Michael Jackson in video games
Since the game was released back in 1994, rumors about the link between Michael Jackson and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 have been continuous. The singer was always an avowed fan of video games, appearing for the first time in three different versions of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker released for DOS, arcades and Master System. In these three games, based on the movie of the same name, Moonwalker, the King of Pop signed on as designer and composer. The title was a nice beat'em up with horizontal scroll in which we tried to rescue, through music and dance, several kids kidnapped by the clutches of the fearsome Mr. Big.
But they were not Michael's only cameo in the industry. If in Moonwalker we moved to the rhythm of Beat It and Smooth Criminal, in other games like Space Channel 5 and Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 we also did the same thanks to Jackson's different cameos. But not content with his crossovers in his own works and collaborations, the artist also wanted to collaborate with the most popular character of the time: Sonic.
The romance between Sonic and Michael Jackson
An absolute fan of the blue hedgehog, there are many photos of Michael Jackson visiting the Sega offices in Japan. Images in which he appears accompanied by illustrious figures such as Mark Cerny, or playing the great classics of the time, such as Power Drift and Galaxy Force 2.
Considering their interest and that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 featured vintage composers like Bobby Brooks, Brad Buxer, Cirocco Jones, Darryl Ross, Doug Grigsby or Geoff Grace, how on earth did Sega want us to think that Michael Jackson wasn't also approached about the opportunity? The company denied it over and over again, he wasn't even in the credits, but more than a few users found reasonable resemblances between songs like Jam and game tunes like Carnival Night, or Stranger in Moscow and the game's credits.
Michael Jackson didn't like the result of Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Brad Buxer himself confirmed in a controversial interview that yes, indeed, if we noticed the imprint of the King of Pop it was because he had participated in it. "We did compose the music. Michael called me at the time for give him a helping hand on this project, and that's what I did. I've never played and I do not know what the developers have kept the tracks on which Michael and I have worked, but we did compose the music."
Many fans were reluctant to believe him because, then, what was the reason for excluding him from the credits? Why were the game producers denying his collaboration? According to the wonderful article Michael Jackson: The Video Game Conspiracy, it seems that the singer ended up dissatisfied with his work and removed his name from the credits of the game. Jackson didn't like the fact that they had to compress the music to make room for the graphics, as the mix didn't sound the way he wanted it to and he had to cut several tracks where the singer even beatboxed. The report claims that Sega got mad at him for that and started stating from then on that they had scrapped the whole thing.
Yuji Naka's statements close the story. They confirm what the report and Buxter's words told. Both hints seemed solid, but Sega stuck to its guns when they came out and never officially acknowledged the collaboration. The company claimed that both were not proof of anything, but how could they discredit the head of Sonic Team himself? So much for the unknown: the most famous musician in history and the most famous video game mascot of the 90s were best friends.
The story was originally published at Meristation
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