Interesting Finds

Okay, here goes.

I've been busting through the DS's Sonic Classic Collection lately, and I've found some interesting things that I'd like to put forward.

Firstly, as we're all aware, Michael Jackson had something to do with Sonic 3's development in terms of musical score. We've had theories about what music he actually worked on for the game, some of which has been verified, whilst others have been speculated about. Looking at Cirocco's website, we can see that zones 2 & 3 were definitely acknowledged, whilst music like Ice Cap sounds very much like other MJ music. Now, having been playing Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles/Sonic 3 & Knuckles on the DS, I've found some very interesting things.

Music where voice samples are placed sound odd. The voice samples sound more like actual basic recordings, rather than digitized versions. They sound lower pitch, whereas the rest of the music that they fit into is normal.

What does this mean? Well, I've made a connection with Sonic and Knuckles Collection on the PC. S&KC removed all of the digitized voice tracks and replaced them with their own new midis. I once heard that an explanation was given by SEGA that it was merely because of emulation issues in some form or another for the PC why the music was taken. I'm sure now that has been generally disproven, but given how the music sounds different or 'odd' in the current DS collection, perhaps the music really was removed because of emulation issues, rather than some secret hidden agenda to Michael Jackson?

Now, I've found some more interesting points about the game, which I'm sure you guys in the community can clear up.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles DS has some differences from the console version. When a character is supposed to go behind scenery, he doesn't. Also, when Knuckles jumps on Dr Robotnik in the Hidden Palace Zone and gets shocked, his Sonic 3 theme plays. This is not present in any other version, and it also appears in a slot on the sound test, which if memory serves me right, does not contain anything on the console version (having been the basis for the MJ argument as it was very MJ sounding and was removed once Sonic 3 & Knuckles were joined).

I'm aware that you guys know about the scenery scenario, and there's something about the music which is different too, which I'm not 100% clear on either. Perhaps this changes any perspectives on the situation.

This is rather peculiar, and has led me to ask the question; what version of Sonic and Knuckles is this? Is it one we don't know about? Are there merely logical explanations for the mishaps here? Are large parts of the MJ argument even valid anymore? We know he worked on two specific zones, but maybe it ends there?

I'll leave it to you guys.

 

What confuses me is that if the boss tracks were to be switched, then surely the Sonic 3 mini-boss theme would play for all of the same musical events? As it happens, it only appears during that one scene.

Edit: I checked, and it does actually appear. Either I haven't noticed or it's a random occurance.

 

Well, I suppose that's most of it cleared up! Sorry for any inconvenience!

Still, the MJ music detail is still interesting. Maybe we should leave all options openly equal.

 

The PC versions are a lot more forgettable. I much prefer the MEGA DRIVE versions.