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Ecco The Dolphin Sega

Platform: Dreamcast Version: European
Category: Dolphin 'em up Author: Appaloosa
Price: £40 Multiplayer: No
Release: 6/2000

First making a splash onto the Mega Drive, over five years ago, everybody's favourite dolphin returns in the hope of cementing another pillar into the Dreamcast software range. Lost in the dangerous undersea world, you must – get this – 'restore the harmony created by the kindred spirits of dolphins and humans' which is, apparently, 'in mortal danger'. Sound fishy? Well, what did you expect in the middle of the ocean?

Just to set the scene, an evil force has struck Earth and, as you would expect, it has ripped a hole in the space/time continuum. A dolphin by the name of Ecco fell through this hole into the past. Your fin-tastic mission: to restore the former dolphin/human paradise, save the planet from self-destruction, and win back Ecco's future. To achieve this ludicrous goal you must help Ecco recover the stolen dolphin-power which is now scattered throughout time and space (and not, surprisingly, in cans of tuna). Along the way you have to navigate the bottlenosed mammal through mysterious underwater worlds filled with puzzles, friends, foes, and danger.

After an impressive video sequence, preparing you for the aquatic adventure ahead, it's refreshing to see a training mode integrated into the opening action. Within a secluded bay, several dolphins and small whales are on hand to teach you the basic moves needed to negotiate the waters. Charging, turning, catching prey, and surface-riding moves are essential to your quest.

Your first real test is quite simple, requiring you find a small whale trapped under a pile of rocks and then lead more dolphins there to perform a rescue. In exchange, the large whale helps you to pass through the waterfall into the next area. Before long though, you'll be out alone in the deepest darkest depths of the ocean, relying purely on instinct and your ability to communicate with fellow dolphins via sonar ray.

Finding and communicating with fellow sea creatures holds the key to discovering your next task and helping along with these tasks, each of which must be completed in order to progress. Plenty of enjoyable mini-games (like racing fellow dolphins) can provide more energy crystals and once you've learned the song, schools of smaller fish can be summoned to light darker cavernous areas or provide protection for you. Of course enemy hits, often from sharks, will deplete your energy, although this can be replenished by charging into smaller fish for some fast food. Ecco also has to resurface or find an air vent every so often, to charge up the air meter.

Right from the outset, the incredibly smooth textures and tremendous lighting effects impress and strangely soothe. A feeling of: "No matter what lies ahead, I simply can't get frustrated with this game," sinks in and the ease with which the Dreamcast handles the 3D underwater world will bring an instant smile to any gamer's face. From rippling water effects and cascading waterfalls with misty vapours to extensively detailed, beautiful corals and a massively detailed alien spaceship, the game looks just as fine as it plays. Aside from the occasional disorientating camera angle (when you return from a surface leap), my only real annoyance is the level of backtracking and exploring required. Due to the integrated realism of the game's levels, you'll find that, at times, there's just too much swimming around trying to find your bearings at not enough obvious direction implemented into the missions. Even at an early stage, where the required task was to find another dolphin playing with a turtle, I ran into sharks on several occasions just trying to explore the level. On the later, more spacious environments, this problem increases and is certainly not helped by the frequent vagueness of task instructions.

I can't help feeling that these few annoyances will turn the less dedicated gamer away, rather than compel them to stick it out to the very end. By no means is Ecco's latest quest a sub-standard release, but neither is it the groundbreaking update we were all desperately hoping for. Graphically, it's everything Dreamcast owners could wish for, but the gameplay then hinders the proceedings from reaching a dizzy high. Nonetheless, fans of the Mega Drive original and those keen on a challenge should definitely invest.

Reviewed by Gareth Holden

Pros Cons
  • Gorgeous graphics and spacious game environments
  • Control system is easy to get to grips with
  • Quite relaxing at times
  • Plenty of longevity
  • Vagueness of tasks
  • Plenty of backtracking becomes annoying
  • Less persistent gamers will get too frustrated

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