New Sonic retro collection will include elusive Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Sega will release a new collection of classic Sonic the Hedgehog games under the name Sonic Origins. The compilation will include the original Sonic the Hedgehog for Sega Genesis, as well as sequels Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD.

Sonic Origins will be released in 2022.

The new Sonic collection was announced Thursday during Sega’s Sonic Central livestream, but the game maker was short on details. The most noteworthy inclusion in that collection is Sonic 3 & Knuckles, a Genesis game that has recently been excluded as part of classic Sonic the Hedgehog rereleases. Sonic 3 was not included as part of the Sega Genesis Mini library (though Sonic Spinball was), nor was it given the Sega Ages treatment for Nintendo Switch, the way Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 were.

Sonic fans have speculated, without confirmation from Sega, that Sonic 3 & Knuckles’ rerelease is complicated by thorny music rights. Some of the Genesis game’s music was composed by singer Michael Jackson and keyboardist Brad Buxer, but according to Buxer, Jackson was not happy with Sega’s implementation of his songs. Some rereleases of Sonic 3 (like the 1997 Windows PC port) have featured different music tracks, said to have been swapped in from an earlier version of the game.

We’ve reached out to Sega for details on the circumstances regarding Sonic 3 & Knuckles’ rerelease and who’s handling development of the Sonic Origins collection. We will update this story when the company responds.