The GHZ Forum

I've never played Ecco the Dolphin in any form before, but I got a chance to play the Mega CD version briefly today and thought it was a really neat concept with a lot of room for potential, so I'm wondering if it ever managed to fulfil any of it in the last ten years. I missed the DC sequel (and its PS2 conversion), so I'm wondering whether to get it or not. Is it actually any good, or what?

Well, I've played about a third of Defender of the Future, and I have to say, it's every bit as good and difficult as it's predecessors. There are a few control and camera issues involved in the game, but it's really nothing worse than what you've probably encountered in any other 3-D game. But the game is definitely worth the $10-20 you'll pay to get it on Dreamcast or Playstation 2. Give it a shot. Just be prepared for a VERY weird story written by Sci-Fi author David Brin. Also to note is that this game is not a sequel to the story of the other two games. But what is here is still pretty cool.

Oh, and stay tuned to this board, because I will probably be posting a tribute to Ecco: The Tides of Time at somepoint this week, as I recently completed it and realized just what a masterpiece it was.

And yes, Ecco the Dolphin is my favorite video game series of all time.

And yet you've only played a third of the latest game?

Defender of the Future is one of the most freaking hard games I've played in the last 5 years, but well worth it. It's one of the best-looking games on the Dreamcast (in my opinion, at least)... The environments are downright gorgeous (especially the earlier levels). The gameplay is very challenging, and some of the puzzles will have you cursing Ecco. But overall, I'd say it's definitely a worthwhile gaming experience. Just don't mess your pants when you see the Hanging Waters level. Amazing.

Haven't played the next-gen sequel, but as far as the Genesis titles go, they're frustrating works of art. The graphics and music are wonderful for both, and the swimming alone is rather fun. Both of the games bog down in the simple puzzles you run into, as well as the 'forced-screen' levels (ie The Machine in Ecco 1).

Then again, if frustration kept you from finishing a game, none of you would have beaten Sonic Heroes. So look into fleshing out your experience of the 16-bit Ecco games.

Defender was that good, huh? I'll have to pick it up. I never remembered to.

Did anyone ever actually finish Sonic Heroes?

I just bought Ecco for PS2 for £10 on eBay. Here's hopin'!

I finished the plot, but I never went and got all the emblems. Too much work, not enough reward.

People had to have beaten the game, else they couldn't talk about 'forcing themselves' to beat it...

As far as emblems go, Sonic Team has never really given much of an incentive for collecting 100 plus emblems in any of their 3D Sonic games.

Sonic Adventure gave you nothing for collecting all emblems...

Sonic Adventure 2 gave you a short little stage that, while nostalgic, is apparently nothing special for collecting all emblems (while garnering all A-ranks)...

Sonic Adventure DX gives you 12 Game Gear games, most of which are crap to begin with.

And finally, Sonic Heroes lets you unlock 'SUPER HARD MODE' after collecting all Emblems and A ranks. It's funny that the game that drives people insane on normal mode has a "Super Hard Mode" as an actual incentive for replaying the game.

aso wrote:It's funny that the game that drives people insane on normal mode has a "Super Hard Mode" as an actual incentive for replaying the game.

It further proves my theory that the Japanese are genetically batshit insane.

Delphine wrote:

aso wrote:It's funny that the game that drives people insane on normal mode has a "Super Hard Mode" as an actual incentive for replaying the game.

It further proves my theory that the Japanese are genetically batshit insane.

Certainly explains Warp/Super Warp and Kenji Eno.

Sonic Team had the right idea in mind for one game: Christmas Nights. There were several unlockables, and they were all generally enjoyable. Except for those Reala squares, hated those damned things...

Both of the games bog down in the simple puzzles you run into, as well as the 'forced-screen' levels (ie The Machine in Ecco 1).

Oy, I've just been reminded of the autoscrolling stage in The Tides of Time, called Dark Sea. It's bad enough that we have a stage where the screen scrolls much faster than you'd want, and the route is loaded with enemies that kill you in three hits max, but when the screen scrolling FAKES YOU OUT, now that's just sadistic. It will start scrolling in one direction, but then very quickly change directions again, leaving you a split second to react before certain death.

Ecco wrote:Both of the games bog down in the simple puzzles you run into, as well as the 'forced-screen' levels (ie The Machine in Ecco 1).

Oy, I've just been reminded of the autoscrolling stage in The Tides of Time, called Dark Sea. It's bad enough that we have a stage where the screen scrolls much faster than you'd want, and the route is loaded with enemies that kill you in three hits max, but when the screen scrolling FAKES YOU OUT, now that's just sadistic. It will start scrolling in one direction, but then very quickly change directions again, leaving you a split second to react before certain death.

Oh, you just had to bring up The Tides of Time, didn't you? That game had the absolute worst mix of auto-scrolling levels. While I can't specifically remember 'Dark Sea', I'm sure it was just one of the many levels that made me cry as a prepubescent.

I played a demo of the DC version and loved it. It was freaking gorgeous, never went out and bought the game thoguh.

As for Heroes, I forced myself to play all the stories, but that was about it. Getting all the emblems is pointless, the only thing you get is bragging rights. Who the fuck cares if you got all the emblems? On the DC version of SA2 I got within like 14 emblems or something and then just said fuck it and downloaded a perfect save file. I played the 3D GHZ twice or so and deleted it.

I love all the Ecco games, but Tides of Time is my favourite. It's certainly the most balanced in terms of difficulty... if only the ending wasn't so frustrating!

Defender of the Future is great too, although I wish they'd continued the plot of the older games. The Foe are no Vortex, that's for sure. The game is still fun, but I would never have made it through most of the later levels without downloading a walkthrough. For any other game, I'd never consider doing that, but in DotF, there are a few puzzles with solutions so random and unintuative that I don't know how anyone could figure them out on their own. Still, I played the DC version... the PS2 version might have been "tweaked" for difficulty.

It's frequently frustrating, but it's totally worth it. The flying water was a highpoint of my gameplaying career.

The PS2 version was made easier with an option to point you in the direction of your next objective and a more intuitive map and better hints, all of which would make the game much easier, I can imagine.

Was Space Channel 5 on the PS2 improved or upgraded by any measure?

Was Space Channel 5 on the PS2 improved or upgraded by any measure?

Nope. It's a direct port.

Now, the sequel was a huge improvement over the original, but I still can't get past level 3.

Got the first two Ecco games on ROM, but I've hardly touched them; been too busy playing Melty Blood ReACT and Eternal Fighter Zero (doujin fighting games).

I rented Defender of the Future. Great, but one of the most difficult games that I've played. I saw it once for ten bucks, but failed to pick it up, being so dead set on wanting Sonic Adventure 2 at the time. (I think SA2 is decent-ish, btw; no, I haven't touched Heroes.) I'll be picking it up the next time I decide to collect a shitload of DC games.

Never did get past the first couple of stages on any Ecco game... not having the game for that long kinda does that, and I've not the enthusiam to try out the original and Tides of Time yet.

Popcorn wrote:Did anyone ever actually finish Sonic Heroes?

Does it count if i cheated using an action replay, a screwdriver, and a box of olives?