
Ecco The Dolphin - Wow, oooohhh, amazing... This is my pick hit of the year.
Numero Uno, top dog, etc...  This game is an amazing graphical, control, and
sound experience wrapped around an interesting puzzle/adventure game with a
lot of environmental messages in it.  It centers around Ecco, the Dolphin
who loses all of his family and friends.  You job is to get them back 
(basically), and must search the world over to do so.  The graphics and sound
are amongst the best I have ever seen.  But, the thing that makes it even more
incredible is the control. A friend of mine put it best when he said that he
spent hours just swimming around it was so much fun.  This is not an easy game
either, as it takes a lot of thought combined with a lot of patience and 
control.  It isn't your hack/slash action game, but their is some fighting.
It is also a very long game.  I have still not gotten through that much of
this game, but am looking forward to even more.  A friend of mine who has gone
through the first couple of worlds is equally amazed and has described to me
the next worlds which are even more incredible than the ones in which I have
seen.  Again, wow...  If you get any game this year, this is it...

Article 46245 of rec.games.video:
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From: mjb10@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael J. Bumbulis)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: Eco the Dolphin (Genesis)
Date: 3 Jan 1993 06:38:14 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
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Message-ID: <1i61kmINNi3g@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>
References: <C09Dww.BHF@acsu.buffalo.edu>
Reply-To: mjb10@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael J. Bumbulis)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc10.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, v062nm65@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Chris Randall) says:

>Anyone played this game yet?  Any opinions on it?  From what I've seen, it's a
>very attractive game, the guy at Electronics Boutique said it's selling really
>well, and we all know it has *BLAST PROCESSING*!!!!! :)
>
>I'd really like to find some stuff about this game. I'm debating getting this
>one.

I would suggest getting it!  First of all, the graphics are so crisp and
good that you could call the game a work of art.  There are MANY levels
and you want to finish each one in anticipation of what the next
level looks like.

The control of Ecco is to much to be described.  You actually feel like
like Ecco is swimming.  It's so much fun that I still get a kick out
of making him do a few jumps and flips out of the water!

While swimming, you have two parameters to keep an eye on.  First,
you have to keep Ecco's strength up.  If he is attacked by a shark
or bumps into a jelleyfish, he loses strength.  You restore your
strength by finding fish and eating them.   You also have to keep an
eye on his air supply.  If he's been under to long, you have to go for air.
This makes it interesting when you are deep within a cave-maze and have
to find air pockets to catch a breath.

Of course, Ecco has eccholocation.  You use your A button to "sing"
yo other whales and dolphins for hints and if you hold the button down,
the song returns to you and a map comes on the screen.  This helps
in guiding Ecco in unknown territory.

The B button is used for fact acceleration.  If you want to bump off
a pestery critter that's attacking you, hit B.  The C button is used
to swim faster and when simply swimning slowly, you just use the
dierection button.

Each level has a different twist to it.  Some levels are simply
finding your way through mazes full of all sorts of neat sea critters
that don't like you.  Some involve puzzle solving.  For example, if
rocks block your way into a passageway, you have to go back where you
found those floating Starfish and use your singing button to guide
them and push them into the rock so it shatters.  Another level 
involves finding lost dolphins, swimming in front of them so they can learn 
and mimic your swimming, and then return them to their family. 
Some levels are just dexterity tests.  For example, in one level, you
have to swim through a large body of water infested by sharks who are all
out to get you.  

Right now, I have just found the Blue Whale who has advice for me
and am off to Atlantis to find the time machine which will send me
back in time to prehistoric days.  

Put simply, I think Ecco sets a new standard for game playing.  Not
only are the graphics and control sooo good, but the whole concept
seems so unique.  I love Sonic2 and SR2, but I think Ecco is better.
Of course, Genesis really has quite a trio with these games!!

 
-- 
Michael   
 


Article 46342 of rec.games.video:
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
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From: fleming@tc.fluke.COM (Christopher Fleming)
Subject: Review of ECCO for Genesis
Message-ID: <1993Jan4.175532.8890@tc.fluke.COM>
Keywords: Genesis, ECCO
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 17:55:32 GMT
Lines: 48


Here is a brief(long?) review of the game "ECCO the Dolphin" for the Sega
genesis.

ECCO is game in which you control a dolphin through waterway mazes to
reach an exit to the next stage.  Along the way there are other minor
distractions, such as rescuing lost dolphins, dodging/destroying underwater
nasties, and using Glyphs (large crystals) to get information (among other
things).  There are 25 stages in all, which require you to figure out
where the exits are, and how to get through barriers placed in your way.
Did I forget to mention that the dolphin can't last forever under the 
water without air (a dolphin is after all, a mammal).  In addition to
surfacing, there are air pockets in the underwater caverns, from which
you can refil your air supply.  And finally, injuries can be healed by
eating fish, and using other various underwater items. There are 25 stages 
with each five or so having a particular theme (like a sunken city, ice, etc).

The best thing, and worst thing about the game is the control of the dolphin.
It swims around very fluidly, and very fast (so fast, that some people
might be left feeling a little dizzy because of the rapidly moving
background, not unlike FZERO for the SNES).  And acrobatics while surfacing
for air are a must.  It's just plain fun to swim around with the dolphin.
However, in tight situations, control over precise movement of the dolphin
is difficult, which can cause eternal frustration.  Not to mention that the
game has certain places where your dolphin can get stuck, and only waiting
for it to run out of air (or the reset button) help.  For instance, it
is possible to wedge your dolphin vertically at the entrance to the tunnel
in the first stage.

Unfortunately, most of this game has been incredibly easy, and the solution
to the mazes is generally the same, find the right glyphs in the right
order.  Yet just when I thought I could finish it in a day, I got terminally
stuck around level 20, and haven't been able to advance in a week or so of
trying.  So do I say the game is easy, or hard?  Well, it's on the extreme
end of both.  If you buy this for your kids, plan on spending some time 
with them, so they don't get too frustrated.

Graphics and sound?  It's gorgeous to look at, and hard to listen to.  Lots
of repetitious new-wave background music is best turned off (which there is
an option to do in this game).

Recommendation?  The gameplay is lacking in depth and has not been very fun
for me in this respect, but it's definitely worth trying, just
to swim around with the dolphin.  If only they'd beefed up the puzzle
solving aspect of the game, with much more variation in gameplay, I'd give
it two thumbs up.

-->Chris<--


Article 47051 of rec.games.video:
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From: hship@sw.stratus.com (Howard Ship)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: GENESIS: Ecco the Dolphin
Message-ID: <1irvu6INNms2@transfer.stratus.com>
Date: 11 Jan 93 14:24:06 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.
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NNTP-Posting-Host: teton.sw.stratus.com

Picked this up this weekend ... excellent game.  The graphics (especially
background scenery and the dolphin animation) are breathtaking.  The game play
is excellent (though it can be frustrating).  The music is also highest quality,
perfectly complementing game play.

It's a very "pure" game ... no scores or lives.  If you die, you simply restart the
current stage.  I'm perhaps halfway through the game (I played at least 12 hours
Sunday alone).

Tremendous learning curve on the game, definately watch the built in demos for enough
clues to get started.  You have to learn how to swim very well, especially to perform
above surface leaps that become more difficult and more necessary with each level.

Like Sonic, the game encourages you to play fast and loose -- most of the time.  But
on many screens, accuracy is critical.

Saying anthing more would be spoilers ... find someone who has a copy and play it.  It
is also a good risk to buy blind (as I did).

-- 
"I can't believe I had the Anti!"
Howard_Ship@vos.stratus.com


