Information in this article is about real-life people, companies, and objects, which do not relate to the in-universe Sonic series. |
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, and actor who had done work for the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
History[]
Often referred to as the "King of Pop", Jackson has made a huge contribution to music, and had become a worldwide icon. His 1982 album, Thriller, is the best selling album of all time.
Before working on the soundtrack for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Jackson had teamed up with Sega in 1989 to create a game titled Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, inspired by the musical anthology film of the same name. Jackson has also appeared in the Space Channel 5 series, appearing as one of the series' main supporting characters, Space Michael.
After many of years of rumors and speculation surrounding Jackson's involvement with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, it was confirmed in 2009 by Brad Buxer (a composer of the game and close friend of Jackson), that Jackson did in fact work on the soundtrack for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. He mentioned they worked together for the game's credits theme that was the basis for Stranger in Moscow.[1]
It is unknown what other tracks Jackson officially worked on that are present in the final game, but based on the tracks that include vocal sound effects, and were also removed or replaced in Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic & Knuckles Collection, and Sonic Origins, are most likely the ones he was involved with.
Credits[]
Songs composed[]
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- "Staff Roll" (w/ Brad Buxer)
- Knuckles' theme (unconfirmed)
- Mini-boss theme (unconfirmed)
- Carnival Night Zone Act 1 & 2
- Launch Base Zone Act 1 & 2 (unconfirmed)
Trivia[]
- Naoto Ohshima, the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, stated in an interview that Sonic's shoes were inspired by the cover of Jackson's 1987 album, Bad.[2]
- Carnival Night Zone's music is well-known for having similarities with Michael Jackson's "Jam," and in fact shares several samples used and composed by Michael. The most notable sample is that the player can hear the word "Jam" from "Jam" in Carnival Night Zone's music.
- For a long time, IceCap Zone's music was thought to have been inspired by Michael Jackson's "Who Is It" from the album Dangerous with similar chord progressions to "Smooth Criminal" from Bad. However, it was discovered that the music was not composed by Michael Jackson, but was actually connected to the previously unreleased song "Hard Times" by The Jetzons, the former band of Brad Buxer who had worked on the music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and for Michael Jackson.
- Jackson made a cameo in one of the The Adventures of SONIC the Hedgehog stories published in Shogaku Yonensei.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Brad Buxer Interview (French) 4. Black & White magazine (November/December 2009). Archived from the original on October 6th, 2018. Retrieved on March 19, 2019. "Yes, Michael and I had made the following arrangements for the game, and it has served as the basis for Stranger In Moscow."
- ↑ Brandon Sheffield (December 4th, 2009). Out of the Blue: Naoto Ohshima Speaks. Gamasutra. Archived from the original on December 5th, 2009. Retrieved on March 19, 2019. "His shoes were inspired by the cover to Michael Jackson's Bad, which contrasted heavily between white and red -- that Santa Claus-type color."