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Ecco the Dolphin Wiki is a collaborative wikia about the Ecco the Dolphin universe that fans can edit!

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PLEASE NOTE ALL PAGES ON THIS WIKI CONTAIN MAJOR SPOILERS!

Original Series

Ecco the Dolphin is an underwater adventure video game series created by Ed Annunziata. The games were originally developed by Novotrade and published by Sega for release on the Sega Genesis/Sega Megadrive video game console in 1992. There were also versions for the Sega CD, Master System and Game Gear. The player controls Ecco, a bottlenose dolphin, on a journey through Earth's vast oceans. The adventure begins the day Ecco's pod suddenly vanishes in a powerful storm, forcing Ecco into a perilous journey that sends him to the far reaches of the ocean, through time, and even into space. It is a quest for answers that will ultimately decide the fate of not only his pod, but the entire planet.

Although there were predecessors to the genre, such as Dolphin for the Atari 2600, Ecco both revolutionized and popularized the underwater video game genre. Although originally hostile to the idea, Sega eventually greenlit the game after approving of what they saw in Ed Annunziata's early prototype of the game. After its release in 1992, the game became a surprising smash hit for Sega when it sold thousands of copies and became a popular title with Genesis/Megadrive owners. The game was very unorthodox for its time and remains unique to this day. Among its achievements were fluid movement in 8 directions, masive level design with speedy movement and no CPU slowdown, excellent graphics, deep story and a mystifying, horrifying, atmospheric soundtrack. The game remains well known for its very high difficulty level.

Thanks to the popularity and strong sales of the first game, two years later in 1994 a sequel followed, Ecco: The Tides of Time. This game continues the story a few years after the end of Ecco the Dolphin. This installment is known to be much more serious and darker than its predecessor and changed the tone of the series when it introduced the multiple timelines and a new graphical style. Other new additions included allowing Ecco to transform into different creatures for a period of time, and the pseudo 3D teleport ring levels. The main focus of the game was the time split. In addition to Ecco's own timeline, two other time periods are visited. Instead of finding the answer to a great mystery, such as the disappearance of Ecco's pod in the first game, Ecco spends most of the game reconstructing the Asterite and then combatting the Vortex once again. The game ended on a cliffhanger ending and was meant to be the middle entry in the series rather than the conclusion.

After Tides of Time, a kid-friendly prequel spinoff called Ecco Junior was released in 1995. The story acts as a prequel to Ecco the Dolphin, focusing on an adventure Ecco went on in his youth. Ecco, and his two friends, Kitnee and Tara, decide to depart the Home Sea to search for Big Blue, whom is residing in the Endless Ocean. The game was intended for young children, as such the difficulty level is very low with the game being built around short minigames and the player cannot drown or get killed. The game also lacks a narrative.

A third main entry to conclude the series was planned back in the 1990s, but sadly has yet to be developed due to resistance from Sega being unwilling to license the IP back to Ed Annunziata. To this day the fanbase awaits and hopes for the development and relase of Ecco the Dolphin 3.

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Defender of the Future

Following the release of the Sega Dreamcast console in 1998, Sega wanted to reboot and reimagine their classic franchises on the powerful new 3D hardware. Like Sonic the Hedgehog, Ecco also received a 3D reboot. This took the form of Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future for the Sega Dreamcast in 2000. The game was later ported to PS2 with some new features but a number of hardware issues, with many considering the Dreamcast version superior. As of now, it is the newest Ecco game and the last one released in a whole 13 years. The game was a reboot of the franchise, developed by an entirely different team than the people that did the original games. The game has a new story completely unconnected to the original series The game was popular enough to warrant the production of a sequel which was in development for the Dreamcast but later cancelled after Sega killed the console in an untimely manner. No new Ecco projects have been announced since.

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Ecco the Dolphin Original Series Category Pages

Articles about the classic games (Ecco, Ecco 2, Ecco Jr) can be accessed from the category pages below.

• The Atlantean race
• Characters
• Creatures
• Game Mechanics
• Locations and Levels
• Planets and Stellar Bodies
• Powers and Abilities
• Story Events
• Technology
• Terminology and Definitions
• The Vortex race

Defender of the Future Category Pages

Articles about the Dreamcast game, Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, can be accessed from these category pages.

• Characters
• Creatures
• The Foe
• Locations
• Powers
• Technology
• Terminology
• Worlds

Other Categories

• Art
• Comics
• Ecco Website Links
• Games
• Glitches
• Music
• Prototypes
• Speculation and Theories