For all four Ecco Fans...

[Phosis]

I just thought I'd share this with you guys.

I wrote a blog about how awesome Ecco was, and somebody accidentally posted it on the front page of Destructoid, probably thinking it was about Skyrim or something.

Location: The cold and the beautiful

Now, I've written a lot of things that I thought were pretty good, (probably not true) but I don't like self promoting. In this case, I figured it was relevant since it's probably one of the only recent articles about Ecco to make its way on a mostly mainstream game site such as Destructoid.

Spread the word of Ecco! His name must be praised, sung across the seas!

Hope you guys enjoy it.

(Oh and good ol' FlackoWeasel's art can be seen in the corner there too which I hope she'll be happy to know.)

[Thunderblaze16]

I have yet to understand why this game is praised.

[Forgotten Sin]

I have yet to understand why this game is praised.

Same here. It always felt very bland.

[TheSonicRetard]

Same here. It always felt very bland.

How can you call a game about time travel and space aliens bland?

[Kamahl]

I have yet to understand why this game is praised.

It's all about the atmosphere, the environment, the ambient music, the beautiful graphics (there's not really anything better on the MD from a visual design standpoint, only with better special effects), the crazy storyline, the mysterious puzzles. Plus it's hard as all hell, I've never beaten it.

How can you call a game about time travel and space aliens bland?

Don't forget the ancient stuff and the dolphins. Gotta love dolphins.

[TheSonicRetard]

It's all about the atmosphere, the environment, the ambient music, the beautiful graphics (there's not really anything better on the MD from a visual design standpoint, only with better special effects), the crazy storyline, the mysterious puzzles. Plus it's hard as all hell, I've never beaten it.

Don't forget the ancient stuff and the dolphins. Gotta love dolphins.

I played and beat Ecco 1 without reading any reviews or guides or anything back when it was released. Playing through the games without knowing the big twist in the story was a colossal mindfuck that made such a huge impression on me. I think if you play the game today, knowing what twists it has, diminishes the experienced.

I also beat Ecco 2 without a guide or any spoilers, but, given that it's a sequel to Ecco 1, the amount of trippy mind-fuck shit that went on in the game was less impaction. Still an incredible game, and overall much better than ecco 1 IMO. The lack of a proper ecco 3 makes the ending to Ecco 2 incredibly sad.

My favorite part in the series is when you travel to the good future where dolphins have hyper evolved and rule the world peacefully.

The Dreamcast game is completely unrelated, but just as awesome. It has a lot of mindfuck moments too. My favorite part in the game is the future where dolphins evolved into evil dictators and turned on man, and ruled them with an iron fist.

[TheSonicRetard]

Oh, and i read your article. Great writing! Only thing to comment on is that the humans in the ecco world are not all dead and buried as you claim. Rather, in the Sega CD manual (and maybe the genesis one, I dunno, I only have the Sega CD version) it explains what happened to the humans. It seems Ecco takes place in some distant future where humanity has left the earth, conscious of the Vortex. The manual takes place during some sort of meeting of council members as they're debating leaving earth, specifically as they wonder what will happen to all the life they leave behind. One member says that earth will be inherited by the dolphin, the smartest remaining animals on the planet, and that perhaps they will defend the planet from the vortex.

As we see in the distant future in Ecco 2, that is exactly what happens.

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

TheSonicRegard, I think you hit the nail spot on. I try to avoid reading or watching reviews of games that I have yet to complete. I had no idea that there was a SEGA Dreamcast game.

[TheSonicRetard]

TheSonicRegard, I think you hit the nail spot on. I try to avoid reading or watching reviews of games that I have yet to complete. I had no idea that there was a SEGA Dreamcast game.

It's a pretty awesome game, it was also ported to the PS2. It's pretty long, spread across into 4 chapters, and, by virtue of being in 3D, it's a lot harder. It's a complete reboot for the series, touching on neither the events of Ecco 1 or 2, but the story it tells is sort of a blend of those 2 games. The vortex is replaced by a different alien force known as "The Foe" and Humanity and dolphin have banded together to fight The Foe as they explore the universe. Back at home, a great glyph provides a force field repelling The Foe, but, in an all out invasion, the glyph is destroyed and the foe invades. Ecco time travels using atlantis to restore the glyph, but in doing so, he changes the future wildly. The game takes you through 4 very different futures where man and dolphin evolve in various ways. In one, for example, the dolphin become dumb and get enslaved by humanity. In another, they become hyper aggressive and enslave humanity themselves.

My favorite level in the game is The Hanging Waters, which is pretty much a 3D remake of The Tubes of Medusa from The Tides of Time.

Great game, you should check it out. And it has an awesome soundtrack in the vein of the Sega CD games. And it's narration is also top notch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSSG-...0CF2AF94BA51A4

I absolutely adore Ecco the dolphin. I think it's pretty funny that you can very easily tell who did and didn't get very far in the games based on their views and comments on the series. Those who didn't get far always seem to think it's nothing more than a game about a dolphin and never see what the big deal is. Those who did know about how trippy and giant of a mindfuck it is. One of the best stories in any game I've ever played.

For those who will never go back and fully play the game, at least take a look at the fully animated retelling of Ecco 1 from Ecco 2 Sega CD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m-xXRbNp6M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QmbZ3-ApzE

It's a pretty awesome 15 minute long movie detailing the entire story for the first game. Also, I can't talk about ecco without talking about how unbelievable the Sega CD soundtracks are. Every track is incredible, but two in particular stick out:

St. Gabriel's Mask:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuNwZ9GqBFU

The Vents:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upJ_1Q1WJy0

Such a haunting, beautiful soundtrack

[Phosis]

TheSonicRetard - Yeah, I do remember all that. In fact, the plot of Ecco 3 was supposed to have Ecco visiting the Atlantians. I should have specified but I was trying to keep things simple. All I meant was that there are no humans at all in the game, so we can presume its not set on the shores of Mexico or something like that. It appears to be an alternate, human free world, from what the story implies.

[TheSonicRetard]

Oh, and there was also a sequel to the dreamcast game in production, but it was canceled very early on. An alpha of the game has been leaked online.

[eddiespruce]

Ecco the Dolphin is a pretty good game, it's not one of the best games, but it's certainly not bad.

I think most people just get frustrated when they play it. It would of been nice if there were checkpoints in between levels, instead of going all the way back to the beginning of a level and doing whatever you had to do over again, and that's my only compliant.

[TheSonicRetard]

Ecco the Dolphin is a pretty good game, it's not one of the best games, but it's certainly not bad.

I think most people just get frustrated when they play it. It would of been nice if there were checkpoints in between levels, instead of going all the way back to the beginning of a level and doing whatever you had to do over again, and that's my only compliant.

There are checkpoints in the Sega CD version. That version is much, much better than the Genesis version all around. It has better music, better levels (including a few exclusive levels), and it's easier because there are checkpoints.

Oddly enough, there is a level exclusive to the japanese version of the game called The Stomach which is the hardest level in the entire series. In that level, your sonar doesn't work and the level design is random and odd, and it's a constantly scrolling level. Even more bizarre, it was cut from the US version, and isn't on any Sega CD versions, either japanese or US. And, weirdest of all, it uses a bunch of art from Ecco 2, which had a very different art style.

[Gogogadget]

Am I the only person that actually prefers the Genesis versions?

Despite the lack of checkpoints, I prefer the chip soundtrack of the Genesis version.

[eddiespruce]

There are checkpoints in the Sega CD version. That version is much, much better than the Genesis version all around. It has better music, better levels (including a few exclusive levels), and it's easier because there are checkpoints.

Well, I never knew that! Thanks for the info, I'll be sure to pick up the Sega CD version sometime.