Ecco the Dolphin is a familiar face for SEGA fans, appearing in 4 different games and gaining a bit of a cult following due to it’s bizarre and surprisingly dark premise of a dolphin traveling through time to save his comrades from evil aliens. What many people didn’t know is that there was a fifth game in the series that was in development, acting as a sequel to the Dreamcast game Ecco the Dolphin: Defenders of the Universe. The game titled Ecco II: Sentinels of the Universe started in development sometime in 2001-2000, around the time the Dreamcast was on it’s last legs, with the build leaked in particular being made on February 19th, 2001. The game did not reach far into development, not receiving press coverage of any type and being silently cancelled when SEGA started to move away from the console business, though Ecco the Dolphin: Defenders of the Universe receiving mixed reception may of also contributed to the cancellation.
Ecco II: Sentinels of the Universe itself was similar to the first Dreamcast game. As Ecco, a lot of the familiar abilities he had from the Genesis titles like the dash and sonar were retained, the main draw is that the game is in the third dimension. Because of this jump to third dimension, Ecco II: Sentinels of the Universe has an awkward control scheme where Ecco has tank controls, where the control stick merely changes Ecco’s direction, and a rather spastic camera to back it up. The demo, naturally being an alpha build, is incomplete. Graphics and animations are missing, there is no sound or music, there’s no goal, debug is active, and there are bugs present. But otherwise, Ecco II: Sentinels of the Universe can be played, both on emulation and on a real retail Dreamcast with a bootdisc. In the end though, the alpha is a curiosity at best for a game that never saw the light of day, and is yet another curious case of Ecco the Dolphin development history.
[Source: Hidden Palace via The Dreamcast Junkyard]
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Ecco is a good game. Sou’dtrack is ambient. Gameplay is yoga and positive delirium. You get it or you dont get it. And some people just dont get it. Ecco the dolphins existing should have never been killed. It is a great loss.
I didn’t get very far in DC Ecco. As I recall, I got stuck at one point and couldn’t figure out where to go. But it was very beautiful.
Maybe u didnt have the orientation for your age. Perhaps today you can finish it. It is like you are a dolphin. You have to learn to recognize where you are
Heh, I was about 27 at the time. But I appreciate your encouragement! I do still have a copy of it so I will definitely try it again some time and try to think more like a dolphin. 😉
Mixed reception? Defender of the Future has a MetaCritic score of 84.
Yeah but when the game was really there in the shelves at the time nobody picked it. Those killer games deserced better. Like skizs of arcadia ecco.
Ecco is very very unique. U could say it defeats virtual reality. And its not even using the vr headset. The ambiant music and the world. U have to think like ecco and do yourbest not to get lost. Some missions tell u to go back. But how do i get back lol. This game imo is for the intelectual. And not for the mainstream angry bird shootzr