Ecco: The Tides of Time
Encyclopedia
Ecco: The Tides of Time, developed by Novotrade International and released 1994, is the second game in the Ecco the Dolphin series
, a sequel to Ecco the Dolphin
for the Sega Mega Drive
, Game Gear, and Mega-CD. The Tides of Time continued the story of the first game and featured similar gameplay with a few new additions.
, a shark
, a school of fish
, and at one point a Vortex drone. 5 unique pseudo-3D levels were also added to the game. The health meter, the air meter, and the Glyphs returned in The Tides of Time. Both the "charge song" and the "confusion song" upgrades returned from Ecco the Dolphin and were usable from the start of the game.
In the future, dolphins are shown to have evolved helium sacs, and can therefore fly; they also display limited telekinetic powers. The ocean is said to have developed its own mind, as well as waterways that float through the skies (called the Sky Tides in Tides of Time and reproduced as the Hanging Waters in Defender of the Future) apparently connecting all the oceans of the Earth. After exploring the future for a while, Ecco finds the Asterite.
The Asterite tells Ecco that when Ecco used the time machine to save his pod, he split the stream of time in two. One possible future for Earth is this bright, happy future of flying dolphins; the other is a dead, mechanical world, sucked dry by the Vortex. The Asterite refers to Ecco as "the stone that split the stream of time in two". The Asterite itself had been 'killed' in the past by the Vortex Queen; how it is able to talk to Ecco is not explained until later. The Asterite returns Ecco to his own time after their conversation.
Back in his own time, Ecco must piece the Asterite back together by bringing the globes that make up the creature back together. The final pair of globes have been taken by the Vortex to their future; Ecco must therefore go there and retrieve them so that the Asterite can help him defeat the Vortex once and for all. The Atlantean time machine is not an option as it only allows travel into the past. Ecco makes his way to the "Lunar Bay", which the Vortex have claimed as their own. Two Vortex drones then capture Ecco and take him to their future.
The Vortex future is shown to be full of strange machines, reminiscent of the final levels of Ecco the Dolphin. None of these levels auto-scroll, however. One of the levels is Gravitorbox, in which gravity behaves in unusual ways. Ecco eventually locates the Asterite's last two globes held in a chamber called the Globe Holder. After freeing the globes from a bubble-chained holding device, another time portal returns Ecco to the present.
With the Asterite complete again, it is able to bestow upon Ecco the same powers that it had previously given him — breathing underwater and a song that can destroy the Vortex. It also calls all of Ecco's fellow Singers to help in the fight against the Vortex in the now-transformed Lunar Bay. Ecco himself fights the Vortex Queen after fighting his way through another crushing Vortex Machine; however, she again escapes, reverting to a larval state and bolting for the Atlantean time machine. The Asterite tells Ecco to destroy the time machine to prevent the stream of time from ever being split again. The Vortex Queen, arriving in ancient Earth after using the time machine, finds creatures she cannot rule over, and through the aeons, the Vortex are forced to simply integrate into the ecosystems of Earth as exopods and arthropods (ants, scorpions, roaches, crabs, lobster, spiders, etc). Ecco, instead of destroying the time machine, uses it and disappears into the Tides of Time.
released a spinoff called Ecco Jr.
instead. The series was later brought back on the Dreamcast with an entirely different storyline in Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future
.
. The Mega Drive version featured a soundtrack composed by Attila Dobos, András Magyari, David Javelosa and Andy Armer (co-writer of Grammy Award-winning single "Rise"
).
Ecco the Dolphin (series)
Ecco the Dolphin is the collective name given to a series of action/adventure science fiction video games developed by Novotrade International and published by Sega. They were originally developed for the Mega Drive/Genesis and Dreamcast video game consoles, but have since been ported to numerous...
, a sequel to Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco the Dolphin is a puzzle video game released in 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. The central character, Ecco, is a bottlenose dolphin controlled by the player through a progression of side-scrolling aquatic levels...
for the Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
, Game Gear, and Mega-CD. The Tides of Time continued the story of the first game and featured similar gameplay with a few new additions.
Gameplay
The Tides of Time was the direct sequel to the original Ecco, . The controls for the first game were kept, and The Tides of Time maintained the same level of difficulty as its predecessor. New puzzles were added, such as following another dolphin around and a 'scavenger hunt' of sorts later in the game. One of the additions was the Metaspheres, which could transform Ecco into different animals. The transformations were level-specific, and included a seagull, a jellyfishJellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
, a shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
, a school of fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, and at one point a Vortex drone. 5 unique pseudo-3D levels were also added to the game. The health meter, the air meter, and the Glyphs returned in The Tides of Time. Both the "charge song" and the "confusion song" upgrades returned from Ecco the Dolphin and were usable from the start of the game.
Storyline
The Tides of Time picks up right where the original Ecco the Dolphin left off. Ecco discovers that the Vortex Queen was far from vanquished, and had, in fact, followed Ecco to Earth to build a new hive for herself. Ecco loses his powers from the Asterite early in the game, and soon after meets a dolphin with unusually long fins. She is his descendant, Trellia, and takes him to the distant future.In the future, dolphins are shown to have evolved helium sacs, and can therefore fly; they also display limited telekinetic powers. The ocean is said to have developed its own mind, as well as waterways that float through the skies (called the Sky Tides in Tides of Time and reproduced as the Hanging Waters in Defender of the Future) apparently connecting all the oceans of the Earth. After exploring the future for a while, Ecco finds the Asterite.
The Asterite tells Ecco that when Ecco used the time machine to save his pod, he split the stream of time in two. One possible future for Earth is this bright, happy future of flying dolphins; the other is a dead, mechanical world, sucked dry by the Vortex. The Asterite refers to Ecco as "the stone that split the stream of time in two". The Asterite itself had been 'killed' in the past by the Vortex Queen; how it is able to talk to Ecco is not explained until later. The Asterite returns Ecco to his own time after their conversation.
Back in his own time, Ecco must piece the Asterite back together by bringing the globes that make up the creature back together. The final pair of globes have been taken by the Vortex to their future; Ecco must therefore go there and retrieve them so that the Asterite can help him defeat the Vortex once and for all. The Atlantean time machine is not an option as it only allows travel into the past. Ecco makes his way to the "Lunar Bay", which the Vortex have claimed as their own. Two Vortex drones then capture Ecco and take him to their future.
The Vortex future is shown to be full of strange machines, reminiscent of the final levels of Ecco the Dolphin. None of these levels auto-scroll, however. One of the levels is Gravitorbox, in which gravity behaves in unusual ways. Ecco eventually locates the Asterite's last two globes held in a chamber called the Globe Holder. After freeing the globes from a bubble-chained holding device, another time portal returns Ecco to the present.
With the Asterite complete again, it is able to bestow upon Ecco the same powers that it had previously given him — breathing underwater and a song that can destroy the Vortex. It also calls all of Ecco's fellow Singers to help in the fight against the Vortex in the now-transformed Lunar Bay. Ecco himself fights the Vortex Queen after fighting his way through another crushing Vortex Machine; however, she again escapes, reverting to a larval state and bolting for the Atlantean time machine. The Asterite tells Ecco to destroy the time machine to prevent the stream of time from ever being split again. The Vortex Queen, arriving in ancient Earth after using the time machine, finds creatures she cannot rule over, and through the aeons, the Vortex are forced to simply integrate into the ecosystems of Earth as exopods and arthropods (ants, scorpions, roaches, crabs, lobster, spiders, etc). Ecco, instead of destroying the time machine, uses it and disappears into the Tides of Time.
Sequel
A sequel was planned for Tides to finish the series as a trilogy. This game was scrapped and SegaSega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
released a spinoff called Ecco Jr.
Ecco Jr.
Ecco Jr. is a video game in the Ecco the Dolphin series, released in Summer 1995. It had the controls and basic gameplay of the other two Mega Drive/Genesis titles, but was very much geared towards younger players, lacking the high difficulty of Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco: The Tides of...
instead. The series was later brought back on the Dreamcast with an entirely different storyline in Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future
Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future
Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future is the fourth title in the Ecco the Dolphin series. It was released in 2000 for the Dreamcast and its soundtrack is composed by Tim Follin. Defender of the Future is an entirely new game universe with a story that has no ties to the original Mega...
.
Music
As with Ecco the Dolphin, the Mega-CD version of The Tides of Time featured an alternate soundtrack composed by Spencer NilsenSpencer Nilsen
Spencer Nilsen is a video game music composer. He is best known for his soundtracks to the Sega Mega-CD versions of Batman Returns, Ecco the Dolphin, Ecco: The Tides of Time, Jurassic Park, The Adventures of Batman and Robin and The Amazing Spider-Man vs...
. The Mega Drive version featured a soundtrack composed by Attila Dobos, András Magyari, David Javelosa and Andy Armer (co-writer of Grammy Award-winning single "Rise"
Rise (Herb Alpert song)
"Rise" is a song written by Andy Armer and Randy "Badazz" Alpert, and first recorded by trumpeter Herb Alpert. The instrumental track was included on Alpert's solo album Rise and released as a single in 1979. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in October of that year and remained...
).