When Sega first launched the Genesis in 1989, Nintendo's NES had enjoyed nearly 5 years of unchallenged dominance. Nintendo had reached the top due in no small part to it's lineup of memorable characters. Mario, Samus, Zelda, Mega Man and many others had captured the imaginations (and the wallets) of millions of consumers. Sega countered the Nintendo onslaught with Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was amazingly fast and had the typical early 90's "attitude" that kids loved. He also starred in some pretty good games.

Unfortunately, Sonic didn't have much in the way of backup. Sega's original mascot, Alex Kidd, was an abject failure. Kidd was unable to beat out even the likes of NEC's Bonk in terms of popularity, not to mention a gaming legend like Super Mario. With the new Super Nintendo console on the way, Sega knew that they would have to act quickly before Nintendo could unleash a new 16-bit Mario on an unsuspecting public.

Sega executives searched far and wide to find a suitable opponent for the Nintendo Juggernaut. Their salvation appeared on the first leg of the Bad World Tour in 1989. It was there that they first met Michael Jackson and convinced him to create a video game that children all over the world would adore. (It is rumored that also attending the concert was a young Segata Sanshiro, who found MJ's hypnotic rhythms mesmerizing. Who knows what could have come of a Segata/Jacko alliance?)

That hit game was Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Based off of the hit movie of the same name, Moonwalker was like an interactive series of music videos. The player would take control of cyber-Jacko and use his Dance Magic to save small children from the evil clutches of the maniacal Mr. Big while recreating scenes from music videos like Beat It and Smooth Criminal. Thanks to MJ's celebrity power, Moonwalker turned out to be a modest success. The tag team of Sonic the Hedgehog and Michael Jackson helped Sega bury their 16-bit competitor NEC's TurboGrafx console. But while Johnny Turbo might have been no match for the speed and style of the Sonic/MJ combo, Nintendo and Mario would be much tougher to kill.

The same year that Sega released Moonwalker in US, Nintendo countered with Super Mario Bros. 3, the pinnacle of NES gaming. The Big N then followed that up by announcing their next generation SNES console. Sega countered this with Sonic 2, widely believed to be the best of the Genesis Sonic games. Riding the success of their franchise character, Sega grabbed over half of the American video game market. However, Nintendo's relentless stream of games based on popular characters helped them regain most of their market share.

In 1994, Sega's piece of the video game pie had shrunk to around 35%. The company once again turned to Michael Jackson to save them. A sequel to Moonwalker was planned, but a much more ambitious project would soon be in the works. A third Sonic the Hedgehog game was nearing completion, and although it was certain to be a hit, it was feared yet another Sonic title would not impress the public enough. It was decided that what Sonic needed was a little shot in the arm from Jacko himself.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was to showcase everything that was great about Sega. The trademark speed, action, and attitude of Sonic combined with the otherworldly music of Michael Jackson. Who would want to play around with a slow fat plumber with his uninspiring tunes when they could be zipping along at light speed with the Blue Blur and the King of Pop. It looked as if Sega would have another monster hit on their hands. Unfortunately, things would quickly unravel for the MJ/Sonic team.

Shortly before the release of the Sonic 3, Michael Jackson was accused of doing some naughty things with young children. Sega was rightly worried that they would be portraying the wrong image if an accused child molester had a part in a popular children's game. (At the time, video gaming was much more of a children's hobby than it is today.) Some of MJ's music that had originally been inserted into Sonic 3 was altered and any mention of Jackson was eliminated.

This fact was kept secret for many years until the Internet came around to ruin everything...

Sonic 3 was certainly a big success, but without the King of Pop backing him up, Sonic could not put much of a dent in Nintendo's armor. Sega never recovered their position and could do nothing but watch as Nintendo left them in the dust. The Sonic franchise itself began to decline in quality and eventually became all but extinct. Who knows how history would have changed if MJ had just kept his nose clean?

Despite their tumultuous past, MJ and Sega were not finished with each other just yet. Fast forward to early in the year 2000 where Sega had just launched the Dreamcast as a last ditch effort to remain in the console business. The Dreamcast featured many unique games such as Crazy Taxi, Shenmue, and Chu Chu Rocket. One of these interesting games was Space Channel 5...

Recognize that guy? That's right, Space Channel 5 marked the triumphant return of Michael Jackson to the Sega Universe. The story goes that MJ somehow found out about game while it was in production and liked it so much that he contacted the production team and asked to be in the game.

The last time Sega and Jacko were together, their relationship ended in tears. But it was clear that they both still liked each other, and they decided to put aside their past differences and get back together. MJ was not only given a cameo in Space Channel 5, but he was then given a more central role in the sequel. It appeared as though a bright new era would begin for Sega and MJ. However, the justice system would once again come between Sega, MJ, and success.

Shortly after the release of Space Channel 5 Part 2, a controversy began to surround the game. A musician named Lady Miss Kier accused the star of the series, Ulala, of being a ripoff of her musical persona. Michael Jackson, being understandably wary of lawyers and courtrooms, retreated from the legal battle. This time, MJ would be gone for good.

The Dreamcast would be the last of Sega's consoles. Unable to compete with Sony and Nintendo, Sega decided to focus solely on software instead of hardware. Sega had a long and rich history in their decade and a half in the home console market. Many memorable characters appeared on Sega's many systems, but few will be remembered as fondly as the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.