Long-running urban legend has been confirmed by series creator Yuji Naka

One of the longest-standing rumours in gaming has finally been confirmed.

After nearly 30 years of speculation, 'Sonic The Hedgehog' series creator Yuji Naka confirmed that Michael Jackson did indeed compose music to be used in 'Sonic 3'.

'Sonic Origins' was recently released, and series creator Yuji Naka commented on Twitter that the music in the 2022 remake wasn't the original Michael Jackson composed music.

The rumour started after the release of 'Sonic 3' in 1994, and internet sleuths concluded that the Michael Jackson song 'Stranger In Moscow' is similar to one of the tracks used in the game, but the rumour had been unverified until now.

The new version of 'Sonic 3' that is found in 'Sonic Origins' has a soundtrack that has been rearranged, which prompted Naka to invoke Jackson's collaboration on the original version of the game.

In the past, developers on the game have alluded to Jackson working on the soundtrack to the game in some capacity, but the game was under development around the same time Jackson faced accusations against him in 1993.

It is widely believed that Sega elected to distance themselves from Jackson in light of the allegations, and as such his work went uncredited at the time for fear of being associated with the musician.

Another school of thought is that Jackson was happy to be involved with the game, but requested to have his name taken off the finished product as he was not satisfied with how his music sounded on the 16-bit console.

In a 2016 interview, Brad Buxer - Michael Jackson's musical director and credited on the game's end-scroll - says that Jackson's input made it into the finished game.

"I was working with Michael on the 'Dangerous' album and he told me he was going to be doing the Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack for Sonic 3. He asked me if I would help him with it," Buxer said at the time.

Regardless, one of gaming's longest-running urban legends has been put to rest, and we do indeed have confirmation that one of the biggest names in music dipped his toe into the gaming industry.

Now if only we can get to the bottom of the myth of Bigfoot in 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'..