The Ecco Love/Hate Thread

One of the most infamous games when it comes to reviews, etc. for the Genesis, was Ecco the Dolphin.

It always seemed that across the board, feelings were mixed on this game. Some reviewers trash the hell out of it for being a "stupid dolphin game", while others are wooed by it's beauty. It really seems like a love it, hate it, or didn't beat the first level kind of game.

We have been talking a bit about Ecco around here, and other people have noted distinct, definable feelings which they had when playing. Myself, along with many others who have played the Ecco games, experienced a deep feeling of foreboding, and even fear. One user even commented that, out of ANYTHING they have ever played, movies they have watched, etc, nothing made them frightened compared to Ecco.

I find that extremely interesting. A 16 Bit sidescroller about a dolphin was so detailed, so well designed artistically that it was able to cause psychic trauma to a few individuals on some level. It's laughable, almost silly...unless you are the one experiencing that. You can say what you want about it's gameplay, and I would have to agree; it is overly difficult and unfair, full of minor glitches, and many levels are much more than a mere chore to play. But there is something so sinister and mysterious about the game that it keeps a few of us coming back for more. I am 24 years old, and I still get nervous any time the Vortex Queen makes an onscreen appearance. I have never found another game, including the sequel, or the Dreamcast iteration of the series, which has had me experiencing an overall feeling of dread and loss when I play it. Throw the scariest, most realistic survival horror games at me, and I'll barely flinch. A game about a dolphin fighting aliens and traveling through time? Yeah, how about that?

So what about you? Do you love the game, do you hate it? Why? Can you relate to the same feelings I have written about here when you play? Or is it just another puzzle platformer game to you?

Discuss!

i have played it, and quite honestly didnt get it, yes it was well designed but i had no idea when i first put it in if the first level was the whole game and you just ate fish and lived in the pond for ever? obviously i now know thats not the case but it still doesnt have that appeal.. maybe its one of few games target at a female market??

I doubt it. Seems pretty non-gender specific to me, and the science fiction elements push it more in the direction of the male crowd.

The fact that none of these later levels are advertised on the packaging is kind of cool, but also misleading. It helped maintain a certain shock value, as you don't find out about the alien threat until much later in the game...but at the same time, people didn't seem to know what to expect from the game, apart from a cute dolphin simulator.

Ecco the Dolphin is awesome and anybody who thinks it to be otherwise should be banned immediately.

You, sir, should run for preside-

Oh.

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Originally Posted by Mr Smith

Ecco the Dolphin is awesome and anybody who thinks it to be otherwise should be banned immediately.

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x2

seriously, Ecco and the sequel are two of the greatest games I've ever played, and I didn't even get to them for the first time 'til last summer. I was actually shocked that I had neglected such great games for such a long time. basically don't make the same mistake I did!

What Mr smith said.
I've got Ecco 1 for sega CD, Ecco 2 for Genesis, and Ecco DOTF for Dreamcast, and They're all awesome. Even though the water tube stages make Me want to sob like a little girl with a skinned knee..... :(

Well my share of the vote is increasing accordingly. Screw you Ralph Nader, Mr Smith is becoming the wasted vote for the masses!!!

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Originally Posted by jerry coeurl

x2

seriously, Ecco and the sequel are two of the greatest games I've ever played, and I didn't even get to them for the first time 'til last summer. I was actually shocked that I had neglected such great games for such a long time. basically don't make the same mistake I did!

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Breaking Bad FTW

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Originally Posted by Xi-tiger

i have played it, and quite honestly didnt get it, yes it was well designed but i had no idea when i first put it in if the first level was the whole game and you just ate fish and lived in the pond for ever? obviously i now know thats not the case but it still doesnt have that appeal.. maybe its one of few games target at a female market??

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I like how it's almost, almost like a sandbox game to begin - you're left alone with your dolphin friends, and they're frolicking away over there near the surface. Once you start mastering how to move aound underwater, out of the blue the proper game starts - not in a cutscene or anything, but you're really the only one left by chance. It's really imaginitive, and it works!

I love the haunting, empty nature of the game. Technically it's a little iffy, but the atmosphere is what I enjoy about the game more than anything.

I could never get into this game spent a couple hours playin a month ago got no where and had no fun.

The fact is, I don't know how much "fun" Ecco really is. Truthfully. There are a few notable parts which are exciting and fun, but it is an extremely stressful game for the most part. Watching your air level, trying to find your way around; it is definitely not standard by any means, and I can see why It is more disliked over time because of this. But as a kid, there was something so damn special about it. I think if you were indoctrinated to it's ways at an early age, you will never forget it, but if you're a newcomer, it isn't going to do much for most people.

People dislike Ecco because it is not only beautiful but also challenging.
It doesn't seem so from the outside, but this is a game for men, not boys.

If anybody wants an easy ride with fluffy graphics just quit whining and go play your precious Wii.

Game is OK, great concept. Music is awesome on CD versions.

It is a stressful game! finding air pockets when you last square of air is about to vanish, being buttraped by sharks and stupid Jelly fish popping out of nowhere. Its a vast empty game which helps let your imagination run wild its not decolate but its not exactly packed. I remember encounting a friendly dolphin later in the game and being very, very relieved. The game has alot going for it and it also doesn't treat you like a noob and it does not hold your hand through anything, its harsh and unforgiving but has an amazing story which unfolds and makes it worth the trouble of playing it.

but yeah, it is a game that if you're not looking will punch you in the back of the head!

I forgot to mention, I own both the Genesis and Sega CD versions of each game, but I've only played through the Sega CD releases because I got those first (both complete, too). I have to say, I love the CD versions of these games and even though the Tides of Time CD doesn't have any extra levels, the primitive CG cutscenes (chronicling Ecco's journey through the first game) and new CD soundtrack alone make it worth seeking out.

When it comes to the carts, I managed to find Ecco the Dolphin complete and in very good at a thrift store for 3 dollars. I only have the cartridge for Tides of Time, I wanted it complete too but I think it was only a dollar at the time so I figured what the hell. I'm thinking this summer I'm gonna play through both of the cartridge versions, perhaps even ToT's hard mode.

To those who have played both, do you prefer the music on the cartridge or the CD?

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Originally Posted by JRedmond3

Breaking Bad FTW

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Haha, hell yeah! Best show on TV as far as I'm concerned. Can't wait for the season finale on Sunday.

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Originally Posted by Kollision

People dislike Ecco because it is not only beautiful but also challenging.
It doesn't seem so from the outside, but this is a game for men, not boys.

If anybody wants an easy ride with fluffy graphics just quit whining and go play your precious Wii.

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Exactly. Few people will even get past The Undercaves or The Lagoon, let alone see the rest of the game. The Lagoon alone was punishing enough that I dropped the game for a long time. It's an absolute cakewalk compared to a few specific levels, Trilobite Circle immediately comes to mind.

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Originally Posted by jerry coeurl

I forgot to mention, I own both the Genesis and Sega CD versions of each game, but I've only played through the Sega CD releases because I got those first (both complete, too). I have to say, I love the CD versions of these games and even though the Tides of Time CD doesn't have any extra levels, the primitive CG cutscenes (chronicling Ecco's journey through the first game) and new CD soundtrack alone make it worth seeking out.

When it comes to the carts, I managed to find Ecco the Dolphin complete and in very good at a thrift store for 3 dollars. I only have the cartridge for Tides of Time, I wanted it complete too but I think it was only a dollar at the time so I figured what the hell. I'm thinking this summer I'm gonna play through both of the cartridge versions, perhaps even ToT's hard mode.

To those who have played both, do you prefer the music on the cartridge or the CD?




Haha, hell yeah! Best show on TV as far as I'm concerned. Can't wait for the season finale on Sunday.

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I have always loved the music on the carts a hell of a lot more than the CD versions. But to be truthful, the CD music IS a lot better; there is just some serious nostalgia in mind with the original soundtrack for me. The Vents has some of my favorite music in any video game ever.

What I did like was the Last Fight music on Ecco CD. Unfortunately, there was a distinct absence of original music in the Genesis version. You just got The Undercaves music instead, which was kind of a downer.

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Originally Posted by Mr Smith

Ecco the Dolphin is awesome and anybody who thinks it to be otherwise should be banned immediately.

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I Agree w/ Mr Smith :ok:

I must also agree with Mr. Smith, Ecco the Dolphin is a game-no, EXPERIENCE unlike any other! It is fun, challenging, beautiful, and engaging. I sucked at the game when I was little, so when I read a strategy guide for Genesis games and learned about the Vortex at the end, I'm sure I was like "WTF!?" Even now, I don't think I can beat it without cheating.

I actually made my own Ecco game when I was little, drawing levels on pieces of paper. I wonder where those are? Probably in the garage somewhere.

Actually, I drew a lot of Sega game levels when I was little. Somewhere I have my own versions of the deleted levels from Sonic 2! I'm pretty sure I drew Dust Hill (The first act took place in the desert, the second in a pyramid filled with Indiana Jones-style traps), Hidden Palace, and Wood.

But I digress.

Bumping this great thread for a great game.

Anecdote: Last summer, I was trying really hard to beat The Final Battle. I probably played it, no joke, like 30 times. I finally did it, though, and the very next day I went to a beach. I was swimming around for a bit, you know, doing the whole beach thing and next thing I know a Pod of Dolphins swims by not 25 feet away from me. There were at least 4 or 5 of them all jumping and laughing and frolicking in the way that Dolphins do, and I was like, "You're welcome, guys. But you know I wasn't gonna let the Vortex eat you all up."

True story.

I like the Ecco games, and love the music from both the cartridge and CD versions, but I get sick to my stomach when I think about how annoying it is having to rescue dolphins that are trapped far below the surface.

I bought this game new at retail back on the early 90s, after hearing all the rumors on egm and other vidgame magazines.

I was really anxious to play it, but after doing so...i really tried to like it and enjoy it, but i did not play it to the end.

I can only say that the game did not "grow" on me....

Did you even get past The Undercaves? :D

A lot of people dismiss this game far too early, I've found. Before it even starts, really.

I'd say, get to Big Blue before passing total judgement on the game.

It seems pretty far in, but once you actually get past the home levels and into the arctic, the game seems to pick up in pace a bit. Really, the toughest hurdle for me was always The Lagoon; it's massive, complicated, and tough.

I remember my first time playing it on Christmas Day my parents who were going to get me a few genesis games (I forget the name of the games today) one of them being Mortal Kombat was sold out so instead they got me Ecco The Dolphin when i ripped off the wrapping paper on Christmas Day I was very angry, sad, and confused I had seen a commercial for Ecco The Dolphin before and thought it was the dumbest game ever but still i popped it in the genesis and in the first 5 minutes got stuck so i jumped around a little bit trying to find something to do got bored and threw the game at the wall (I vaguely remember swearing at Ecco..... Directly at the dolphin itself blaming it for me not having mortal kombat) I never played it again (lol)

Fast forward A Few Years (13) And I Find My Ecco The Dolphin Game In Box (That's Where Everyone finds there old school games) With My Sega Genesis Model 2 And A Few Other Games I Hooked It Up And The Rest Is History I Couldn't Believe The Awesomeness That Is Ecco The Dolphin! I Spent About 2 Weeks Playing It Nonstop Till I Beat It :)


Hope You Liked My Story Filled With Spelling Mistakes, And Other Errors Lol :P

The Vortex Queen is the ultimate bitch. She'll eat or kill you and make you go through hell for more.
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/u...o/ECCOU006.jpg

I remember playing the beta for Ecco II back before it came out (had a copier)
and i loved the intro where you see the Vortex Queen crashing down through all those stars, until eventually you see that wide shot of her crashing into the ocean.

Damn shame that they took that out, that was awesome.

Then later i learned that they had also coded a part where she attacks that DNA strand thingamabob thingy.

Never finished Ecco II, It just wasn't as interesting for me as Ecco 1 was.

Maybe I'll try finishing it again now that i finally have the NTSC version. (pal version wont run full screen)

You should give it a shot, it's an awesome game. Personally I like the first game a little better as it has one of the best soundtacks (CD version, at least) AND best endings of all time. But Tides of Time very nearly approaches the greatness of the first game, imo.

btw,

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Originally Posted by Phosis

They are beautiful games, but they are not for everyone, and I would never recommend them to most people these days. If anyone is interested however, the creator of the games, Ed Anunnziata has expressed interest in making a new Ecco. If you check his Twitter page, he wrote an entry in March that says "Time for a new Ecco on XBLA!" so it looks like we might FINALLY see a true sequel to the original games. The story for Ecco for Dreamcast was written by David Brin, and had nothing to do with the cool plot from the main series, but with Ed at the helm again, we may be able to finally find out what happened to poor Ecco after his stint with the time machine at the end of ToT.

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I would buy an Xbox if that were to happen!

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Originally Posted by Y2Jericho

I remember my first time playing it on Christmas Day my parents who were going to get me a few genesis games (I forget the name of the games today) one of them being Mortal Kombat was sold out so instead they got me Ecco The Dolphin when i ripped off the wrapping paper on Christmas Day I was very angry, sad, and confused I had seen a commercial for Ecco The Dolphin before and thought it was the dumbest game ever but still i popped it in the genesis and in the first 5 minutes got stuck so i jumped around a little bit trying to find something to do got bored and threw the game at the wall (I vaguely remember swearing at Ecco..... Directly at the dolphin itself blaming it for me not having mortal kombat) I never played it again (lol)

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Wow. You were a little dink. :D

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Originally Posted by Deo

The Vortex Queen is the ultimate bitch. She'll eat or kill you and make you go through hell for more.
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/u...o/ECCOU006.jpg

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Bahaha, no kidding.

In the JP version, I think you just have to beat the Stomach level, but I don't know for sure. Can anyone confirm this? In the US version, you have to beat Welcome to the Machine all over again. (And yes, Ed A. confirmed that was a Pink Floyd reference, in case anyone was interested.)

I spent ages playing Ecco. It's definitely a unique experience (well, aside from Ecco 2!). I loved the story, and the music (cart music anyway - I've got the CD version too now, but it's just not as good. It's like someone took one of my favourite films and replaced all the music.)

I can see why people dislike it - some of the puzzles confused me greatly (and led to cheating :d) the controls made everything a bit more frustrating than it needed to be at times, and that Machine level made me throw my controller at the wall - but meh. If you don't at least appreciate Ecco, then you clearly have no soul at all. ;P

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Originally Posted by Phosis

Wow. You were a little dink. :D

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Lol I was a kid what can i say <.<

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Originally Posted by jerry coeurl

You should give it a shot, it's an awesome game. Personally I like the first game a little better as it has one of the best soundtacks (CD version, at least) AND best endings of all time. But Tides of Time very nearly approaches the greatness of the first game, imo.

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I really liked (and still do) Ecco 1, its one of the few games that my mom still remembers me playing back then,
And I think i even played through Ecco 1 in its entirety,
it just had this wonderful atmosphere going on, and imo it showed off the console very well.
it was different, colorful, and the music was great.

I remember a part in Ecco 1 where you meet Big Blue the whale,
there even was this code that let you control him for a bit.

Yeah I definitely love the Ecco games, might not have gotten far with Ecco 2, but i certainly consider it a worthy successor.

here's the clip thats in the early Ecco 2 beta btw, where you see the queen attack the asterite.




and here's a picture of the scene in the later Ecco II beta where you see the Vortex Queen falling down to earth.

http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/6...ftimebeta0.png

I wonder why they took this stuff out, maybe it gave too much away?
do they show any cut scenes in the finished Ecco II or is it just level after level?

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Originally Posted by Phosis

Bahaha, no kidding.

In the JP version, I think you just have to beat the Stomach level, but I don't know for sure. Can anyone confirm this? In the US version, you have to beat Welcome to the Machine all over again. (And yes, Ed A. confirmed that was a Pink Floyd reference, in case anyone was interested.)

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Yup the Stomach is in the Japanese version and you get it ONLY if you get eaten. If she kills you normally you just go through and fight her again without going through the machine.

Couple of Japanese Ecco levels not in the U.S version.

First open ocean level.



The Stomach (sorry about the quiet audio on this one).

Tides of Time is the best Ecco game, unfortunately it seems many people only have played the 1st Ecco game. Tides of Time is altogether much better and more polished than the 1st game, which suffers here & there for lack of polish it seems.

Probably the best improvement is the removal of that terrible screech that Ecco screams in the 1st game, every time he's hit. :lol: Also Tides of Time's graphics are more colorful and the fish are bigger & more detailed, etc. Ecco himself makes the leap from all-grey (in the 1st game) to subtle fluorescent colors in ToT.

The CD versions have beautiful, relaxing synthesizer music, mixed w/ actual recordings of sea animals' sounds, like whale songs, dolphin cries, etc. :cool: The cart versions of the Ecco games also have great soundtracks; they tend to be less relaxing and more stressful, more fearful and lonely, etc.

I prefer the Cart music of Ecco 1 to the CD version (I haven't played the CD version of Ecco 2, yet); there was just something about it that was much more memorable.

I remember that the cart music for Welcome to the Machine was one of the most incredibly eerie and climactic songs I had ever heard in a video game up to that point, and even though I cheated to see that level, it was one of the great moments in gaming for me to hear that song for the first time.

The CD soundtrack just couldn't compare to the catchy, and yet disturbingly frightening soundtrack of the cart.

I have both versions for different reasons: the cart for the soundtrack, and the CD for the extra levels and features.

For the 1st Ecco game I wonder how many people didn't give up, but got stuck for ages on the 1st stage... I managed to accidentally figure out that u have to jump really high to start the alien attack... Did many people spend ages exploring the 1st stage, and never figure out that u have to jump high???

I discovered the alien attack on accident and for the longest time thought you had to talk with the Dolphin that says "How high in the sky can you fly?" in order for it to happen.