Ecco - the Tides of Time for Sega Genesis

Reviews

Some years ago the sequel to Ecco the Dolphin was announced as an even better game as the original and when it was released, it also got even higher rankings. Also I, personally, like this game more than the first game, cause it has a lot improvements, but this game would never have been without the original Ecco.

The story begins once again in the Home Bay of Ecco with his family. They don't know that the enemy they thought they had defeated has followed them to Earth and is going to cause a lot trouble, just like before. Ecco travels through the seas and is being picked up by a dolphin from the future, and with this the story begins. I don't want to spoil it for you but I can say that it is great. Never try to think about it though, cause it is complex and sometimes really irritating.

Just like before Ecco travels through different areas and has to solve puzzles like finding lost Orcas or combining pieces of broken glyphs. But there is a lot more Ecco can do in this game, he will even transform into different lifeforms, such as a jellyfish or even a seagull. During his second jorney, Ecco discovers again really beatiful places which artwork is has become even better. The sets are all drawn better, and the animations of the dolphins and sharks has been a lot improved.
Ecco gets even his first role in 3D levels which are put between the levels now and then. There he has to try and swim through Atlantean teleport rings to get fast forward to the next stage.

Due to a more complex storyline and more levels the whole game got even bigger, but of course the password system is still kept in the game. There are now also three different difficulties, the more difficult the harder the game will be and there will be even more levels. There has also been added a feature in further levels that you can activate a save point so that if you die you can start from there again - like they did to the Sega CD version in the Machine, for example.

The music has also been improved, even the Genesis tunes sound partially a lot more powerful, but still fit the levels. Still there aren't many sounds in the game, but we shouldn't get too nasty about it :P

I think the designers have improved the game a lot! There are so many new events that keeps you at playing the and wanting to find out what happens next, just like in the old game. Even though you can imagine how the game will probably end, there always happens something unexpected in this game and that is what I like about it. If there was only the sequel to this game which would conclude the cloudy ending where you actually only want to know what happens next...

Review by PsySonic