Ecco the Dolphine


Developer: 

Appaloosa Interactive

Publisher: 

Sega

Players: 

1-4

TV System: 

NTSC

Accessories: 

VMU, Jump Pack

Style: 

Adventure



Introduction

I love dolphins, my house is full of dolphin paraphernalia from wind chimes to sculptures to shower curtains. I drive my wife up the wall with all the dolphin stuff I have. I am also full of useless dolphin trivia like "Did you know that a dolphins echolocation or sonar is so advanced that it allows him to make out complex shapes obscured behind solid objects". Want to see a GOOD movie with dolphins (No not Flipper), rent The Big Blue directed by Luc Besson. How about dolphin music??? try Dan Gibson's Guardians of Atlantis or his Angels of the Sea. I am such a fanatic that I actually bought two copies of the original Ecco game and it's Sequel and a Genesis 3 and put them into storage. The madness behind this is that years from now I would have brand new working copies of the game to play if my playable copy and Genesis 2 system broke down.

The Ecco games were and still are my favorite games of old. They had beautiful graphics, the CD versions had fantastic music (Track 7 on the original Ecco game is both beautiful and haunting) and the gameplay struck a fine balance between puzzle solving and action. These games were the reason I always had admiration for Sega.

When Mike and I went to E3 last year you can imagine my joy when I saw a demo of Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future. During those three days in Los Angeles I would spend at least an hour a day watching that little polygon dolphin swim through Atlantis. I even tried to get Shigero Miyamoto (The creator of Mario and Zelda) to have a look at the demo but Ken Lobb, Nintendo's director of software development didn't pay any attention to my pleas. Not surprising since he is not a very pleasant man to begin with. During the course of the next year I had to sit patiently awaiting the arrival of the game while drooling over low resolution screen shots. When the news broke that the plot for Ecco would be written by Science Fiction author David Brin, who had written several novels with dolphins as the heroes, I was going insane. When would the title of my dreams arrive. Finally the game was on the shelves at my local Electronics Boutique and I of course bought two copies (one for backup). I am proud to say that without a doubt this is one of Dreamcast's greatest games and a testament to the power of the system.

Graphics

Ecco is simply the best looking mammal ever to grace a console and is rendered with such care that you can't help but feel your watching a special on dolphins on National Geographic. Every flip, turn and stroke of the tail is capture with grace.

The environments are equally impressive. Schools of fish swim in random patterns, coral and sea plants sway in the currents and luminescent plankton glows and the oceans deeper regions. Sharks, octopus and jellyfish seem to have been given just as much attention as Ecco himself. Break the surface of the ocean and your are treated to breathtaking tropical islands, cloud swept skies and ominous sunsets.


Audio

Much like the CD version from Genesis, the music is a blend of new age music and ethereal sounds. It fits the mood of the game perfectly and leaves a lasting impression on the player. I was sorry to discover that the tracks couldn't be played off the CD but at least the developers included an option to play them from the menu. All the sounds of the ocean are here, bubbles breaking the surface, the squeak of your comrades and the rush of a waterfall.


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