30-year fan theory confirmed as Sonic creator reveals Michael Jackson composed for the series

gamesradar.com:

And just like that, Sonic creator Yuji Naka has casually confirmed on Twitter that Michael Jackson worked on the Sonic 3 soundtrack. 

Somewhat out of the blue, the industry veteran took to social media to query Sonic Origins' soundtrack before confirming a long-standing rumour. "Does Sonic Origins Sonic 3 have a different song?" Naka tweets (opens in new tab). "Oh my god, the music for Sonic 3 has changed, even though Sega Official uses Michael Jackson's music."

Naka follows up the tweets with an old picture he took with a camera while flying in Jackson's helicopter to visit his house. Clearly feeling a pinch of nostalgia, he has also shared some vintage snaps of a Pontiac Fiero and Chevrolet Lumina he drove while creating Sonic in San Francisco.

This is a picture taken by me with my camera when we went to his house in his helicopter. It's pretty faded. I miss it. pic.twitter.com/wtM1BtMHwTJune 23, 2022

Speculation (opens in new tab) over Jackson's involvement with the game has persisted for close to 30 years now. It's generally believed (opens in new tab) that the music star did work on the soundtrack but remained uncredited. Finding the truth to these claims, though, proved elusive as Sega has never officially confirmed Jackson's involvement, though several others, such as a keyboardist who worked with Jackson called Brad Buxer, have (opens in new tab). 

To clarify Naka’s tweet somewhat, he’s talking about Sonic Origins, which doesn’t appear to include the original Sonic 3 soundtrack. If you’ve been out of the loop, Sonic Origins brings Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, 3, & Knuckles to current-gen consoles. Sega has delisted the classic Sonic games ahead of Origins’ launch, so it might just be your best way to play the