Ecco the Dolphin Review Thread

[Wriggy]

What did you think of Ecco the Dolphin? Is it a "swimmingly" good game? Or is it in deep water?

*Sorry for bad jokes

This thread is an example thread for an idea I have for the site. Click here to go to that thread.

[duckydan]

I purchased it because the wife likes it but, as back when it first game out, I cannot stand the game. It is mindless swimming around with a dolphin and I find myself dozing off halfway through the first level.

[Crazyreyn]

I remember getting this from a car boot when I was a kid, just the cart for a tenner.

However I could only get to the second level. Even with level skips it's fairly boring, and pretty tough. I won't be getting it again.

[Devolon]

I was some sort of a nintendo fanboy when I was a kid, and Ecco was one of those games that I never got the chance to try. Oh boy, this one is a bitch, even with the save system. this has to be the toughest game ever, the gameplay is horrible, this stupid dolphin deserves to die. This game had such good reviews in 1990... I don't get it.

[Renegade RaVen]

this game totally sucks played it cant get the hang of it

[Ry Fryy]

ECCO has the best storyline ever. No game can touch the epicness (yes, epicness) of this game.

[vmu]

this game is awful, dont know why i went out of my way to get the 200, i regret it

[zlionsfan]

This would be my review of the game:

Ecco the Dolphin
GamerScore: 0/200 (0%) (MGC Average: 71.41 (Non-0) / 0.98 (All) ) Achievements: 0/12 (0%) (World Rank: 1,865 (+133,626) of 135,491)

Yep. Somewhere around 1.4% of the people in MGC's database have any achievements at all in this game.

No further questions, Your Honor.

[vmu]

yes its hard achievement wise, but about 80 of the 200's (more than half !!!!) are fake, my 200 is legit just check the ecco leaderboard, im 3rd, this game is incredibly cheap when it comes to deaths, you have to abuse saves like fucking crazy, in my second run i probaly used 50+ saves, but its definetely not impossible, just real fucking hard and time consuming (for any arcade game for that matter 0_0)

[RareCoincidence]

i loved this game,and i still have my copy for the megadrive"genesis"but 800 points is a bit to much for a game thats 16 years old.

[vmu]

its 400 points, your probaly mixed up with sealife safari ><

[RareCoincidence]

still a good game!!!

[MLG=Most Likely Gay]

Originally Posted by Devolon

I was some sort of a nintendo fanboy when I was a kid, and Ecco was one of those games that I never got the chance to try. Oh boy, this one is a bitch, even with the save system. this has to be the toughest game ever, the gameplay is horrible, this stupid dolphin deserves to die. This game had such good reviews in 1990... I don't get it.

In 1990 people still appreciated games with challenge not mindless "Here have free achievements!" games.

Although I will agree it can be brutal sometimes.

[T0b3]

hm. It surely isn't the best game of the world, but it doesn't suck so hard like.. NBA 2K10 Draft Combine, for instance.

Controls are crappy, the dolphin's movement is completely retarded.. but still I don't find this hard. Gonna get the full 200. You bet I will.

[Ego Orb]

Yes, the controls are cumbersome. You just have to get used to them though, it's nothing you can't overcome.

A majority of the achievements aren't "hard", as most of them require a typical play through the game, and you're backed by the fact you can spam save. So I would say it's fair to consider the game hard, but not the achievements, as they are well within the scope of typical gameplay.

And what makes (made) the game good? It was the aesthetic and conceptual aspects of the game, in addition to the atmosphere and music. Reading the following quote from the game, backed by the strange music, you're sure to feel a little strange: "Dark cold waters with few places to breath. Strange cold water creatures live in this place. Distant songs are heard but not understood."

Maybe it's just the nostalgia talking. Some of the things in the Ecco series are the stuff of nightmares.

[Steve and Megan]

One of the hardest games in my XBLA collection, and still working on it.

This cute little bottle-nose dolphin will be the death of me...

[TheRequiem95]

I really like the Ecco the Dolphin games. I had them as a kid on the Sega CD and I have them now on the Ultimate Genesis Collection. They're a very unique blend of action, RPG and puzzle with a style of gameplay all its own. One thing I really wish Sega would do is give players the option of the Sega CD soundtracks for games like Ecco which came out in both formats. The soundtrack for the Sega CD version is really amazing and captures the atmosphere of the game brilliantly. At least we got both the US and Japanese soundtracks in Sonic CD, though.