Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time review

[Ecco]

So, I recently beat Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time after having it for about eight years on the Sega CD (and after taking a hiatus of at least five years). I liked the game so much that I thought I would write a review for and post it here for your reading pleasure, since this seems like the only site where my review might actually get noticed. So here it goes. And yeah, feel free to comment on the review or post your own thoughts or experiences on this game or the series in general if you feel like it. And again, please note that this is a review for the Sega CD version, not the Genesis version (though both versions are basically identical anyway).

Ecco the Dolphin
The Tides of Time

bought: 1996
finished: June 18, 2004 10:54:31 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time


Back when I was a younger lad, I received a Sega Genesis for Christmas of 1993 along with Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. At around this time, I remember seeing commercials for a Genesis game called Ecco the Dolphin. It looked to like an interesting game, so I eventually rented it. I had very little clue what I was doing and didn’t get very far. The game also somehow managed to frighten me silly. But there was something about it that seemed to strike me as being very good. Anyway, I eventually returned the game, somehow managing to get to level 2, the Undercaves. I hoped to one day be able to buy it. Unfortunately, I was not really able to buy many games back in that day, so it was a while before I could afford it. Eventually, I did come around with the money to be able to buy it. Unfortunately, I could not seem to find the game for retail anywhere. Well, around this time, I had also bought a Sega CD, and learned of the sequel, Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time. I passed up buying it for the Sega Genesis at one point, wanting to play through the original game first. However, my search for it continued to fail. At some point in 1996, I saw The Tides of Time for the Sega CD sitting on a shelf in the video game section of some store. I decided that I might as well get it then, since I would probably end up getting it eventually. The Sega CD was also discontinued, and software for it was getting harder to find, so I knew that I had better get the game before it completely disappeared.

Well, I got home, read through the instruction manual quickly, and started playing. Let me tell you, I was hooked after the first couple levels. Once I met Ecco’s descendent for the future and was taken to her time period, I new this was going to be an experience like no other. Add a marvelous full motion video and an incredibly mood setting soundtrack to the mix, and I knew this had to be the best thing to ever hit the market at the time. So I played for many months, but try as I might, I was never able to get very far, as the game’s difficulty was literally off the charts. The farthest I ever got was to stage 11, the Asterite’s Cave. Eventually, after much frustration, I finally gave up on the game.

Fast-forward to 2004. My interest in video games has recently been revived by the latest entries of such classic franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog and Metroid. Eventually, I decided to break out my Sega Genesis and Sega CD to play the old Sonic games. When I did this, of course, I pulled out Ecco as well. After a little while, I decided to give this game another go and see if I could manage to finally finish it. It was just as difficult as I remembered it to be, but I had more patience now that I was older and persevered, and finally, after many weeks, I finally reached the exit of the very last stage. And I can honestly say that this was truly the most wonderful gaming experience that I have ever had. There is truly nothing else that can compare to it. Well, that’s enough talk, on with the review.

Ecco is a game that is difficult to classify. This is because it is like no other. The concept, the story, and the gameplay are incredibly unique, and are perfectly complemented by the game’s excellent visuals and sound. First off, let me say that this game’s visuals are probably the best I’ve ever seen in any sidescoller at the time, and even many after it. Even though this game only received a slight facelift over its equivalent on the Genesis, which was released in 1994, they still manage to look beautiful a decade later. The levels have an incredible amount of detail in them, giving you probably the most realistic ocean that can be created on the hardware. Coral reefs, seashells, and aquatic plants all litter much of the ocean floor and look just like you would expect them to. The rocks look like real rocks, and all of the creatures that can be found in the real life, such as the sharks and jellyfish, are very realistically modeled and animated. In the later levels, you get to swim on what appears to be an alien ship, complete with some very creatively designed (albeit hideous) alien creatures. The stage Dark Sea is one of the most visually stunning stages I’ve ever seen in a side scrolling adventure game, and the sunken city of Atlantis which Ecco also visits is also quite beautiful. The Ecco sprite itself looks almost exactly like a real bottle-nosed dolphin and is very realistically animated. I should also mention that this Sega CD version also has seven full motion video sequences that tell the story of the original Ecco game. They are so beautifully rendered and so captivating that you’ll swear you’re really under the deep blue sea. In an age that’s dominated by polygonal 3-D graphics (where I feel that the most recent entry of the series, Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, is king in the visuals department), this game can stand as a testament to just how well games can still look in two dimensions.

The soundtrack for this game is absolutely incredible, my favorite game soundtrack of all time. Unlike the Genesis version, the Sega CD version uses much higher quality sound samples to give the soundtrack a CD quality. The compositions themselves are excellent. There are about 14 tracks total I believe (though if you use the CD player on the Sega CD to play the soundtrack right off the game disk, it lists some extra tracks that were on the Sega CD version of the original Ecco game), and each one of perfectly fits the atmosphere of the stage or cut scene they are used in. It can be very soothing and relaxing, such as with the title song and the epilogue track, adventurous and epic, as with the Tube of Medusa theme (my personal favorite), or downright frightening and creepy, as is the case with the track used for Fault Zone, Sea of Darkness, Dark Sea, and the final boss stage. I liked it so much that I actually downloaded it and burned it onto CD so that I could listen to it anywhere. The sound effects are also fairly well done, though some of them are, well, weird. It’s hard to say if they are realistic, as most of the creatures that make sound are fictional, but I have to say that they were given some sounds that seemed wholly appropriate for them. The big scary guys in the last level make this strange gargling noise that will make you shudder when you hear it. Ecco’s sonar and charging sounds are well done, as are all of the splashing and collision sounds. The only sound effect that I would say is irritating is Ecco’s death sound. My gosh, were the developers trying to make us go berserk? The game’s hard enough already, but this sound effect (which is in both versions of the original Ecco and The Tides of Time) will force you to seek psychiatric help after you hear it a million times in almost every stage. It’s just completely indescribable. But other than that little detail, there’s much to enjoy in the sound department of this game, and every version of every other game in the series I might add.

The story of The Tides of Time is also fairly unique. You would probably have expected it to somehow be environmentally themed, given the fact that that is how dolphins are typically used. Instead, the game takes on a science fiction theme. Basically, from the opening of the game, you are told that Ecco traveled to the planet of the Vortex aliens, where he defeated the gigantic and hideous Vortex Queen and rescued his pod. However, unknown to Ecco was that the Queen was only weakened, not destroyed. After Ecco and his pod escaped her hive, she followed them through the tube and back to Earth. She plunged deep into the ocean, where she begins to feed and build strength, so that she can create a new hive here on Earth. The game starts you off in Home Bay where everything seems peaceful, but eventually a whole series of events happen at once in an early level (though you won’t know exactly what happened until later on) and it slowly becomes clear that the Earth is in danger from the Vortex race once again, and it’s up to Ecco to stop them. The story is decidedly odd, but honestly, I don’t really care because it somehow manages to work so well with the game. It has a decidedly dark and even apocalyptic tone too it, and I’ll be honest, it actually managed to frighten me at certain times. The development of the story isn’t exactly mind blowing. You get most of your information from glyphs and other creatures of the sea. Still, it manages to stay interesting and integrate its way into the game in seamless fashion. It even has a couple of good twists for good measure. Some elements may be difficult to understand, though, if you haven’t played the original game, and the seven History Glyphs help spell out the events of the first game through full motion video sequences. In effect, you’re getting two stories out of this game. Of course, some elements of either story will confuse the heck out of you regardless of whether you are familiar with the back story or not. Still, you’ll want to keep playing this game to find out what will happen next, and I really was not disappointed one bit by it.

Finally, it’s time for the most important part, the gameplay. All of what I just said above would mean nothing if the game wasn’t fun to play. But Ecco manages to deliver on every level. It is hard to really write a detailed description of how the game plays, as it is so amazingly simple, yet somehow so incredibly challenging. The controls are easy to learn. Repeatedly tapping the C button will cause Ecco to accelerate faster and faster. The B button makes Ecco charge forward in a brief burst of high speed, which is your primary attack against most all enemies. The A button will make Ecco use his sonar. This is used to stun or kill certain enemies and bosses, activate some glyphs, talk to other creatures that can also sing (dolphins, whales, the Asterite), and holding down the button will produce a map of the portion of the stage that Ecco was facing when the A button was pressed. This is a very important technique to know, as many of the levels in the game are absolutely huge, and contain many separate paths to take. The D-pad, naturally, controls which direction Ecco moves, and I should not have to tell you what the Start button does. As far as what you do in the game, you are effectively thrown into a level and have to find a way out. The objectives that you must accomplish in order to leave can vary greatly. They can range from simply trying to find a glyph that will give you a song to open the barrier blocking the exit, saving baby Orcas, following another dolphin, or just simply swimming by and avoiding hordes of enemies and other dangers in order to reach the end. There are even a few boss fights spread thinly through the game, and all of them have unique movements and attacks and require a good deal of creative thinking and fast acting to defeat. Seems simple, but somehow the game manages to make it all incredibly hard without being unfair. Special crystals called glyphs will usually play a central role in the completion of almost every level. They come in many different varieties. There are barrier glyphs, which repel Ecco and block his path, key glyphs which may either give Ecco a song to clear away a barrier glyph or other obstruction, or clear that obstruction directly, puzzle glyphs which much united with others of their kind to unlock their secrets, broken glyphs which must be pieced together to be useful, hint glyphs which provide cryptic clues on what you are supposed to do, and milestone glyphs which will save your position in certain really long levels if you sing to them, allowing you to restart from that point when death inevitably occurs. Also, exclusive to the Sega CD version are the seven video glyphs which display mesmerizing and very well-rendered full motion videos of Ecco’s quest to save his pod in the original game. Ecco also has a health bar, which naturally depletes whenever you get hit, though the five squares deplete in a relatively uneven manner (it takes more hits to remove the first square than any of the others), and you can restore two squares by charging a fish (though be careful which ones you charge because sometimes the rest of the school will retaliate if you eat one of them!). Since Ecco is a mammal, he also needs air to survive. His air meter must be periodically restored by either surfacing or by sitting in an underwater air pocket (identified on the map as a large bubble). You’ll have to do this fairly frequently, as Ecco’s air meter will fully deplete in about only two minutes, and Ecco’s health bar will begin dropping like a stone if it runs out. It is really hard to say what about the gameplay makes this game so fun. But it is truly very well done, and the wide variety of tasks that you accomplish keeps the game from becoming boring and repetitive. It is what compelled me to finally complete it after having given up on it all those years ago.

Speaking of having given up on it, the reason was due the game’s difficulty. It is quite simply extreme. I have never played a game that is harder than this one. The clues that you get from glyphs and other dolphins/whales are often quite vague, and trying to put them all together can be very difficult. Even when you do figure out what to do, often just doing it can be next to impossible. There are some instances in the later levels where you must make some insanely difficult jumps from one tube of water to the next, and screwing it up means instant death. There is also an instance where you must follow another dolphin to the exit, and must stay with him even if you know the route, because without him you cannot pass the barrier. Get too far behind or ahead and you have to start all over again. This is incredibly difficult to do, because you have to make one really huge jump while swimming beside him and he doesn’t give you much room to build up the necessary speed. And naturally, the route is full of many deadly sea creatures. Also, Ecco’s need for air can be a serious problem sometimes, because there are several levels that make you go a long time without a chance to breath, and having something slow you down will almost certainly mean death, which means that you will have to start the ENTIRE LEVEL from scratch, unless it is one of the three that has a milestone glyph to save your position, or the level is split into two entirely different segments (due to the occasional time warp or boss fight), in which you start from the beginning of that segment if there is no milestone glyph or you did not activate it. There are enemies that hit hard and fast, some of which kill you in less than three hits, and it can be difficult to kill any enemy that survives more than one charge attack without getting hurt, and you cannot always expect there to be fish nearby to restore your health. And I’ll add that the auto-scrolling part of Dark Sea is quite possibly the most sadistic level ever conceived for a video game. With this said, all of the boss fights in the game save one (Globe Holder) are surprisingly simple affairs once you know what to do, but just figuring out what to do requires a lot of trial and error because you are given absolutely no hints on how to beat any of them. It literally took me weeks to figure out what to do for the very first boss fight. This game will frustrate you to the point of insanity, and Ecco’s death noise which you will invariably hear over a hundred times does not help the matter. Make sure you have a lot of patience before you pick up this game, or you will have a broken console, controller, game disk, and possibly much more. You will really feel like you have accomplished something if you do in fact manage to beat this game. I sure did.

And this was all on the game’s EASY difficulty setting. The game’s practically taunting you by offering three separate difficulty levels. Normal is basically slightly harder than easy but self adjusting based on your performance, becoming easier if you are having a hard time, and harder if you are breezing through (yeah right). Difficult mode basically gives you five extra levels to play, gives you additional or slightly different tasks to complete on some other stages, adds more deadly enemies on others, and effectively takes everything to the extreme. Beating the game on this setting will be the ultimate challenge, and hopefully I will one day be able to muster up the courage to do so.

Well, that just about sums up my review of this awesome game. Incredibly beautiful, incredibly unique, and soul-shatteringly hard are all terms you can use to describe it. The game is put together in such a way that no one aspect truly stands out above any other, but they are put together in such a way that the end product is an absolute masterpiece, and disturbing any one aspect slightly may drastically alter the quality of the game. It is truly a work of art, and completely redefines the boundaries of the conception of what a video game is. With the exception of its predecessor and its recent successor, both utter masterpieces in there own right, there is truly no other game quite like this one, and its uniqueness makes it all the more special. I’m almost sad that I have finally completed it, because the magical experience of playing this game was all over. The ending itself actually made me kind of sad, as it turned out to be unintentionally symbolic of what became of this series after the Tides of Time. I highly recommend this game to anyone who has the patience to deal with the immense challenge. Unfortunately, the Sega CD version is practically impossible to find, even on e-bay. You can, however, find the Genesis version online without too much trouble. It’s basically identical to the CD version, but it has a completely different soundtrack that uses lower quality sound sample that can be played by the Genesis’s sound processor (though this soundtrack is still very good), and also does not have the full motion videos. I still recommend even that version if it is the only one you can find, as well as the original Ecco the Dolphin on Sega Genesis and Sega CD, and the recent Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future for the Sega Dreamcast and Sony Playstation 2. But if you have a Sega CD and get lucky and find the Sega CD version somewhere, by all means get that version.

So, to conclude things, Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time is an incredibly fun, unique, and challenging experience, and simply the greatest video game that I have ever had the privilege of playing. It is just rather sad that the series is not all that well-known, because these games are truly masterpieces as far as video games go. If you ever have the chance to play this or any of the other Ecco games, do not pass it up. I can guarantee that you will not regret it.

[Light Speed]

That is very long.

[-wyvern]

Indeed. It must have been a really great game to provoke that kind of speech.

[Kishi]

If you enjoyed The Tides of Time, I recommend a similarly-themed venture.

[Esrever]

Tides of Time is a great, great game. But believe it or not, it's actually the easiest of the Ecco games. Heh!

The ending drove me nuts, though. Why did you USE the time machine, Ecco? Why didn't you DESTROY it like you were supposed to? Why? WHY?

[Segaholic2]

Because he's a stupid fish.

[Zeta]

He's not a stupid fish.

He's a stupid mammal.

[Spazz]

Funny thing that you said that. Because I was just watching Azumanga Daioh! today and 'Osaka' was just talking about "trivial knowledge" and one of the things she said was that sharks are fish and dolphins are mammals.
Uh, just thought that was interesting...
Why am I thinking of platypi all of a sudden?

[aso]

Nice review. From what I've played of the game, I definitely agree with you. And I am interested in trying out the Ecco games again.

Out of curiosity, have you tried either of the Game Gear titles? They were okay, actually... not the best games, but still challenging enough.

[Neo Yi]

I remember playing the first game a long time ago when I was like...9 years old. It was a good game, but the music kinda creeped me out a bit. Hey, I was 9...
~Neo

[Ecco]

Nice review. From what I've played of the game, I definitely agree with you. And I am interested in trying out the Ecco games again.

Out of curiosity, have you tried either of the Game Gear titles? They were okay, actually... not the best games, but still challenging enough.

No, I haven't tried either of the Game Gear titles. As far as I know, the Game Gear (and Master System) port of the original is identical to the Genesis version save for a few minor changes the levels and enemy behavior (the final boss is also pathetically easy in this version from what I've heard), and the lower quality graphics and sound. The sound compositions are mostly different too. I know next to nothing about the Game Gear version of The Tides of Time, however.

[Kishi]

How about "Ecco, Jr."?

[Light Speed]

I played that game. I also played Wacky Worlds, they were both part of some childrens learning games or something. I still have Wacky Worlds and the mouse and the three button mouse that only needs one.

[Grant]

I loved Wacky Worlds as a kid. Dude, that game was awesome.

[aso]

Yes, the GG original is similar to the Genesis in some ways... quite a bit easier, I might add. Obviously, the music's not as good. A surprising bit of the story is retained, though.

The sequel is very, very hard on the GG... but from what I've seen of the final level, it lacks the much maligned... thingies. Perhaps all the more reason to try it.

And I remember Ecco Jr. Lush graphics, nice music, simple, friendly gameplay. Definitely a kid's game. Something to look at but not play if you're above the age of 8 or so.

[Bo]

The GG game is definitely different from the MD version. A good deal easier, with worse music, but I think I enjoyed it slighly more than the MD one. But I just have a sepcial fondness for my Game Gear...

[aso]

Incidentally, can anyone point out any serious 'quality' games on the Game Gear beyond a random Sonic game?

While the Game Gear makes me feel all fuzzy and nostalgic inside, having owned one when it was originally still alive and well, I'd seriously like to know if there are more than a few quality titles on the thing.

[Green Gibbon!]

The Shining Force Gaiden games were all good, but the only one released in English was the second one, as Sword of Hajya. There was a similar strat-RPG called Crystal Warriors that I haven't played extensively, but it looks cool.

Dynamite Headdy on the Gear was really good and different from the Genny version. Bare Knuckle 2 was a surprisingly decent port. GG Shinobi 2 is good, but don't mess with the first one. Lunar Sanposuru Gakuen is, as far as Game Gear RPGs go, top of the line, but that was never released in English. There was a surprisingly decent Castlevania clone called In the Wake of Vampire (by Sims, who did Tails Skypatrol). There's a Zelda-esque action RPG called Sylvan Tale that, once again I haven't played extensively, but it looks cool. And it goes without saying, I guess, but Tails Adventures was spiffy.

I don't think the Gear had any real resounding classics.

[aso]

I don't think the Gear had any real resounding classics.

Pretty much, but that looks like a fairly decent lineup there.

I've also just remembered Ristar. The GG port, while nowhere near as nifty as the Genesis original, is still a lot of fun, and manages to retain the same style of gameplay. Might I add that the bosses are much, much easier now...