It’s wise to keep on your toes this time of year because you never know what corporations are looking to pull one over on consumers. However, there are some cases when April Fools’ jokes aren’t that bad, such as the recent announcement of SEGA’s newest Sonic game following Sonic Frontiers. After such a monumental game, it’s a bold decision for SEGA to kill their most iconic character.
The Murder of Sonic is an aptly-named murder mystery game where players will need to solve the murder of the titular character on a train. Amy is hosting her own birthday party with all the classic characters, and it has a murder-mystery spin with Sonic as the victim. While this is just fun and games at first, there may be something darker going on behind the scenes.
In a follow-up tweet, the account assured fans that this was indeed an April Fools’ joke, just one that was real. SEGA had an idea and fully committed to the bit, releasing a beautiful visual novel that’s sure to appease the many fans of the Sonic franchise. Immediately after release, the game went viral on Twitter, earning 25,000 retweets and 60,000 likes in under 2 hours.
This is likely only the first of many jokes we will see coming from brands in the next 24 hours as April Fools’ comes and goes. Regardless, SEGA’s is something special simply because instead of it being a meaningless joke, players now have an official image of Sonic playing deceased in a position that’s ripe for meme material.
Developers have recently been taking non-canon approaches to their IPs, even if they don’t lend themselves to it sometimes. This has recently happened with the Overwatch Loverwatch event or the Dead by Daylight dating simulator Hooked on You. It’s silly fun that only works to strengthen the community when they see their favorite characters in a new and exciting way.
