Ecco the Dolphin

Ecco the Dolphin is an action-adventure game that first showed up on the Mega drive RADAR in 1992. The developers who made this game so overly hard, Novotrade International, wanted to create a game which would last longer than the hype, or at least more than a weekend.

At first impressions, the game, though now dated, has clear graphics compared to other games at the time with a very nice set of animation sprites – this impressed me very quickly. Sounds are detailed and the music doesn’t repeat itself to death; which is great as this game has a lot of ‘down-time’ where you wonder where the hell you are going.

I found the controls of this game on a very severe spectrum. While still or moving slow, Ecco would spin on a dime: Which would be great if the Mega Drive had something more directionally fluid than a D-pad, like an analogue stick. However, considering the labyrinth to navigate, this would have worked the best. On the other-side, a major mechanic of the game was the ability to sprint, or boost. This enabled Ecco to remove enemies and some obstacles. At the same time, the controls would go numb. I would have liked some input, even minimal, but sadly immersion is lost as I sit there and wait to see if I hit anything dangerous.

Beyond this, I didn’t see much else as the game was designed to be played for more than a weekend, and I only played a few minutes, most of which I struggled to swim against a current and kept drowning.

With the age in consideration, I would give this game an 8.3

 I just wish the controls would find a middle ground and that the game would give more direction in quests as the ‘down-time’ really made the difficult to navigate areas more frustrating without knowing if there would actually be anything beyond the strong current of difficulty: You don’t want to work so hard if you might not get any gratification.