Trivia time of the day: Michael Jackson worked on Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
As for Sega and Sonic the Hedgehog lead Yuji Naka’s caginess about confirming Jackson’s involvement? This may be your answer.
“And if he is not credited for composing the music, it’s because he was not happy with the result sound coming out of the console,” Buxer said. “At the time, game consoles did not allow an optimal sound reproduction, and Michael found it frustrating. He did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music…”
The influence is definitely strong.