Ecco the Dolphin on Sega
Genesis was one of my favorite games of all
time. I mean, hell, I liked the game so much
that was the sole reason I bought my Dreamcast.
But after reading a few online reviews, I was
skeptical on how good this game was going to be.
Was Ecco going to live up to my expectations?
Two words can answer this question, hell
yes!
The tale in Ecco
the Dolphin: Defender of the Universe was very
well told and interesting throughout the game.
The game takes place in the 30th
century. Ecco is given the burden of having to
save the world, not only one time but three
times throughout the game. Ecco, our hero, must
travel across huge underwater levels in order to
defeat the evil alien race Foe who happens to
hate dolphin and humans
alike.
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Now where this game really
shines is its marvelous graphics. The graphics,
in my mind, are the best graphics ever on a home
video game console. The creatures are absolutely
magnificent and are completely accurate. Ecco’s
model is perfect and the sharks in this game
move as they would in a real ocean. You can tell
Appaloosa studied some animal life in the ocean
to make this game. Everything in this game looks
good, even the little fishy. The graphics in
this game are so good, even if you have no
interest in this game whatsoever, its still
worth a rental just because of the incredible
graphics.
Okay, so we have a
good story and graphics but there isn’t a game
without good gameplay, right? Fortunately, Ecco
delivers in this department, too. While some
reviewers marked the game down for being too
difficult, I never knew this was such a bad
thing. God forbid we make our little brains
think to advance in a game. This difficulty was
a welcome change to me and made me enjoy the
game more. Scattered throughout the sea are
crystals, which provide you clues and hints on
what to do next. While most of these hints were
useful, some just made the level more confusing.
Fare warning to those who are planning to buy
this game, this game is extremely long. Ecco
requires patience, so buyers beware, if your
looking for a fast paced action game…this is
probably not the game for you.
The controls in
Ecco take a little bit of time to get used to
but once you figure them out, they are dead-on.
The flips and barrel rolls are extremely easy
and fun to do and are a sight to see. There
really isn’t much to the controls. X is used for
Sonar and to display the map, Y is to stop, B is
to dash and is used as the attack, and A is used
to swim. The faster you press A the faster Ecco
will swim. Once you get him up to a certain
speed you can just hold A and he will glide at
that speed. Amazing!
What can I say
about the sound? Lets put it this way, the sound
effect are unbelievable. From Ecco’s sonar to
the sounds of the aquatic life, all this is
absolutely fantastic. While the sound effects
are good, the music was boring and a chore to
listen to. It was too repetitive. I guess to
some the music might have been relaxing but I
couldn’t stand it.
After playing this
game for a couple days straight, there is only
one thing on my mind. I want to be a dolphin. I
know what you are probably thinking, is this guy
crazy? You would know exactly what I am talking
about if you play this game. I mean think about,
dolphins are one of the most graceful animals
and we get to control them in a video game for
hours and hours! This game has it all- beautiful
graphics, a good story, and best of all great
gameplay. I am going to go with a broad
statement here, but this is the best Dreamcast
game yet. Sure it has its flaws, but every game
does, and Ecco is one of the most innovative
games ever to come out. Screw the other reviews
you have read and go buy this game…if you don’t
like it you have problems!
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