PixlBit

Move over, Flipper, there's a new dolphin in the ocean

Well, I guess he's not "new" since his game came out in 1992, but he's young compared to old Flipper. This classic game was relased for the Sega Genesis in 1992 first in Europe; it was released in North America and Japan in 1993 (for once Europe got a game first). It was developed by Novotrade International and published by Sega. The protagonist of the game is the dolphin Ecco, who looks like a real dolphin (amazing that they didn't make him look cartoony).

The first part of the game allows you to get used to the controls. All three buttons of the Genesis controller are used; Ecco can dash, swim fast, and send out his song (a type of sonar). He can jump out of the water, eat small fish for energy, and talk to his buddy dolphins using his song.

This game has a ridiculous story. One of the dolphins challenges Ecco to see how high he can jump out of the water. So Ecco gains some speed and shoots into the air. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Ecco's pod is sucked right out of the ocean by a vortex! Luckily, Ecco is fine because he was in the air at the time. Now the poor ocean creature has to find his pod! So we have the story for the game, but it will get worse.

First, you'll notice two meters at the top left screen: a gray one and a blue one. The gray one is your life meter, and the blue one is your air meter. If one meter is depleted down all the way, the other one will go fast. Ecco must occasionally poke his head above water to replenish his air meter, and he can eat small fish by dashing into them to replenish his life meter.

The game does not hold your hand in any ways, except for maybe some hints given to you by orcas. Other than that, you have to figure out everything on your own. This is a game about exploration. Ecco must swim around and find out where to go next. The lower you go, the darker the ocean becomes, which is a nice detail. For some reason, large crystals often block Ecco's path. If he speaks to them, they will say, "You may not pass yet." In order to pass, Ecco must find an identical crystal that will place its aura around him, then go back and speak to the first crystal again. This mechanic is used to death throughout the game.

The controls can be unresponsive at times. There were times when Ecco got stuck on an invisible wall or something because he wouldn't dash when I told him to. Or he gets stuck on a bad guy, which is really annoying because the poor creature makes this terrible Flipper-like sound (sorry, Flipper, but we're blaming you here). These sticky controls can be very frustrating at times.

Most crystals will block your path, but some will give you advice, such as one which told me, "Swim slowly past eight arms." Just ahead was an octopus, and the only way to get by him was to swim very slowly. Some of the game's "puzzle" aspects don't make much sense; for example, Ecco must push a glowing shell into some rocks to make them disappear. This is used later in the game as well; Ecco has to push a magical book to destroy some chains. Seriously? Perhaps it would have been better if Ecco got a drill upgrade or something.

Don't get me wrong, the game does have some puzzles which make sense, such as Ecco using a rock to go in front of him so the strong current cannot affect him. However, this is as interesting as the puzzles get. The majority of the game is exploration. The ocean is a great place to explore, and this game has great graphics, offering realistic visuals and sea creatures. By holding down the sonar button, you can look at a small map of your location, which is very helpful throughout the game.

             Ecco enjoys many things, such as sliding on ice (hey, why not?)

A few times in the game Ecco is tasked with finding lost dolphins and bringing them back to the top of the ocean. While this is good to do, it's actually optional; if you want, you can be a bad dolphin and find the path to the next area and leave the lost dolphins to die (you jerk!). The game is broken up into sections according to titles (such as The Vents, Ice Zone, Deep Water, etc.). However, there are no bosses (except the final boss). I was hoping to battle a giant shark or something, but that's not the kind of game this is.

The music is pretty good, except only a handful of songs play throughout the course of many levels. The music is soothing at times, such as in the Ice Zone, but can be ominous at other times, like in the Undercaves.

                        It looks like we're not in Kansas anymore, Ecco

The game looks and feels the same until you reach the Ice Zone, in which the scenery changes dramatically. Walls and pillars of ice obstruct Ecco's way. Here Ecco finds the Big Blue Whale, who tells him to find Asterite, the oldest creature on earth. Actually, Asterite is a bunch of orbs floating around in a symmetrical pattern, but anyways, Ecco must find him (it?).

Okay, you ready for some bizarre stuff now? Ecco finds Asterite, and he tells the dolphin to go to the ancient city of Atlantis in order to go back in time (55 million years) to get something to help Asterite regain his strength so he can help Ecco get his pod back. Did you get all that? So Ecco, the good little dolphin that he is, does exactly that! Now the game gets really tough! Atltantis is comprised of three sections, and they are big and maze-like. Ecco will actually go through teleporters and use old books to break chains, and you might lose your mind. Finally, he makes it to the time machine that is just sitting there doing nothing.

So Ecco goes back to the pre-historic era. It's neat to see the scenery change here; the underwater rocks look very old, and pterodactyles actually help you move around when you jump out of the water. However, those blasted crystals are still around, telling you that you can't pass yet. Finally, you reach Asterite (he must be very young here) and what you're supposed to do is not clear, but apparently you must hit a certain amount of his orbs (or something like that). Asterite regains his strength and gives you his power.

           So when I set off to rescue my pod. . . this is not what I had in mind

The last level is super weird. Ecco is swimming through some kind of hi-tech futuristic area. The Vortex is in another dimension, so Ecco gets there and beats the final boss (a giant skull head thing) and rescues his pod. So apparently Ecco saved not just his pod, but the entire world (the Vortex was eventually going to suck up the whole planet). That's insane! Why couldn't this game just be about Ecco saving his pod, which is lost in the ocean? The sci-fi story doesn't quite fit in with the realistic approach.

Final Verdict--4 Stars: Recommended

Despite its shortcomings, I have to give credit to Ecco the Dolphin for being a very unique game on the Genesis. It's a game of exploration, and its setting was unique and cool. However, the game does not allow saving or even passwords, which is crazy because this is actually a pretty long game, longer than I expected. It's also crazy hard! But it's a classic, and is now available on many platforms, so give it a try if you think you're man enough.

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.