Highlights

  • A former Sega artist revealed a concept sketch for an unused Sonic Adventure character, known as "Spider-Girl," who was scrapped during the game's development.
  • Sonic Adventure started on Sega Saturn before being moved to the Dreamcast, with much of the original work scrapped.
  • Spider-Girl's design features multiple arms, a web-like dress, and the ability to create webs in the shape of a heart. She shares some similarities with Sonic Adventure 2's Rouge the Bat.

A former artist who worked at Sega revealed a concept sketch for an unused character from Sonic Adventure's development. Sonic Adventure was the defining game that many fans think of in terms of the series leaping into 3D, along with it being one of the Sega Dreamcast's strongest titles. However, Sonic Adventure wasn't the first time that the franchise attempted a 3D platforming game, as there's a tumultuous history behind the game that many may not know about.

Before Sonic Adventure was brought over to the Dreamcast, the project had started off on the ill-fated Sega Saturn. When it failed to materialize on the failing console, a lot of its work was scrapped so Sega could focus on the Dreamcast. Sonic Jam would become the closest to the Sega Saturn getting a 3D platforming adventure, though it was more of an interactive 3D hub world than an actual game. Both Sonic Jam and Sonic Adventure shared an artist, Satoshi Okano, who later left Sega in 2006. Almost over twenty-five years after the original release of Sonic Adventure, Okano shared some new details regarding a character that went unused during its development.

Left: Back view of Sonic in his Sonic Adventure 2 gear. Top-right: Super Sonic. Bottom-right: Big the Cat and Sonic. Image source: Gamebanana.com
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This detail was first revealed on Okano's Twitter back in 2020, where he was originally asked about a set of textures that can be seen on one of Sonic Adventure's levels, Speed Highway. In this level, there is a poster of a girl that appears to be wearing a bikini, with many unsure of who she was for the longest time. ArcadeMegamix asked Okano, since he was Adventure's field artist, to which Okano replied that she was a "character of the planned spider" who ultimately went unused from the game. A few years later, when someone asked if there was any surviving concept art of this scrapped character, Okano was happy to post a full-body concept sketch on Twitter.

According to this full-body sketch of this scrapped Sonic Adventure character, she was known as "Spider-Girl," likely a prototype name, before finalizing a design. True to her name, she is modeled after a spider, possessing multiple arms and wearing something similar to a web-like dress. She also appears to have the ability to create webs, which she forms into a heart.

Despite the character going unused and only existing as a hard-to-find part of the game, many were impressed with the character's rough design. Interestingly enough, Rouge the Bat, a supporting character introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, shares some elements with "Spider-Girl." The biggest connective tissue would be the hearts, as Rouge's design has a heart on her suit and boots. Not only that, but Rouge and Spider-Girl both appear to be designed as femme fatale-like characters, based on the sketch and Rouge's role in the games. Nevertheless, many fans were interested in unearthing another part of Sonic Adventure's troubled development.