Yesterday afternoon, developer A&R Atelier announced Ecco the Dolphin: Complete, a compilation of games from Sega’s long overlooked aquatic mammalian mascot. Combining the Genesis originals of Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco: The Tides of Time along with the 8-bit conversions and even the Sega CD releases, this is an all-in-one package for fans of the alien fighting dolphin. Not only that, but this release will see a new installment in the Ecco series after 26 years.
As the title suggests, this really is a “complete” package for most things Ecco related. A press release from A&R Atelier reads, “This is the complete, definitive Ecco the Dolphin experience, created by the people who made the originals. A Remaster done as it should be.” To that end, Ecco creator Ed Annuziata is involved with the project alongside members of the original development team. They are working to ensure these new ports are as faithful to the originals as possible, not to mention include new quality-of-life improvements such as achievements, speedrunning support, and leaderboards.
One feature I particularly like is the custom courses option. The press release states, “Custom courses let players and creators chart their own path through any combination of levels from any game in the franchise and share them with the community.” That sounds more like selecting levels across the games than a full on level editor, but it’s still a really cool option for mixing up playthroughs.
We don’t have a full list of all the versions of Ecco the Dolphin that will be included in Complete, but to my knowledge, the first game was released on Genesis, Sega CD, Sega Master System, Game Gear, and Windows (later ports to GBA and 3DS are based on the Genesis release). The Tides of Time was released on Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, and Sega CD. That’s certainly a lot of Ecco.
Ecco the Dolphin: Complete will be hitting PC and consoles sometime later this year.
Check out more content about Ecco
Ecco the Dolphin is set to return, with multiple new games currently in development
Leave a Comment
Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
