Buxer said that the "Sonic 3" credits music became the basis for Jackson's 1996 single "Stranger in Moscow". In 2013, fans discovered that the composition for IceCap Zone is largely derived from a previously unreleased 1982 track by Buxer's band the Jetzons; called, "Hard Times". In 2019, "GameRevolution" Alex Donaldson noted that "Sonic 3" had been rereleased less frequently since Jackson's death in 2009, and speculated that this was due to legal problems with his estate.