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>>Back to Reviews

Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future
Author: Geronimo

Ecco the Dolphin, as most would know, was an instant classic on the Genesis. But is Defender of the Future good enough to follow such a legacy? Well, depends. I personally was a huge fan of the first game, so I was expecting a lot, and I pretty much got it. But, there were some slow parts in the game, and I could wholeheartedly except someone not enjoying it. Ecco is a great game at heart, so for those of you who enjoyed the original, and have been anticipating this game for a while, this game is fantastic for you. However, those who have passive interest in this game should definitely rent this one first. Why? Read on...

You can expect long durations of playing time in this one. There's no way around it. Unless you're a real stud (like me) you'll find yourself using walkthroughs and stuff to find out what the hell you're to do next... many of my friends did. Its a great edition to the series, and three is the lucky number.

The bad part for many of you lamen folk is the sheer difficulty of this game. It ranges from the fairly obvious task to the ones that make you get so angry you push your TV over and then set fire to the kitchen right before you write "DOLPHINS BAD" all over the walls in mustard... or is that just me?

Presentation: ... 9/10
The game is passed off quite well. Just by looking at it and playing a level or two you can tell the amount of time and energy put into everything. Little things might annoy you, but this is an extremely well put together game.

Graphics: ... 10/10
Ahhh, the graphics. The favorite part of the review for many people. Well rest easy. They are pretty good. Alright, they are (it seems there's a new one every month...) the best on the Dreamcast so far. The detail in every possible aspect of the game is mind-boggling. The rocks, cliffs, and sand are just amazing. And talk about animation, you have to see how fluidly these creatures move. They are all painstakingly accurate in any imaginable way. They even act like their real-life counterpart. The lighting effect are also great, and have been used most impressively so far. The water is eerily life-like. Remember how amazed you were the first time you saw the water effects when Wave Race came out on N64? Take your amazement then and multiply it by 2. And the best part is the game is a non-stop 60 fps. You'll read a lot of other reviews that say the framerate constantly drops. I noticed it ONE time when I was stuck between two rocks on ONE level. I can't imagine why anyone would say that. So don't believe anyone but me. I really hate giving tens in almost any aspect of any game, but I just saw no way around this one. If you buy games based purely on the superficial reason of graphics, go buy this game right now.

Gameplay: ... 8/10
The gameplay is the most debated issue in the game for many people. Some hated it, but others found it to be amazing. I knew what to expect, so I was in no way disappointed. In fact, I found it to be one of the deepest games to be made for any system so far. Appaloosa, the creators of the original Ecco, developed the game, so that alone will make most people convinced, but others are not so easily persuaded. First of all, if you hated the first, you'll more than likely hate this one. The thing that makes people hate or love this game is the level of challenge in it. After playing through, I would sit and ponder forever as to what I had to do. It reminded me just how insanely difficult the first two were. There is a lot of puzzle solving to be taken care of, and that could sometimes shut down my brain stem through rigorous use. There is something to be said, however, for a difficult game, and you WILL spend hour upon hour on it. You sometimes have to go shark fighting, while other times figuring out how you're going to make it from on end of the cavern to the other before you run out of precious Oxygen. Luckily, Ecco is able to enhance his performance through powers he can collect. For example, through the power of air, he may swim farther under water before he needs to replenish his air supply. Others in include the power of endurance, and the power of sonar. These are key tools in beating levels in this game. The controls are sure genius. Pressing A repeatedly determines how fast you'll go, while holding A will sustain that speed for you. B is Dash, X is sonar (holding X will pull up a map for you), and Y is used in conjunction with the analog pad and the triggers to perform spins and such. So, getting around is a breeze. So, is this game for you? If you want fast paced action, with as little thinking as possible, pass this one. But, if you enjoy long adventures and a challenge or two, you may want to check it out. The story is kind of lame, though, but what would you expect from the writer of The Postman?

Sound: ... 7/10
Sound is always the most boring part of any review, so I spend as little time on it as possible. Splashes sound like splashes, dolphins sound like dolphins, et cetera. The only real gripe I can think of is how some of the music in the game seems to run on a twenty second loop before it starts over. This can get quite irritating. But hey, who cares?

Replay Value: ... 5/10
This game was not really designed to be replayed. Unless you count the long length of time you'll spend trying to beat it, this doesn't have a whole lot of replay value. After you beat it once, you might pull it out a few times afterwards to impress the friends, family, and neighbors, but most likely not to play again. That's not to say, however, its not good for a first play through.

OVERALL: ... 8/10 <---
Overall, I was pretty impressed by this game. It was a great transition from a 2D side-scroller. Sometimes the clues they give you have no relevance to the game, and the migraines you might incur from trying to solve the puzzles are painful, it is definitely worth a look in my opinion.

Game Info

 Developer
Appaloosa
Publisher
Sega
Genre
Adventure
Release
August 15th, 2000


Media




+ / -

Pros

+Its purdy

+Easy to control... almost, TOO easy

+Long play time

Cons

-Difficult, yet......maybe too difficult

-Lame story

 

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