Sonic 3 & Knuckles for the PC

Almost everyone knows about Sonic 3 & Knuckles. with its wonderful gameplay, great graphics, and a soundtrack that may or may not be made by Michael Jackson, its hard not to love it. But what if I told you there was another version? one similar to what you know and love, but with a twist that gets more interesting the deeper you dig? I'm talking about Sonic 3 & Knuckles for the PC.

released for PC's in 1997. it is basically the same, with only a few changes. the most noticeable is the music, which has been altered for certain zones. Carnival Night, Ice Cap, Launch Base, Knuckles' theme, a menu theme and the credits all had new music. It is thought that this is because the MIDI format could not emulate certain sound clips, even though the PC would be more then powerful enough  to run a Genesis game. there is a more common theory, one involving  Michael Jackson,  an unreleased 80's song, and a composer's discography.

A few interviews by people who worked on the game clamed that Jackson did the music, but it was removed. later, similarity's were noted between sonic 3 songs, and some that Jackson did. Carnival Night zone and the song Jam share a few notes, and even share some audio samples. the credits and the song Stranger In Moscow sound very similar in the beginning. The biggest example, is Ice Cap Zone. Smooth Criminal and Ice Cap sound very similar, but it doesn't stop there. the unreleased song Hard Times bears more then a resemblance to Ice Cap, Its basically the same song! Brad Buxer helped with the sound track, and also was in the band that made that song. if that's not enough, then one of the composer's discography lists levels 2  and 3 from Sonic 3 as being made by Jackson. if you compare what was changed in the PC version with what sounded similar to Jackson's music, then you will notice that the 2 lists do overlap. coincidence? I think not!

Although Michael Jackson did the music, we have to ask why it was removed. one interview said that the Genesis wasn't powerful enough to get the music right. it "devalued" his music. and with that, I have to ask: Did you even play the game?! 

  

Sega Master System 3

Brazil is a strange place when it came to retro gaming. the Sega Master System was king, despite North America and Japan forgetting about it as soon as it was out. The company Tectoy was king there, and made many versions of Sega systems for that market. Even after the Master System was discontinued, Tectoy was still making new systems like the Master system 3!

The Master System 3 was released in 2008, and had no cartridge slot. instead, it relied on it's 131 built in games. As the name implied, all but 1 of the games are for the Master System. For some strange reason, Sonic Drift 2 for the GameGear is included, likely due to the similar hardware between the 2 systems. The 2 controllers are modeled after the Sega Genesis controllers, although only 2 of the buttons are used. Sonic the Hedgehog is on the front, likely for brand recognition, although Sonic doesn't have a big a presence as you may think...

The games are your typical Master System staples. Games like the Alex Kidd series, Battle Outrun, and Sonic the Hedgehog are all on it. one of the more interesting games is Baku Baku Animal. That game was originally for the Sega Saturn, but Tectoy made a version for Brazil on the Master System. The games are not that special, and it has no exclusives.

If you were going to buy a Master System, don't buy this one! Due to the fact that you cant use cartridges, and that it was only available in Brazil, its honestly not worth your time. its a neat collectable, but nothing else...