Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future

"Are you hardcore? Hope so..."

Like many DC games, this is hard to review with just a single number, so that 7 may be higher or lower, depending what kind of player you are. If you are a hardcore, challenge-eating, make-it-hurt type of gamer, you'll love this. If you are a Playstation owner, and think that Twisted Metal 42 is the most clever thing you've ever seen... well, stay away.

Graphics: Hot damn. These are stunning. You'll swear up and down that Ecco is a real dolphin trapped in your TV. It's that good. The shimmering water effects, the flowing animation... everything is stunning. This is one to show your friends (and impress the girls, who will coo with delight when you make Ecco walk on water and chirp happily towards the camera. Not kidding, I've tried it.). The one glitch: fog. I know you're underwater, so there should be fog, but this is kind of crazy. You can't see eight feet sometimes, and when you're in a huge cavern in 3D space, you need to know where you are.

Sounds: They support the graphics very nicely. You'll feel underwater. The music is very soothing, like the old Genesis games. Good.

Play: So here's where the hardcore part comes in. This game is insanely difficult. I mean, orders of magnitude harder than almost anything you've ever played. There will be levels that you play upwards of 100 times trying to conquer.

The stupid hint glyphs don't do anything to help, either. They offer cryptic clues that confound more than they help.

And the level design is a bit suspect as well... The sets are always beautiful, but sometimes, they are just too difficult to keep straight. Rocks look like rocks, so there aren't many landmarks to keep you oriented. Gets very tricky very quickly, and beginner players will be gnawing on their controllers by level 5.

And advanced players will gnaw on thiers around level 10. Wait 'til you get to hanging water... where water is just suspended mysticaly in the air. It's awe-inspiring, but good luck not falling to your death every thirteen seconds.

And, unlike the Genesis games, your sonar map is horrible and essentially useless this time around, because it only represents the level in 2D (and overlays the screen in such a way that you can hardly make out the map, or the actual playfield beneath it).

Other: so why do I like this game? All I've said are bad things, right? Well, it's really tough, but it's always captivating. Even through the lame-brained plot (written by the same guy who wrote Waterworld, that Kevin Costner brain-rot), there is something wonderful about all this. At no point does the game make sense, really, but Ecco is so loveable that you won't care. You'll just want to get him home safe, and soak up the graphical glory that has been flawlessly threaded through this game (ok... not flawless... the final boss looks like crap, for some reason. Kind of disappointing). So if you're looking for a different sort of challenge... one that will keep you up late for weeks, and will frustrate you every step of the way (like MDK2 on crack), give this a shot.

Or, like I said, you can hightail it back to Sony-land, and play the same old thing. Again. This one scores most of its points on being clever and brave. It's too bad the kinks weren't ironed out, because I'd love to give this one a higher score than a seven.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/01, Updated 07/02/01