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"Ecco the Dolphin" Sinks

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 13
Date: July 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game has great graphics, great underwater AI, and Ecco is just like a real dolphin, but this game is TOO puzzling. I only managed to get past the first level. I regret buying it. Don't buy it.

Ecco the "no fun" Dolphin

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: September 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

At this very moment I am suffering from a terrible headache. I usually endure this type of pain when I am stressed out at work or when I encounter a stress enducing videogame. Yep, you guessed it, playing this game has steered me straight to my medicine cabinet. Let me begin by warning fun oriented gamers to avoid this nerve grating game at all cost. It is a hideously executed game filled with arduous task after task after task. I feel I'm being punished each time I play this game. With Ecco, the only thing that matters is the stunningly gorgeous environments. Of course, this is inadequate. Where's the fun of completing a long task or the reward of enduring a difficult challenge? If you want to punish a child for a misdeed, force him to play this awful game. For those of you brave enough to withstand Ecco, I advise you to buy a hint book, otherwise DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS ONE.

It looks so good, but is not as fun as it looks

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: September 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game looks most gorgeous with great textures, light sourcing, really great character models and sound effects.

But playing the game is something else. Swimming of course is easy and eating fish and hitting your dolphin friends with sonar is fairly simple.

But when you have no idea where what you have to find next is the game can get kind of frustrating. You are told "find my whale baby" and the only reason you can find it is because the board is not that big and eventually after searching Every nook and cranny you find where the baby is (after searching the whole place 4 times). Then on the next board you get attacked by vicious sharks with no knowledge of how to fight them. Ecco ends up looking like a fish flapping in a poison lake while he tries to dodge out of the way of the mindless shark attacks. I know dolphins are not fish but hey thats what it looks like.

I wish I had rented this game first. It was not my idea of great fun. Good looks, cool idea, not that fun to play.

Good and Bad

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is great in so many ways. Ecco handles exactly as you would expect a dolphin to handle, and the scenary is gorgeous. For those who experienced Ecco in the old 2D games, this version will satisfy your nostalgia. Its got everything you have come to love from Ecco games

However...this game is tough... really really tough. Although this difficulty sometimes results from the puzzles or enemies, it is more often caused by gameplay issues. First, Ecco gets stuck easily in ocean rocks and vegetation, and you will scream at your TV in frustration as frequently come to a dead stop at the worst moments. Second, some of the stages are very dark, and you'll often find yourself straining to see even the most obvious details. One wonders why they couldn't raise the contrast just a bit more when they made the game. Finally, you can't save your game until you complete a level. Some of these levels take a long time to complete; it frequently gets to a point where you must choose between quitting and starting from scratch later, or continuing to play even though you have a headache from staring at the screen for 4 hours.

But the pros outweigh the cons in my opinion :)

Pretty graphics, boring game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 7
Date: December 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Yes, yes, this game does have nice graphics- but after playing it for 5 minutes I got bored. I don't have attention deficit disorder, it's just that I found this game to be very slow and a little bit too serene for me. If you enjoy sports games and action games, don't get this one. I reccommend it either for young girls or, well, young girls.

Beautiful, but fishy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 41 / 44
Date: October 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Let's get one thing straight: This is easily the most realistic dolphin simulator on the Dreamcast today.

The graphics are, in a word, outstanding. When I got my first look at the undersea world (at the game's option screen, no less), my mouth was agape. Sunlight rippled on the colorful ocean rocks, jellyfish bobbed slowly in the gentle tide and bubbles lazily floated to the surface. It truly was beautiful. It's clear that the good folks at Sega did their research when it came to creating this undersea domain.

The animal models themselves are also well-done. Ecco looks and swims just like a real dolphin. Add countless sharks, fish, jellyfish, turtles and other undersea life and you have an entire ocean at your fingertips.

Enough rambling about the graphics, there's a game to play.

To begin with, I don't really care for the story. Sometime in the future, humans and dolphins work together to explore space. Some interstellar deity known as the Foe doesn't take kindly to that, and invades the Earth. Mankind, with its limitless intellegence and resources is forced to stand by while the dolphins take matters into their own hands. Er, flippers.

Naturally, you control Ecco in the 3-D undersea world. All of his moves from his 16-bit days are here. You can swim, swim really fast and sing songs. There are a few powerups, most of which let you swim even faster.

The controls are actually difficult to master. Getting Ecco to swim is easy, getting him to swim the right way (AWAY from the sharks) is harder. You'll die quite a bit.

Plus, the missions (several in each level) are rather vague. Generally, you'll enter a new area; a nearby crystal will give you a very general hint, and you're left to fend for yourself. You'll rescue other undersea life, battle currents, jellyfish and millions and millions of sharks. Have fun!

Seriously, a little more guidance would have been welcome. This is a huge game, and the levels are very large. Just figuring out where to go is the game's biggest challenge. Plus, once you get there, mind-numbing puzzles will plague you every step of the way.

Don't buy this game just because of its graphics. It's a very deep and involving game, and there's hours of fun available for people who have the time. The rest of us, however will just want to watch Ecco swim and jump in the calm waters of the opening level.

Beautiful graphics and sound, but very high difficulty

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: May 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The Ecco The Dolphin games for Sega's previous systems have always been a relaxed and relieving alternative to the droves of violent action/fighting games. Ecco The Dolphin: Defender Of The Future for Dreamcast carries over the theme and atmosphere of the past Ecco games, and injects the formula with smooth and realistic 3D evironments. This has to be one of the best looking console system games ever. Once you get over the hypnotizing graphics and sound however, you will find there are some problems with this game. The control is precise and responsive, but some levels are way too difficult, and offer little information to help the player complete the next objective. Unless you are a seasoned gamer, you will be overwhelmed to the point of boredom with the longs hours you must spend in order to finish Ecco. This is not one I would recommend for the kids...a lot of patience and skill are needed to play this game. If you are looking for a game with tons of depth that will pass the time however, you've certainly found it. Even if it makes you pull your hair out from frustration, Ecco: Defender Of The Future is a great title to have to showcase the graphical abilities of the Dreamcast, if nothing else.

ecco

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: April 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

ecco the dolphin swimming around in the sea ecco the dolhin come play with me

Frustration beyond belief (but I love It)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is BEAUTIFUL!!! there is no doubt about it!!! Though it is a very stressful journey from beginning to end, you'll be sooo proud of yourself when (and if) you finally beat it. This game may be too dificult for younger gamers but you should try it.

One of the most visually impressive games for the DC

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: April 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future was first released for the Dreamcast, it's mouth watering 3-D graphics and incredibly realistic environments were unlike anything else seen on the system to date, and even today with the Dreamcast sleeping with the fishes, Ecco is still one of the top best looking games for the ill-fated system. Just as it's 16-bit incarnations provided for the Genesis years before, this 128-bit update offers the aforemented incredible graphics and very challenging gameplay. As I said before, the graphics are incredibly lifelike and Ecco and all his on-screen fellows move very fluidly and it will be hard not to take your eyes off the screen. Unfortuneately, the same steep learning curve has been inherited here as well. It is very easy to get completely lost and stuck in the game and not know where to go or what to do next. All in all, this isn't a game for novice gamers, but for those who have played Ecco games of the past and look for challenging and lengthy gameplay will have plenty to look forward to here.

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