A former Sega artist reveals new details about a character that was scrapped from Sonic Adventure development.

A former Sega artist has revealed a concept sketch of a character not used in the development of Sonic Adventure. Sonic Adventure was the defining game that many fans remember for the series’ jump to 3D, along with being one of the Sega Dreamcast’s most powerful titles. However, Sonic Adventure wasn’t the first time the franchise had attempted a 3D platform game, as there’s a tumultuous story behind the game that many may not be aware of.

Before Sonic Adventure made the move to the Dreamcast, the project launched on the ill-fated Sega Saturn. When it failed on the failed console, much of the work was scrapped so that Sega could focus on the Dreamcast. Sonic Jam would have been the closest the Sega Saturn would get to a 3D platform 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 Sonic Adventure’s original release, Okano shared some new details about a character that was not used during development.

This detail first came to light on Okano’s Twitter back in 2020, where he was originally asked about textures seen on one of Sonic Adventure’s tracks, Speed Highway. In this level, a poster shows a girl apparently wearing a bikini, and for a long time, many people didn’t know who she really was. ArcadeMegamix asked Okano, as he was the Adventure’s path designer, to which Okano replied that the girl was the “planned spider character” who ultimately did not make it out of the game. A few years later, when someone asked if there were any surviving concept sketches of this discarded character, Okano was happy to post a full-body concept sketch on Twitter.

こんな名の無い仕事を知る人は珍しいですよ👍
This was character of the planned spider which there was not which I used :] https://t.co/48ta2rIPov

— OKN/Satoshi Okano/岡野聡 (@okanotion) August 9, 2020

According to the full-body sketch, the Sonic Adventure character was known as “Spider-Girl,” which was likely a prototype name before the design was finalized. True to her name, she is modeled after a spider, has multiple arms, and wears something resembling a web-like dress. It appears to be able to make webs that it shapes into a heart.

Despite the character remaining underused and existing as a hard-to-find part of the game, many were impressed by the character’s raw design. Interestingly, Rouge the Bat, a side character introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, shares some elements with “Spider-Girl”. The biggest point of connection would be the hearts, as Rouge’s design features a heart on her dress and boots. Not only that, but based on the sketch and Rouge’s role in the games, Rouge and Spider-Girl seem to be femme fatale-like characters. Nevertheless, many fans were interested to see another part of Sonic Adventure’s messy development revealed.

Source : GameRant