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Ecco the Dolphin (series): Difference between revisions
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In the end, Ecco saves his pod and destroys the Vortex aliens - or so he thought.
''Ecco: The Tides of Time'' picked up where the original left off. Ecco finds out from his descendant, Trellia the flying dolphin from ten million years in the future, that the Vortex Queen was [[Not Quite Dead]] and had followed Ecco to Earth, whereupon she killed the Asterite and began a takeover. On top of that, Ecco's time-travelling in the first game had split the timestream in two: one where Trellia and her fellows created a paradise for themselves, and one where the Vortex razed the sea and sky, killing the Earth. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Whoops.]] The second game, then, followed Ecco's adventures as he sought to save the Asterite (also Not Quite Dead) and the good future of Earth. It ended with Ecco vanishing mysteriously into the "Tides of Time"
Then, save for an [[Edutainment Game]] called ''Ecco Jr.'' and [[Video Game Remake|a few remakes]], the series vanished from the face of the Earth for several years.
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The final alternate reality saw every trait but Humilty restored to dolphins. In this one, the Foe took over and turned Earth into [[Mordor]]. And... that's... about it...
All in all, ''Ecco'' is a very bizarre, haunting, frustrating, and strangely charming series. [[Too Good to Last|Don't expect to see any more of him in either the Genesis or Defender storyline anytime soon]]. Unless it's for [http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2010/04/01/on-these-high-seas-no-one-can-hear-you-scream/ an official] [[April Fools' Day]] prank.
{{tropelist}}
== Entire series ==
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* [[Escort Mission]]: Each game (even the edutainment one) has at least one, though in the original they are optional. They're also not ''too'' bad as escort missions go; in the Genesis games, your charges are invulnerable, and the ''Defender'' ones aren't killable. They're arguably not even true escort missions, since you don't have to protect them or even keep them in sight, they just follow you automatically and unerringly.
** ''Defender'' had an [[Game Breaking Bug|irritating glitch]] during the most difficult escort mission. You were meant to protect a dolphin so he could lead you to a door and open it for you. Sometimes, after going through a short tunnel, he would manage to swim ''inside a rock'' on the other side and become stuck. Made irritating by the fact that a Power of Sonar gem would have made him obsolete anyway.
* [[Everything Is Even Worse With Sharks]]: Well, naturally. Sharks are some of the tougher enemies, often taking three to five hits to kill. Ecco himself is transformed into a shark several times in ''Tides'', mostly so he can rampage about the level eating everything... and for an excuse to [[Sadistic Choice|choose]] between getting munched by [[One
* [[Floating Continent]]: In the Good Future of ''Tides''. The flying dolphins say they were "born of the great eruptions", whatever that means. A few also show up in the Hanging Waters level-set in ''Defender''.
* [[Friendly Playful Dolphin]]: The trope's at its most active in ''Ecco Jr.'', though some minigames in ''Defender'' show the dolphins' playful side. It's nearly absent from the original two games - Ecco's podmate challenges him to see how high he can jump at the start of ''Ecco the Dolphin'', but for the most part the Singers are too concerned with surviving the Vortex assault to be very playful.
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* [[Time Travel]]: In every single game, apart from ''Ecco Jr.''
* [[Underwater Ruins]]: Doubles as [[Scenery Porn]].
* [[Un Installment]]: ''Ecco Water Wars 2'', Sega's [[April Fools' Day]] joke.
* [[Wasted Song]]: ''Tides'' brings us [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JQ-Hi43pnc Convergence], which is a medley of just about every major theme in the game. Too bad you only hear it as you're restoring the Asterite... and during the dolphins' [[The Cavalry|cavalry charge]] on Lunar Bay that immediately follows that scene. It's not supposed to play there, but they forgot to kick the music over on the zone change - [[Nintendo Hard|as long as you]] [[Foregone Conclusion|don't have to reload the level]], you'll hear it most of the way to the Vortex Queen.
** ''Defender'' has several as well, of the "cutcene too short for them" variety. Behold Master of Forgotten Skills [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rK4iXfaguA Intro] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO7YImm-ykY Outro].
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** Several of the bosses in ''Tides'' take this form: Moray Abyss and Globeholder are the other major examples.
* [[Call a Rabbit A Smeerp]]: The cetaceans refer to themselves as "Singers" and have different names for various animals: Shelled Ones = clams, Hungry Ones = sharks, Eight-Arms = giant octopus, etc.
* [[Cat and Mouse Boss]]: The final level of ''Tides'''s [[Playable Epilogue]]. The Vortex Queen is heading for the time machine, hoping to paradox you out of existence. You have to get there first and destroy it. Unfortunately, she's currently in an invincible larval state that can [[One
* [[The Cavalry]] - Near the end of ''Tides'', the Asterite restores Ecco's powers from the first game and sends you to storm the Vortex base in Lunar Bay. It also summons a bunch of other dolphins, who proceed to [[Badass Army|kick the crap]] out of anything that would otherwise be trying to kill you as you pick your way through the level.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: ''Tides'' is noticeably darker than the original, though that's not to say the original wasn't dark.
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* [[Mercy Mode]] - ''Tides'' has a variant: play on normal, and you start on hard. Do badly enough and you get booted back to easy; do well enough, and you'll be back to hard. Also in ''Tides'', the Four Islands [[Stalking Mission]] will eventually have mercy on you and just give you what you need if you fail about 10-12 times, but not before the dolphin gets [[Easy Mode Mockery|more and more frustrated with you]].
* [[My Own Grampa]]: Variant: while retrieving the Asterite's globe in ''Ecco the Dolphin'', Ecco encounters some proto-cetaceans and accidentally gives them the idea to take to the seas.
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: "You are the Stone that splits the Stream of Time in two."
* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: The Asterite's powerup only works when it's alive.
* [[One
* [[Oxygenated Underwater Bubbles]]: These can be gotten from oysters, although sometimes you get a poisoned bubble if you aren't careful.
* [[Password Save]]: [[Schmuck Bait|Try filling it out with all N's in the first game.]]
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