Several new Ecco the Dolphin projects arein the works. We already knew that, and it has been reconfirmed via the About section on the series’ new website. The site lets you play through the final levels of the original Ecco the Dolphin, a game so confusing and difficult that not many people saw it.
Ecco’s New Site Lets You Play Through Its Brutal Finale
Ecco fans noticed the new site appeared on Monday with a countdown timer in the corner. That timer expired last night, and the site is now live. It’s a real mix of cool and weird, which, now I think about it, is pretty fitting for Ecco.
The update on how development is going on Ecco’s new games is pretty normal, as is the new merch page. There are T-shirts, one of which features the original Genesis game’s cover art, posters that depict iconic scenes from that same game, and even a Tides of Time soundtrack on vinyl.
You can listen to even more Ecco music, as well as chats with the games’ developers, on the site’s media player.
Welcome To The Machine
It’s when you click Game that things start to get weird. You’d think the option would take you to a page providing more details about the next Ecco game, or history on the original and games that came after, but no. Clicking on Game takes you to a page where you can play through Welcome to the Machine right there in your browser.
Welcome to the Machine is the penultimate level in the original Ecco the Dolphin. It’s not only the hardest level in the game, but one of the most difficult levels in video game history. Ecco has left the ocean in an attempt to save their friends from an alien race that abducted them. Welcome to the Machine tasks Ecco with navigating the alien planet and fighting the Vortex Queen at the end.
Ecco gets real weird real fast if you can successfully navigate those first few levels.
If you can beat the level, you’ll be added to a section on the site titled The List. Pretty cool, and at first glance, despite how difficult it is, it looks like quite a few people have managed it already. Or maybe not. I’ve clicked on a few of the handles scrolling by, and as far as I can tell, none of them are real people. The accounts either don’t exist, or were created very recently.
Weird, but even more reason to get in there and try and beat that level so you can be among the first real people on The List, and finally experience just how strange the ending of Ecco the Dolphin is. For those who fancy something a little more laid-back, there’s also a new mini-game on the site where you collect trash, and it looks a lot like the area you start from in the original Ecco.
- Released
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July 29, 1992
- ESRB
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E For Everyone // Animated Blood
- Developer(s)
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Novotrade International
- Franchise
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Ecco the Dolphin
