Ecco

[kainemaxwell]

So i started playing around with the 1st Ecco game on ps2 sega genesis collection. Quirky little game. Play control and hit detection is something to get used to. Glad i decided to give it a shot.

[Tron 2.0]

Ecco has a very steep learning curve still a unique game.Where else is the dolphin the hero of a game.Though i think novatrade got carry away with the game difficulty.My favorite version is the sega-cd one just for it's music alone.

[Edmond Dantes]

I love Ecco the Dolphin, at least the two Genesis ones (I've never played any of the others, though I would like to grab the Sega CD and Master System versions sometime).

Ecco to me is the game that best defines the Genesis in that, well, at the time it came out it was a weird game, a departure from anything I had seen before. It was actually kind of intimidating until I actually played it. Screenshots in magazines left me wondering how it played, as some shots showed Ecco from the side, others showed him from the top (of course, when I actually played it, I understood why this was).

For some reason, I used to find the level "Open Ocean" kind of terrifying. I mean, the underwater mazes were a challenge, but somehow this big open patch of water just.... scares me. You might almost say that Ecco the Dolphin was the first real "horror" experience I had in a video game.

And that was the thing to me, and its one reason I still have a soft spot for the Genesis. A lot of games on it were just... "Weird." I mean impressions often have nothing to do with facts (the SNES had plenty of eerie games as well) but you'd never see a game like Ecco on the SNES. As I got older I came to appreciate this more and more, just the general feel and atmosphere of this game. It's still a very unique experience.

See also the story I shared in the other Ecco thread.

[Emperor Megas]

For some reason, I used to find the level "Open Ocean" kind of terrifying. I mean, the underwater mazes were a challenge, but somehow this big open patch of water just.... scares me. You might almost say that Ecco the Dolphin was the first real "horror" experience I had in a video game.

Wow, me too! It's funny that you mentioned that because it's one of the only stages that stuck with me. In fact, it's the ONLY stage that I remember the description for: "The open ocean is cold and dangerous".

It has the really adventurous music, too. It was the only stage with that song. Man, that stage used to scare the heck out of me. It was the blandest, least visually appealing stage in the whole game, but I loved it.

[Tron 2.0]

I love Ecco the Dolphin, at least the two Genesis ones (I've never played any of the others, though I would like to grab the Sega CD and Master System versions sometime).

The sega-cd version of ecco really has a haunting ost it's really worth tracking down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzdShv9Rfv4

It was composed by spencer nilsen who was also behind sonic-cd u.s and batman returns.

[Edmond Dantes]

So today I tried to play Ecco 2: The Tides of Time again. I had remembered thinking it was inferior to the original but couldn't remember why.

Here's my experience in a nutshell:

"Hmm, okay, so I have to swim through this portal thing for no adequately explained reason. I mean the first game started out with something happening, this one tho starts out with Ecco and friends just swimming around and then there's a portal. This 3D segment is annoying with how damaging shells that spew poison seem to always be in front of the hoops you need to swim through. Hmm, okay, so I need to bring these crystals to this one specific crystal.... okay, how the hell do I dislodge the crystals from their location.... Oh, I see, I got to fire at them with the right timing.... okay, this is getting annoying."

Specifically what would happen is I would somehow keep effing up the timing and undo my progress, and it just seemed like the whole thing with the crystals was needlessly tough. When I wound up having to do it three times, I said "enough of this."

Granted, in my younger days I actually did get past this bit so its not impossible, but its odd that I never remembered how just badly-programmed this section was.

[SpaceHarrier]

Ecco Jr. is a guilty pleasure of mine...

[Graham Mitchell]

All of the Ecco games are nightmare fuel. The concept that you can drown is part of it, but the eerie ambience is what does it for me. It's a very dark game, despite the happy dolphin on the title screen. The story is sad, the aliens are terrifying, and the sound effects are unnerving.

The Sega cd version is the definitive one. The audio is improved all around, and the aliens make a rattlesnake-like hiss when they come after you.

By far the creepiest level for me is the Atlantis level with no music, just he shrill, echoey around effects.

Defender of the future on the dreamcast is mind blowing, btw. It's only real issue is that it's too ambitious for the little dc and the frame rate slows to unplayable speeds at times. But the whole thing is just amazing. There's still no game like it.

[otaku]

ecco on genesis was one of my first game experiences on a cousin's system when i was 7. beautiful but so challenging same goes for the dreamcast version. and now there is a newly discovered dreamcast title for the series... dreamcast junkyard has coverage

[Gameguy]

I really enjoy the Ecco games, though I haven't spent a whole lot of time with them. I really want to spend more time with these games in depth when I have a chance. I think I have the Sega CD versions too, can't remember for sure if I have both or either of them still but I'm pretty sure I at least have the first Ecco on Sega CD. I do have the strategy guide for Ecco II though so I'll be ready when I get to play this one.

[Edmond Dantes]

So apparently that area with the crystals in Ecco II gets easier if I use a different controller. Its odd how the Sega Genesis/CD is the only system where I've found basic controllers to be an issue for some games (FWIW -- I normally use a six-button controller that has a stiff, firm d-pad and buttons because the directions are solid. The 3-button my Genesis came with and which I've used all my life is kinda mushy and its not-as-solid d-pad can actually get me killed in games like Battletoads where the next-to-last level sometmes wouldn't recognize I was pressing the right button... and yet this exact same controller seems to be perfect for Ecco games specifically because its a little looser).

In other words I need more controllers.

I got as far as the level where you have to transform into a bird before I decided I'd had my fill for the day.

[bb_hood]

Ive spent more time listening to the Ecco 2 sega cd sountrack than playing all the games together. One of the best VG soundtracks for sure.


All of the Ecco games are nightmare fuel. The concept that you can drown is part of it, but the eerie ambience is what does it for me. It's a very dark game, despite the happy dolphin on the title screen. The story is sad, the aliens are terrifying, and the sound effects are unnerving.


Yeah, very well put. Thats exactly how I feel. Its a really creepy game. Def Nightmare fuel.

[Cafeman]

I don't post much anymore, but had to. It's cool to see people just now discovering Ecco. I played and beat both on Genesis, then again on Sega CD.

I can relate the the 'its another weird Genesis game' being appealing. Not 'weird' so much as unique, distinct, different. For some reason I loved the dolphin / sea / puzzle adventure so much than I toughed it through, to the very end. There were levels I was convinced the game had glitched, because I couldn't figure out how to exit. Then I figured it out later - perhaps I went to the mall and glanced at a strategy guide. No internet back then.

I'm not sure I could beat it today, might not have the skills, time and patience. The CD version of Ecco has extra levels (is it four extra levels?) and of course redbook audio music and some cool 90's CG-animated FMV scenes here & there. The extra levels I remember have huge sunken ships, and you use tortoises and their shells to sink lower past uprising currents. The ships creak ... sounds cool.

I enjoy the DC Ecco Defender of the Future too, but it is also just too challenging. I bought it on PS2 not long ago - it looks better on my flat-screen because my PS2 outputs component, my DC is composite so its 4:3 and more faded out. There is a new Ecco sonar on the PS2 version, but I can't say its better, just different.

Come to think of it, I wrote a little blog entry on the DC version here if interested: http://atariage.com/forums/blog/618/entry-12395-ecco-for-sega-dreamcast-and-the-challenges-of-2d-to-3d/

[Damaramu]

Speaking of Ecco the Dolphin - the creator of the series, Ed Annunziata just followed me out of the blue on Twitter this morning. Dunno why!

[Graham Mitchell]

Speaking of Ecco the Dolphin - the creator of the series, Ed Annunziata just followed me out of the blue on Twitter this morning. Dunno why!

Are you sure it's legitimately him?

[Damaramu]

Are you sure it's legitimately him?

Well, it may NOT be him...but I don't why anyone would want to impersonate this guy?

https://twitter.com/edannunziata

[Graham Mitchell]

Well, it may NOT be him...but I don't why anyone would want to impersonate this guy?

https://twitter.com/edannunziata

Hahaha! You've got a point.

A few years ago he was pitching a Kickstarter for a game he wanted to make called Big Blue. It didn't fund. I don't know too much about it, but I was interested.