Technical Information

Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: March 31, 2023

A short visual novel with point and click elements, where your goal is to discover who killed Sonic. But calm down, he didn’t really die! It’s all just a setup for Amy’s birthday celebration.

Final Considerations – Analyzing the Game as a Whole

Graphics and UI

The interface is super intuitive (like most visual novels) and easy to comprehend, allowing even those who are not familiar with this type of game to understand it easily.

The art is very pretty. I really liked the cartoonish style and the screen texture (or was it jeans?) applied to all images.

One detail that I found very charming was how the coloring goes outside the lineart in some specific areas of each character. I adore when an art style includes these distinctive features.

When you control Sonic in DreamGear, pixel art similar to the style used in Sonic Advance was used.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

The songs are well made, but none of them particularly impressed me.

The “stage clear” sound effect from DreamGear was recycled from Sonic 2. I didn’t notice if any other sounds were reused. It’s an interesting trick, as it brings a touch of nostalgia for those who have played other games in the franchise.

One flaw is that no character has a voice. It would be great if voices were added, as they would add another layer to the narrative.

Gameplay

It’s a very linear game. You’ll need to click on the scenery to collect evidence and then ask questions to the characters.
After selecting the correct questions and answers, you’ll need to use a portable device called DreamGear (a clear reference to the Dreamcast and Game Gear). There, you control Sonic and must collect a minimum number of rings.

It’s an easy challenge, getting harder only toward the end (but even then, not stressful enough to worry about). The attempts are infinite, there is no game over.

There are three save slots, which is more than enough considering the linearity of the narrative. Since there’s only one ending, there’s no need to worry about replaying sections to save.

Given that it’s a free game, I wasn’t expecting much in terms of complexity.
It’s an easy and entertaining game that will appeal to people of all ages.

Replayability and Game Retention

Fun and light, it can easily be beaten in under three hours.