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Blaze the Cat, Vector the Crocodile, and Espio the Chameleon

"Sonic the Hedgehog... was murdered!? Get to the bottom of the mystery in this brand-new adventure!"

— Steam Description

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is a visual novel in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, released on the PC exclusively through Steam for free on March 31, 2023 in the US, and April 1 in Japan and other countries. It was developed by SEGA of America's dedicated Sonic social media team, led by social media manager Katie Chrzanowski, with assistance from a number of talented people, including members of the fan community.

You play as a freshly recruited employee on board the Mirage Express, a luxury train where Amy Rose is celebrating her birthday with her friends, by hosting a murder mystery-themed party with Sonic as the chosen victim. But as the game continues and you and Tails try to find the culprit, it quickly becomes apparent there might be something else going on...

The game plays out like a traditional visual novel where you find evidence and interrogate characters for information, intercut with isometric running segments, framed as the player using their DreamGear console to help sort out their thoughts, which play similarly to the Special Stages of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

You can view the game's launch trailer here.

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The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog contains examples of:

• Ageless Birthday Episode: Like Sonic Generations before it, Amy's having a birthday party but there's no indication that she actually went up in age.
• Alas, Poor Villain: The Mirage Express badnik was a unique intelligent model which only wanted to stay with the retiring conductor forever, and was willing to endanger others to do so via Eggman's "bounty". At the end, the conductor promises the train that he will never forget their time together, and the Flicky that was powering it stays with him.
• Always Check Behind the Chair: Parodied. The player character insists on checking the trash bin in every car, insisting that there's always something in the trash bin. There isn't anything in the bins, much to the increasing frustration of Tails, since you keep insisting on checking... until you get to the lounge, where there is something in the trash can. Should you then attempt to check the trash can in the conductor's car, the protagonist will refuse, saying they'd rather go out on a high note... unless you check the bin a second time, in which case they'll say that they can't help themselves and check anyway. The crushing emptiness of the trash can leaves you devastated, and your three companions opt to leave you to a moment of silence.
• All Part of the Show: The reason why the Mirage Express was able to hide subduing Sonic for real was due to using Amy's murder mystery game as a cover-up and tricking Espio into tranquilizing Sonic, making him think that it is part of the game.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: The interrogation sequences are framed as the protagonist imagining Sonic running on a Special Stage to focus their thoughts. In the final stretch of the story, the perspective changes to the actual Sonic as he races through several stages to break his friends free and take the Mirage Express down.
• Anti-Frustration Features:
  • The game allows you to adjust the "THINK!" platforming minigame's difficulty in case you find it too hard or just want to enjoy the visual novel aspect. The options can be used to reduce the amount of rings needed by up to half, slow the game down for easier reactions, remove Bottomless Pits, or outright make Sonic invincible. Using any of these options does not affect the story.
  • When entering a new train car, you'll automatically discard any pieces of evidence you no longer need from your inventory, so you don't waste time on frivolous guesses.
• Anti-Villain: The train wants to deliver Sonic and friends to Eggman so that it can force the conductor to stay on it, riding the rails forever. The train is doing this because after 32 years together, the train and the conductor have grown very attached to one another.
• April Fools' Day: Thanks to time zones, the game released on April 1 in Japan's side of the world. It was advertised as "a new direction for Sonic." And it is: Sonic the Hedgehog is dead! There's even a "Happy April Fools' Day!" note in the credits.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: The other characters are surprisingly slow to believe Sonic's warnings about the train being an Eggman creation, thinking he's just delirious after he got knocked out.
• Art-Shifted Sequel: Unlike most entries in the Sonic franchise, this game uses a cartoony 2D style similar to the Professor Layton games and the IDW comics, courtesy of Min Ho Kim, a.k.a. DEEGEEMIN.
• Ascended Meme:
  • The threatening look Amy makes after she finds out Sonic was actually injured is a reference to the "You have alerted the Sonic" meme that became popular in 2022.
  • At one point late in the game, failing one of the "Think" challenges has the protagonist think "Big oof". This is in nod to the IDW comics, where Sonic saying that in response to the death of Doctor Starline became a meme.
• Author Appeal: Katie Chrzanowski, the Sonic social media manager and executive producer of this game, is a big fan of the series' Chao. There is at least one Chao-related item in each room that the player can spot, the security guard is a mustached Chao, Rouge is trying to find a Fabergé Chao Egg that has a bedazzled Chao necklace inside of it, and a there is a Chao that bears resemblance to one that she took care of that can be seen when Espio recites a poem.
• Big "NO!": The train reacts to having its Flicky removed by letting out a "NOOOOOOOooooo--!!!" that goes on for two whole dialog boxes.
• A Birthday, Not a Break: Amy's birthday murder mystery game quickly turns sinister when it appears Sonic was hurt and injured for real.
• Bait-and-Switch: Shadow acts shifty once the game begins, locking the doors to prevent Amy from following him once Sonic has been knocked out. This is because Shadow is trying to get concert tickets for Amy as a last-minute birthday gift.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: The villain's goal is to deliver Sonic to Eggman for a reward. They take no opportunity to actually kill or restrain Sonic or any of the cast the entire time despite being able to, and in the end Sonic quickly recovers to full health and destroys the train.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Tails and the player character can see when Espio speaks in italics.
• Brick Joke: An optional conversation while collecting everyone's tickets at the beginning reveals that Sonic forgot to get a cake for Amy. At the end, Sonic finds a bakery at the station the train stopped at and purchases a cake for her.
• But Thou Must!: The "only right answers allow you to proceed" variety shows up throughout the game. Should you ask the wrong question or try to present the wrong evidence, you're told it's wrong and you have to try again. It's exaggerated in one scene when attempting to get rid of the egg in the safe, which the cast thinks is a bomb because it starts ticking once Rouge picks it up. You get sixteen options to choose from, but only one will let you advance.
• Canon Name: According to the game's trailer and files, the player character's canon name is Barry. However, the player is allowed to name their character whatever they want.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Rouge flat-out admits she's on the train less for the party and more because she wants to steal an expensive item that might be on the train. As such, Rouge only barely participates in the murder-mystery game, and only takes it seriously once the Wham Episode kicks in. Rouge even tries to swipe twenty bucks from the conductor's pocket after she gives him her train ticket.
• Cassandra Truth: The player character, early on, tries to tell Tails and Knuckles that Sonic might be actually hurt. They both laugh it off, stating how difficult that would be, which discourages the MC from continuing to pursue that line of thought until much later.
• Cerebus Syndrome: After you solve the mystery plot, the game drops the fun as the Mirage Express is revealed to be Eggman's badnik and poses a real threat.
• Chekhov M.I.A.: Invoked. The lore card Tails receives for his detective persona notes that he had a Flicky partner that left him and joined Eggman. Not only did the train provide the lore card, it was a badnik powered by a Flicky.
• The Comically Serious:
  • Most of the characters act this way when they're getting into their roles as part of the murder mystery game. But Blaze is a stand-out example because she acts this way the entire time, in-character or otherwise. For example, the player character can suggest pretending to be Blaze's spouse to distract a guard, which Blaze takes as an actual marriage proposal before asking them about their heritage and what war crimes they've committed. When they back out, Blaze also criticizes them for giving up too easily.
  • It's a bit of deconstruction however, at least for one person, Espio is the one who "murdered" Sonic, but instead of simply confessing his crimes as the tone on the train becomes more serious and all the other characters drop their personas, Espio remains staunch in denying accusations and requires the player to unmistakably prove that he was the culprit. When he's asked why he didn't just drop the act earlier, he sheepishly confesses that he believed the high intensity of the murder mystery was simply how the game was played.
• Company Cross References:
  • There's a smashed-in Super Monkey Ball arcade machine in the Saloon car.
  • The clickable monitor in the Casino car has a promo for "NiGHTS Pinball".
• Conflict Ball: When it becomes apparent that this is no longer a game, the culprit, Espio still has to be confronted despite resolving to help and doesn't find it odd that Sonic got really injured when he was just asleep the last time he saw him, resulting in everyone nearly blaming Espio for that as well until Sonic explains the situation himself while Espio admits he thought this was all part of the game.
• Continuity Cameo:
  • As per series tradition, Big the Cat can be seen through the window of one of the train cars, fishing.
  • A portrait of Professor Pickle appears in the library car.
  • In the ending of the game, Sage and Metal Sonic appear in the end next to Eggman, wearing party hats and Fun T-Shirts. Eggman even namedrops Sage before her cameo in the ending in an optional piece of dialogue.
  • Mixed with Meme Acknowledgement, there are two cameos by the memetic Rookie avatar, Ian Jr: as a portrait in the library car and as a guitarist in a picture found in the lounge car.
• Continuity Nod:
  • At the beginning of the game, when taking Sonic's ticket, the conductor mentions the time Eggman took over the world, referencing the events of Sonic Forces.
  • If you talk to Blaze after the incident in the safe, she'll mention to say her thanks to Cream, a nod to their friendship in Sonic Rush.
  • When Eggman makes contact with the train, Sonic asks if he's planning yet another Death Egg.
  • During the last part of the game which is an extended "THINK!" segment, Sonic mentions that in his last adventure, he got a speed boost from maxing-out his ring gauge.
  • In the saloon car, looking out the window reveals a giant chain, possibly the same one used to capture Little Planet.
• Cool Train: The game takes place on the Mirage Express; a state-of-the-art train that's primarily used for events and has several themed carriages. However, it's actually a unique high-end Badnik.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot:
  • Had the player character been more straightforward in telling the others that Sonic was actually hurt, rather than simply hinting at it, they could have stopped the Mirage Express' plot much earlier. The PC acknowledges this, but Sonic reassures them that it isn't their fault.
  • Similarly, had Espio confessed his role as the "murderer" of Sonic as soon as things were heating up, there would have much less time trying to figure out who dun it and more time figuring out that there was a mastermind behind this event.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Eggman created an entire functional system of high-speed rail for cargo and passengers across at least one county, even if it was Powered by a Forsaken Child, but only wanted it to carry materials for his future empire and possibly capture Sonic. It's also mentioned that he wrote and published his own autobiography alongside a recipe book, and apparently sells casino supplies.
• A Day in the Limelight: Tails is assigned the detective role, and takes to it quite well, becoming the character the player interacts with the most as he drives the investigation forward. Amy is also very prominent as it’s her birthday, but does get ahead of herself and spend multiple train cars ahead of the player and Tails.
• Death Glare:
  • Both Knuckles and Shadow are noted by the PC to have scary stares when they're annoyed or angry.
  • When the party learns that Sonic is actually close to death and not just playing, Amy is so angered that she gets a unique portrait that's half-Death Glare and half-Face Framed in Shadow.
• Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: There's no consequence for picking wrong options and the short "THINK!" stages just restart on loss until the player wins.
• Deconstructive Parody: We get to see the world of Sonic through the eyes of your everyday person in this world, who repeatedly points out and is completely mystified by how just utterly bizarre Sonic and his group of friends are to someone who has zero context of their adventures and backgrounds.
• Detective Mole: Defied; one of the rules of Amy's murder mystery party is that Tails, as the detective, can't be the murderer.
• Developer's Foresight:
  • There is an impressively thorough amount of checking to prevent a player from naming themselves as something that would intentionally cause confusion or be inappropriate for the game.
    • If you attempt to name yourself after another character in the game, the player character will comment on how that would be cool if it were actually true, and you'll have to input something else.
    • You can't name the MC a swear word, slur, or after certain infamous figures^note The reason why the names of said infamous figures get blocked is because parts of their name spelling spell out a swear word or slur, and may happen to otherwise innocent names., which will cause the player character to say they "don't think [they] could show [their] face around again" if they put that on their name tag.
  • In the lounge, when you find enough clues, you're supposed to start an interrogation with Shadow. However, the game will allow you to start an interrogation with Amy instead, which leads to a unique set of dialogue.
• Didn't Think This Through: Shadow's plan to keep Amy far away involved locking all the doors on the train... except the conductor had given Amy a master key that could open any lock on the train as a special birthday privilege. He begrudgingly admits that the key's a well-known favor when this is pointed out.
• Discontinuity Nod: When Knuckles rejects the player character's offer for food, they wonder if Knuckles dislikes the menu or if he's just illiterate. Right after that, Knuckles mentions the name of one of the dishes on the menu, disproving that theory.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: The true villain turns out to be the Mirage Express itself, as it's one of Eggman's badniks.
• Drone of Dread: Used liberally throughout the soundtrack, especially during incredibly tense moments involving Sonic's "murder."
• Edible Theme Naming: The majority of the high scores on the Super Monkey Ball cabinet in the Saloon are named after food, with the exception of "VECTR" and "KNUCK" obviously since they had played the game recently. This is also a minor plot point as "ULTIM" doesn't match the food theme either, who is then figured out to be Shadow, proving he was in the Saloon earlier.
• Fake Alibi: After Sonic gets seriously injured during the murder mystery game, Tails, Amy, and the player character investigate, asking each passenger about their alibis. Espio's alibi was that he was reading in the library and didn't notice anything, which the player character finds flimsy, but the others accept it because Espio had memorized the book he was reading. It turns out that Espio was the killer; he memorized the book by speed-reading, giving him time to take Sonic by surprise.
• Fake–Real Turn: The cast is on the train for the sake of a murder-mystery game, though they do so under the pretext that it's Amy's birthday, they're all playing a game, and it's just for fun. Then Sonic actually ends up hurt, and the mystery becomes much more important to solve.
• Felony Misdemeanor: During the planning phase to rob the vault, Tails, Blaze, Rouge, and the player character all treat a coaster-less drink as the most heinous crime imaginable.
• Final-Exam Boss: The sequence of running back through the train as Sonic re-uses all the mechanics from each car's thinking segments, in sequence, at each appropriate car.
• First Day from Hell: The game takes place during the main character's first day, during which they are knocked out, trapped in a closet, forced to help with a robbery, and assaulted and trapped with the rest of the gang by the train and set to be delivered to Dr. Eggman, who intends to either turn them into robots or send them to a bad future. They can also trap themself in a game of slots even after Tails tries to outright or subtly get them away from the machine.
• First-Person Smartass: The player character has some truly Phoenix Wright-esque internal snarking throughout the game, especially towards the other characters' eccentricities.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Tails' lore card mentions that his old partner was a Flicky who went to Eggman's side. This is exactly what happened with the train, which is powered by a Flicky, the same one on his lore card.
  • You can find Dr. Eggman's autobiography in the library car, and poker chips with his symbol on them in the casino. Both are brushed off by the player character and Tails, but prove to be big hints as to who's really responsible.
  • There are many clues that point to which of the cast murdered Sonic:
    • Most of the cast are interrogated on their whereabouts and actions during the train's crash. However, only Espio and Shadow are directly accused of killing Sonic and needing to prove otherwise. Espio's alibi is the most shaky, with it revolving around the idea that he was too engrossed in a book to notice Shadow coming back from the saloon car (even though he didn't pay attention enough to put the book back in its right place). The biggest clue is that Espio couldn't actually verify his own alibi; the player character has to speak up in his defense. Espio is also the only character who is stated to have been alone when the crash happened.
    • Amy gets a "scoop" when she gets to the library car, when we know the only character there was Espio. We later learn that his information is false and meant to implicate Shadow. Rouge also finds the blueprint to the car in the library.
    • The player character and Tails find a hidden passage from the conductor car to the library car, which gives whoever is in there a way to get closer to Sonic without going through the casino car. Espio's very specialty is espionage and infiltration, which makes him the most equipped to murder someone and get away with it by using a secret passage.
  • There is some for the true nature of one the game's Red Herrings. Shadow acts cagey and is pegged as one of the suspects, but one of the first questions he asks the conductor and the player once he boards is if there are any gift bags available for sale on the train. This is the first clue that Shadow's goal is to get a birthday gift for Amy, as everyone but him got her one, clearing him of being the culprit. The only reason why he acts so shady is so that Amy won't find out about his attempt to get the gift using the lounge's computer.
  • There are also clues as to a third party interfering with the murder mystery.
    • As the player character notes, Sonic is actually hurt and not simply pretending to be dead for the sake of the game. Regardless of the game, none of the cast would ever hurt Sonic that way.
    • An early function of the train gives a few hints, if the player is paying attention. The arms are everywhere in the train, and are said to have a lot of control over its functions besides just cleaning it.
    • The manner of Sonic's "death" also raises suspicion. Sonic was tranquilized by a blowdart, despite no weapons being allowed on the train. While the culprit, Espio, is accused of being stealthy enough to bring it aboard the train, he later admits that he was given instructions to shoot Sonic.
    • The name of the train seems unnecessarily mysterious and dramatic for what is, on the face of it, a somewhat gimmicky passenger train. It brings to mind the naming scheme of many of Eggman's creations.
    • The conductor has yellow pupils peeking out against black sclerae, same as the robotic eyes of the hands; an old portrait of the conductor seen in the library depicts him with normal eyes. But if you took the conductor for a robot or Robot Me copy of the original, you would have fallen for a Red Herring — it really is the conductor, and the darkened eyes are from the shadow of his cap's brim.
• The Gambling Addict: The player can opt to be one if they choose to play the slots, believing they'll get "big money," only to fail every time. Even Tails gets concerned about the player's tendency to play the slots, though he eventually leaves and patiently waits until the player stops playing after much prodding to get them away from the machine.
• Gave Up Too Soon: The player character and Tails were actually close to solving the mystery in implicating Espio. However, the MC doubts themself and accidentally helps give Espio an alibi.
• Gender-Inclusive Writing:
  • The player character is referred to exclusively with gender-neutral "they/them" pronouns and terms (such as being able to pretend to be Blaze's "spouse"). Their portrait is also gender-ambiguous.
  • This is the first time where Sega's policy of writing Chao as gender-neutral, first established in Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW), is clearly brought up in a game. Omochao is referred to with they/them pronouns, and so is a guard Chao with a mustache — based on one of the male game developers, according to the credits. This extends to the player character asking the Chao about their partner, rather than about their husband or wife.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Eggman is responsible for converting countless trains, including the one the story takes place on, into sentient badniks, and puts a bounty on Sonic to give incentive to capture him. However, he's never directly confronted within the story. He wasn't even aware of the situation until the train messages him after the mystery plot is over and does nothing more than to talk through the intercoms.
• Grew Beyond Their Programming: Eggman didn't expect the Mirage Express to develop such an emotional dependency on the Conductor, but casually accepts it as long as he gets Sonic.
• Hand Wave: If you "interrogate" Amy in the lounge, Tails and the player character ask Amy how she managed to keep her Piko Piko hammer despite the train confiscating all other potential weapons. Apparently, just like the birthday key, it's a birthday privilege.
• Happily Married: The conductor and his wife. He mentions how much he's looking forward to enjoying his retirement in Spagonia with her, has a portrait of her hanging in the train's dining car, and his Comical Coffee Cup has ""A cup of joe in your hand, wife by your side, paradise," written on it when inspected in the Conductor's car. The wife shows up in the ending scene of the game, where she gives a big hug to the conductor after the entire ordeal with the train is over, glad to see him safe after several hours of waiting.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The nameless employee who serves as the player character can be named whatever the player desires. The game's code and the trailer has their default name listed as "Barry", and refers to them as "namelessmc" or "Nameless MC."
• He Knows Too Much: The train manipulated Espio into tranquilizing and disposing of Sonic once the latter figured out its true nature as a Badnik.
• The Hero Dies: Played for Laughs as the main premise of the game and its advertising, where Sonic the Hedgehog himself is murdered...as part of a murder mystery game. Then it turns out Sonic might have been edging towards real danger due to being hit with a blow dart and he was found later to be hardly breathing.
• Heroic BSoD: The player character suffers one when they realize that they'd known Sonic had been seriously hurt but didn't tell anyone, and ultimately failed to protect the passengers despite the Conductor telling them to give the train's guests a good time. Fortunately, Sonic snaps them out of it.
• Heroic Sacrifice: When faced with the not-really explosive Fabergé Chao Egg, one of the player character's suggestions is that they take the egg and use their body to shield the others. Tails immediately refuses to allow them to sacrifice themselves, while Rouge is perfectly fine with allowing them to go through with their plan and Blaze shuts them down by pointing out they're too scrawny to effectively shield an explosion.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Downplayed. While the player can probably expect Eggman's involvement, he's only indirectly involved in the incident. The real Big Bad is the train itself, which is actually a Badnik looking to capture Sonic. The game even follows through with the original murder mystery game the group was playing, as one of Sonic's friends (albeit unwittingly) really did "kill" him.
• Hopeless with Tech: Justified when Shadow accidentally prints the web page of a ticket retail site when trying to buy tickets off of it for Amy, since he was trying to use a very tricky printer that even Tails had a hard time understanding. Shadow still admits that computers are not his strongest suit.
• It Can Think: It's revealed that not only is the Mirage Express train a Badnik, it's actually a special model that unlike the standard models which only have a basic motivation to fight Sonic, it's capable of intelligent thought and develops a bond with the conductor, only to snap once he announces his retirement.
• It's All My Fault: After the Mirage Express is revealed to be one of Eggman's badniks, and that it's going to try to deliver Sonic and friends to Eggman for a reward, the MC takes it very hard, blaming themself for letting things get so bad. The dialogue options even emphasize that they feel really bad about it. Lucky them, Sonic is there to lift their spirit with a Dare to Be Badass speech and to reassure the MC that they haven't lost yet.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Shadow's motivation for repeatedly locking the doors is trying to keep Amy away as far as possible so he could secretly try to buy her tickets to her favourite band in lieu of a gift.
  • Rouge, as usual. Downplayed in that her jerkassery mostly consists of rampant kleptomania and accepting the invitation more to steal a treasure than to celebrate with Amy, but she still thinks to bring a birthday gift and toss a compliment in the main character's direction unprompted.
• Joke Item: Much like the attorney's badge, the Menu is always in the player's inventory. It's first used as a tutorial to check out the inventory, with the conductor quizzing the player on what's being served. It is never used as an item during interrogations, with the only use it has being in the beginning at the Dining Car, which can prompt some optional dialogue with characters like Vector. Even when the player discards items that are no longer relevant to their investigation, it always remains in the player's inventory. Justified, as there's always a dialogue option to ask if the cast wants something to eat, and the player would need it on hand to show the guests what is available.
• Jumping-On Point: Because the game takes the perspective of an Audience Surrogate who knows next to nothing about Sonic and his friends, and Sonic himself is obviously absent, it acts as an effective introduction to the series' extended cast for new fans.
• Kayfabe: Used in-universe. Everyone on board (except for the MC and the conductor) is participating in a murder-mystery game for Amy's birthday, with each person playing a character assigned to them. While it's all make-believe, Sonic and friends all take to their roles while the murder mystery is playing out. They all understand that this is just a game and no one's in any real danger; they're doing it all for the sake of having a good time at a birthday party. At least, until the MC finds Sonic actually injured. Even after this early reveal, this trope still presents a problem because it makes it difficult for the MC's concerns to be taken seriously.
• Kid Detective: Tails is assigned the role of the detective, and takes to the part quite well; he's the one who leads his and the player character's interrogations with accurate theories and accusations, and asks the player character to provide evidence to back them up.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: If you haven't played Sonic Frontiers, then the game's ending spoils the fact that Sage is one of Eggman's creations and essentially his "daughter", which is admittedly a First-Episode Twist. More pertinently, that same detail also spoils the Golden Ending of Frontiers, which shows that Eggman managed to bring Sage back after her Heroic Sacrifice to stop THE END.
• Loose Canon: Parodied — the official statement is that it's canon, insofar as Sonic Team believes in the power of headcanon. It does seem to continue on from the story of Sonic Frontiers (mostly because Sage is present), but also contains references to games and other media set in explicitly different timelines.^note The only main game installment it directly contradicts is Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), by having Blaze in her original backstory as a Dimensional Traveler, rather than being from the future. Though, considering 06 is still Canon Discontinuity, it's not that big a deal. That said, the story is simple and standalone enough that you can reliably assume it happened at some point without needing to make major concessions over the timeline.
• Lower-Deck Episode: Essentially, it's one of these by virtue of making the player character one of the usually nameless background extras. While they're continually baffled at the personality quirks and interpersonal dynamics of the team, for the main characters it's an exciting but fairly routine adventure only made memorable by the date. The player even admits at the end that they're only telling the story of the one time their life crossed over with people as famous as this before they returned to everyday obscurity.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": Once the player character, Tails, Rouge, and Blaze have made into the train's safe room and found the treasure, Rouge reveals the treasure is not the bedazzled Chao egg itself, and twists it to open it... only for the egg to start ticking. Fortunately, it turns out to not be a bomb and safely opens once the ticking stops, revealing a beautiful Chao necklace that Rouge is utterly taken by.
• Missing Steps Plan: One part of the Fabergé Chao Egg heist plan is letting Tails handle the problem, and he's expected to have difficulties. None of the next options address the issue, but all result in "Tails managed to do it", somehow.
• Multiple Endings: You can choose how you move on following Eggman's plan being foiled, ranging from deciding to stay in your position, to winning the lottery and running a successful supermarket chain.
• Musical Nod: "Sonic's Theme" contains a few nods to "It Doesn't Matter", specifically the Adventure 2 version.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The train monitors are clickable and give advertisements for Colosseum Highway Zone, Twinkle Park, and Music Plant Zone.
  • The conductor is planning to visit Spagonia with his wife after his retirement. The player character later discusses this with Tails, who suggests visiting Professor Pickle should they ever be in the area themselves. Both the player and Tails will even mention a Spagonia delicacy, the Sparkle Gelatin, with Tails even mentioning how it can melt a jaded heart.
  • The saloon car is based off of Mirage Saloon Zone.
  • Looking outside of the window in the saloon car shows the chain used to tether Little Planet from Sonic CD, rusted and mossy with age.
  • An extremely subtle one: the top score on the arcade machine other than Knuckles and Vector's scores is from "TOAST", with a score of 7331; LEGO Ideas 21331 "Sonic the Hedgehog – Green Hill Zone" was designed by Ideas user "toastergrl".
  • Knuckles' hat is a variation of his hat seen in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, albeit with rings instead of star decorations, likely to get around SEGA's tendency to avoid directly using elements from the OVA.
  • Blaze being in the casino car for her role is a nod to the Night Carnival zone, Blaze's first stage in her story mode in Sonic Rush.
  • When Eggman reveals himself in the conductor's room, the player character has two options that both reference adaptations of Sonic into other media:
    • You can ask him not to take them to the future, where Eggman's already taken over everything.^note This could also be a reference to multiple other pieces of Sonic media, including Sonic CD, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), or Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, but none of those match the idea of "Eggman sending Sonic into the future where he's already taken over" as well as Sonic the Comic.
    • Alternatively, if you ask him not to turn you into robots, he'll note that he "hasn't done that in quite a while".
  • The birthday cake that Sonic buys Amy at the end of the game has a pink and yellow striped pattern that resembles the soil in Collision Chaos.
  • In the ending, Eggman's party hat is quite clearly from his original Sonic 1 concept design, where he wore a nightcap and pajamas.
  • The conductor says that he's been conducting the train for 32 years; the visual novel came out March 31/April 1 2023, roughly 32 years after the first Sonic game released.
  • The code Rouge uses to open the safe, 23-04-01, is a reference to the game being released for April Fools' Day 2023.
  • When Tails wakes up in the dining car closet, he says that his head's spinning.
  • When asked if he would like something to drink, Shadow replies that he would like coffee beans and a spoon.
  • The closet in the lounge car contains the Adventurer Shoes and a pink t-shirt with a purple collar and yellow stripes on the sleeves, a nod to Sonic's "favorite clothes" from Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie. Like with Knuckles' hat, this gets around being exactly the same shirt as in the OVA by having the shirt be otherwise blank (as far as can be seen from the angle we're given).
  • The whiteboard renders for the player, Tails, Rouge, and Blaze when they're planning the heist are in the "Sonic the Sketchhog" style featured in Japanese manuals and various Classic-era concept sketches.
  • One of the dialogue options when the player is ready to move on is "Let's do it to it!"
  • Also, this isn't the first time that Sonic was killed in the franchise, only to return to life no worse for the wear (in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) he was rendered Only Mostly Dead by Mephiles the Dark and brought back to life with the power of the Chaos Emeralds and a kiss from Princess Elise of Soleanna, while here, he is rendered Not Quite Dead by Espio and recovers after a few hours).
  • Sonic getting incapacitated by being shot with a tranquilizer dart calls to mind an incident that happened to a different Sonic.
  • The ending scene featuring Dr. Eggman, Sage, and Metal Sonic has a monitor behind the doctor that features some of his past exploits. This includes the Starfall Islands from Sonic Frontiers, along with two references to the IDW Comics: the Faceship from the Metal Virus Saga and the Eggperial City Tower.
• Non-Standard Character Design: The Conductor is notably a lot taller than most of the main cast. It could be argued it's because he's old, but even though she's not in the game, one can make the comparison that he's almost twice as tall as Vanilla, Cream's mom. In the ending, we get to see the Conductor's wife, and she's almost as tall as he is, so it's not him specifically, either.
• Noodle Incident: If you check Omochao's "Wanted!" Poster at the saloon, Tails will tell you they're wanted for medical malpractice. He doesn't elaborate further.
• Not So Above It All:
  • The fact that Shadow both participates in the game and willingly wears his costume seems to imply some degree of this, even if he's not putting much effort into roleplaying. He even gets into trying to beat the high score on the Super Monkey Ball arcade machine, competing against Knuckles and Vector. In fact, Shadow taught Knuckles and Vector how to play the game in the first place. Turns out he's a fan of Super Monkey Ball, who would've thunk it.
  • In the game's final scene, Metal Sonic alongside Sage (with the game's artist DEEGEEMIN stating it was Sage's idea) wear party hats and Fun T-Shirts, hoping that Eggman succeeded.
• Oddball in the Series: It's a visual novel, in a series known for high-speed platforming. The fact that it was released close to April Fools' Day with a shout-out to the day in the ending credits shows that the oddness was intentional, though.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Once Rouge and the others agree on a plan to break into the safe room, the game jumps to after it's already done.
• Omniglot: According to Tails, Espio is fluent in 17 languages.
• Only Sane Man: The player character is the only normal person in a cast full of conflicting personalities and adventurers.
• Our Hero Is Dead: Sonic the Hedgehog, the Blue Blur himself, is the game's victim. Of course, it's all part of the murder mystery game. Well, not quite. While the "murderer", Espio, did not intend to actually kill Sonic, he was manipulated into poisoning Sonic by the train with a sleeping dart. When the MC checks his body, and when he's brought to the conductor car, Sonic's near death. Thankfully, he recovers.
• Out of Focus: Sonic himself, due to his "death" being the crux of much of the game's plot. However, he is playable in the minigames during interrogations and in the final stretch of the game, where he recovers from the sleeping dart he was hit with, rescues the rest of the cast, and fights the Mirage Express.
• Painful Rhyme: All of Espio's poems while he's role-playing as the poet.
• Pun: Before the first "THINK" section, Tails suggests that the player character follows their "train of thought." While on a train.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Mirage Express' hand's eyes turn bright red upon revealing itself as the true antagonist of the game.
• Red Herring:
  • The signs all seem to point to one suspect early on, but it eventually gets explained. Shadow is treated with repeat suspicion throughout the investigation, due to him going around locking the doors between cars. It then turns out it was for the much more benign reason of trying to get Amy a birthday present.
  • The Conductor sticks out like a sore thumb for his Nonstandard Character Design, his position, and his suspicious absence during the murder mystery.
    • The Conductor's black-and-yellow "Uh-Oh" Eyes are strikingly similar to the robot hands' eyes and are a far cry from the Conductor's portrait. This is completely innocent, and the darkened eyes are just the result of the shadow from his hat.
    • The Conductor towers over the other cast members and has a mustache. He is not, however, Eggman in disguise — Eggman is at his base and calls in through the train's displays.
    • The train itself has many Hidden Depths, and the Conductor is naturally one who'd know all about them. He doesn't know, however, that the train is a servant of Dr. Eggman's.
• Retirony: A non-lethal example as the Conductor is on his last day before retirement during the events of the game. This kicks off the train's plot to bring Sonic and his friends to Eggman so it can wish for the Conductor to never leave it. The train has grown very attached to the conductor after all these years, and is willing to resort to kidnapping to keep the Conductor from leaving.
• The Reveal:
  • The one who murdered Sonic the Hedgehog is Espio, who shot Sonic with a blowdart. However, Sonic really was near death, as Espio was manipulated by the true Big Bad of the game. Espio was under the impression that the blow dart only had a mild sleeping agent, and Sonic would just feel woozy for a while.
  • Besides the murderer's identity, it's also revealed that the train is a Flicky-powered Badnik who kidnapped the Conductor, and after its treachery is revealed, it holds the rest of the cast hostage so it can take them to Dr. Eggman.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: When the player has to explain how Espio was able to memorize what he read from the train manual, they can attribute it to Espio being a speed-reading ninja or a quick-reading poet. Both answers are accepted, even though Espio is only pretending to be a poet.
• Running Gag:
  • Every time the player character tries to recall the Conductor's advice of keeping the guests safe, their flashbacks has the Conductor being much more flattering to them (while also more blunt about the consequences) than he actually was.
  • Anytime the player is thrown something that they never expected, they always comment on how they weren't told about said element during their job interview. Inversely, they will sometimes mention that a detail they're talking about with the cast was brought up during their job interview.
  • In every car, you can insist on checking the trash can, to Tails' increasing exasperation (and the player character's increasing sadness when they prove to be empty). The punchline comes in the lounge, where there actually is a clue in the trash; satisfied, the player character then refuses to check the trash bin in the conductor's car... at first. If the player checks the trash bin again, the player character relents and looks, to their (and everyone else in the car's) massive disappointment.
• Running Gagged: Subverted. After finally finding something in the trash in the lounge, if the player character checks the trash bin in the conductor car, they'll reject the impulse, saying they want to leave on a high note. If they check it again, however, they'll give in, despite knowing that they'll be disappointed if nothing's there. And sure enough, there isn't, and what's worse is that Tails, Amy, and Shadow are all expecting something out of the trash.
• Sad Battle Music: The Final Boss theme. It has some melancholy sections in it, referencing the train is just lonely and it just wanted to be with The Conductor forever as it doesn't understand the concept of aging due to not being organic (apart from the Flicky in it).
• Sanity Ball: Tails and the player character tend to trade roles for the only one with common sense in the room, depending on the scene.
• Scunthorpe Problem: The game forbids the player from entering bad words as the player character's name. It will also check for substrings, so innocent names can even be blocked, such as "Phoenix Wright".
• Self-Deprecation: The trailer for the game notes that they took all of the online feedback for the Sonic the Hedgehog series into account (yes, all of it), and in light of that, they are picking an exciting new direction for Sonic: he's dead.
• Self-Serving Memory: The employee's flashbacks to the Conductor telling them to take care of the guests has them remembering the Conductor being much more flattering to them (and also more blunt about the consequences of an unhappy party) than he actually was.
• Ship Tease: While investigating the Saloon Car, Tails finds lipstick on one of the three glasses, with the other two belonging to Knuckles and Vector. The Echidna admits Rouge dropped by while searching for something, and Tails deduces Knuckles offered her a drink. Later, during the ending, Knuckles and Rouge share a glance while smiling.
• Shout-Out:
  • Sonic's death pose is laid out exactly like the Family Guy "fallen down" pose.
  • The Conductor is a dead-ringer visually to the Conductor from Galaxy Express 999, with the same Face Framed in Shadow effect with his cap.
  • When Tails and the player character confront Knuckles for goofing around in the saloon car instead of participating in the mystery, he sheepishly responds "Don't tell Amy!"
  • As Tails and the player character solidify their accusation of the murderer, the artwork shown is remarkably similar to key art of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, with the shorter, detective-costumed Tails filling in for Layton and the taller, besuited player character as Phoenix Wright.
• The Show Must Go On: The player character is convinced by Tails that Sonic is just committed to the bit and leaves him to continue the mystery game. Later, they regret disregarding Sonic's injury and not trying to speak up about it more.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Shadow certainly thinks so when the Conductor keeps referencing how much he's looking forward to spending more time at home. The Conductor even has a Comical Coffee Cup that expresses his love for his wife. The ending of the game shows this is very much the case, where the Conductor's wife is openly expressive and happy to see that her husband has arrived safely after waiting for hours.
  Shadow: Alright alright we get it, he loves his wife.
• Skeleton Key: Amy gets a special Birthday Key that lets her move between every train's car even if they're locked. This throws a wrench into Shadow's plans to delay her while he tries to purchase band tickets for her as a surprise, since she can just unlock the doors.
• Slave to PR: The player character is constantly worried about how cool they come across, and can frequently be talked into doing something by applying some peer pressure. One of the But Thou Must! answers in the casino car has the PC say that stealing is wrong, only for Rouge and Blaze to insult them as uncool, which causes the PC to backtrack and agree to help them try to steal something.
• Songs in the Key of Panic: Much like one of its inspirations, the Ace Attorney series, as the player enters the final interrogation to uncover the murder, the game's interrogation theme speeds up and sounds much more chaotic.
• Spiteful Spoiler: Knuckles reveals that Espio once quickly read through a book Knuckles was reading for the sole purpose of spoiling the ending for Knuckles.
• Spoiled Sweet: Upon learning that Blaze is a princess, the MC bows to her, thinking it's the only appropriate response. But Blaze reassures the MC that such a thing is not necessary with her.
• The Summation: After you inspect the conductor's car, Amy asks everyone to gather for the final interrogation and exposition.
• Sunk Cost Fallacy: When the player character tries playing the slot machine nine times in a row (and failing to win each time), Tails will ask the player if they've heard of the aforementioned phenomenon, to which the player will rattle off its entire definition in a single text box. Tails then patiently waits for the player to stop trying to win at the machine.
  Player: The Sunk Cost Fallacy? The phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial? Of course I've heard of it, why do you ask?
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: A plot point. Everyone scolds Espio for using a blow dart to "murder" Sonic in a friendly murder mystery game, only for him to reveal he was told to do this by the "Mirage Express staff", who gave him the blow dart in the first place. Though he also remarks afterwards that Sonic's speed makes it difficult to "murder" him with much else.
• This Is Reality: As one option for dealing with the Fabergé Chao Egg bomb, the player character suggests opening it to see if it has any wires inside that they can cut, like in the movies. Tails denies the suggestion because they're not in a movie and that the situation is real-life.
• Tragic Dream: The Mirage Express just wants to keep having fun with the Conductor forever, the way it's always been. Alas, this is impossible because, unlike a Badnik, the Conductor is mortal and has grown old and tired of running the train. A bemused Eggman essentially admits that there's no way he can deliver on that dream as a reward for capturing Sonic.
• Trailers Always Lie: The launch trailer notably has a couple of scenes and dialogue that aren't in the actual game, such as Sonic not being present in the initial gathering, and the Conductor asking the player character to make sure that "everyone makes it out of here... Alive." Mostly to present the game as an apparent actual murder mystery when the initial premise is that the "murder mystery" is actually a party game that becomes more serious but ultimately doesn't result in anyone actually dying, though Sonic is seriously hurt.
• Tsundere: Shadow acts like his usual distant self, to the point of locking all the doors in the car. It's revealed that he did this because he forgot to bring a gift and was trying to buy Amy tickets to her favorite band as a surprise. He claims it's for the sake of his "social status," but he's taken aback when Amy offers to take him to a concert as an apology for accusing him of murder.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Inverted. Rouge and Blaze rope Tails and the player character into assisting them with a robbery, and they proceed to plan out in excruciating detail how they're going to break into the vault room. As soon as they've finished planning, it Gilligan Cuts to them inside the vault room, having apparently executed it flawlessly. Only once they proceed past that point and open the safe do things actually start to go wrong.
• Unwitting Pawn: Espio, the one assigned to "murder" Sonic, thought that tranquilizing Sonic was all a part of the game. Turns out, it was all part of a plan by the train.
• Wham Episode: The conductor's car turns into one of these. Besides the reveal that Espio is the one who "murdered" Sonic in the murder mystery game, Sonic wakes up and reveals that the Mirage Express is actually one of Eggman's badniks, and it intends to bring them all to Eggman.
• Wham Line: A line that changes the entire story right quick happens in the Conductor's Car after the murder mystery has been solved, as it shifts the focus away from the game and promptly raises the stakes.
  Sonic: I need... everyone to listen. The train's a Badnik.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Despite having sentience and emotional attachment to another, the cast doesn't hesitate to destroy the Mirage Express, as it's still a Badnik powered by a Flicky and has kidnapped them to deliver to Eggman, has almost ruined Amy's birthday, and injured Sonic in the process. Only the Conductor shows pity to it.
• What Would X Do?: Tails tells the player that whenever he's stumped, he asks himself "What would Sonic do," which eventually leads to the player "thinking" about what argument to present, represented by the game's "THINK!" mini-game segments. Near the very end, once the player and Sonic are trapped in the Dining Car, they tell the blue blur that they've been asking themselves what he would do. Upon hearing the question, Sonic answers that he'd speed on ahead to save his captured friends, no matter what.
• Willing Suspension of Disbelief: The game's climax involves Sonic breaking train's doors, with cars being much longer and hazardous than how they've appeared before. During the Final Boss, Sonic chases the train, then the entire Mirage Express jumps in front of Sonic, Espio grabs the Flicky from its engine and Amy gets a good hit at the train's front while it's still at full speed. All while the cast is supposed to be trapped inside. But it happens inside the action minigame, so only the dialogues matter.
• Worf Had the Flu:
  • Amy's Piko Piko Hammer breaks because it's a lighter model than the one she normally carries, since she wasn't expecting any real danger.
  • Besides Sonic being the victim in the murder mystery game, Sonic gets beaten into unconsciousness by the robot arms of the train due to being tranquilized by a blowdart from Espio.
• Wrecked Weapon: One of the first pieces of evidence you find is a stick, which turns out to be the handle of Amy's Piko Piko Hammer, as she'd accidentally broken it trying to destroy the shelf trapping her, Tails, and the player character in the dining room closet. Fortunately, Tails is able to fix it, good as new. Apparently it's a considerably weaker backup version of the one she usually carries.
• Yandere: The Mirage Express itself turns out to be a platonic version. It's one of Eggman's badniks, and it's bringing Sonic and friends to Eggman with the intention of collecting a bounty of a wish. In the train's case, its wish is to have the conductor not retire and ride the rails on it forever. After 32 years together, the train doesn't want to see the conductor leave, and it eventually forces the issue by trapping the conductor.

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