Ecco the Dolphin - The Scariest Game Ever (Retrospective Review) 

This game was so strange it's like trying to explain a nightmare to someone who has never played it.

fun fact: i was on the original subnautica team, and we did a podcast with EdA about underwater games! as a HUGE ecco fan, i was a bit star struck. i like to think i brought just a bit of that ecco spirit to subnautica :)

Only those who played through it can understand how terrifying the game is.

The Dreamcast version of Ecco was so terrifying that neither my sister nor I were able to play past the first 20 minutes or so.

A pretty torturous game to get through but man the aesthetic of Ecco is so unique, from the eery music to the isolating oceans you swim through and well of course the final section I mean wtf

The Asterite is a complete multidimensional being. Just like how humans freely move in 3 Dimensions, it freely moves in 4, with the 4th being the time dimension. All experiences for it are memories of the future.

Omg dude, I was just telling my girl that this game triggered my fear of games with ocean levels. And you have now justified everything I was literally just saying. Thank you for this video because now she understands.

I can confirm that the Dreamcast Ecco and its PS2 port were terrifying. It was truly beautiful much of the time, but that didn’t stop the intense fear from rising up every time the bright, sunny levels gave way to darker waters.

That violent red hurricane made me think I had broken my Sega for a few seconds. I didn't know what I had done, but I knew my mother would murder me for it. 😂

The FM synth use of the Sega Genisis absolutely induced terror in me as a kid. However, I kept returning to it because it was so captivating.

There was a maze stage in the game gear version where, if you navigated it the wrong way, you'd just be trapped in a section that was quite large but had no exit, until you ran out of air. That, coupled with the music, was horrifying.

I'm 38 years old and played this game as a kid. Sure it was difficult but I LOVED it so much. I think I loved the music more than anything. It's so hauntingly beautiful and sad. I love it 😢

Beat this game as a kid and have no idea how I did as I came back to it as an adult and couldn’t handle the stress. The oxygen bar man it haunts my dreams.

Ecco is like Subnautica, the talasophobia, claustrophobia and loneliness that they make you feel when playing without you truly realizing what those feelings are. With time and iteration, those feelings don't usually stop you too much, they actually turn into masochistic pleasure as you venture deeper and deeper for the sake of moving forth till you beat the game... most times (?) Nice video, thought it was a personal "feel" i got when i played it when little, but it seems we are not alone

I watched a playthrough of Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future. Yes, there are parts that are scary. There's creepy caves, a huge shark, and you time travel into three dark futures: 1. humans are gone, the ocean is barren, and dolphins are dumb 2. Dolphins took over the ocean and formed a caste system, with the strongest ruling over the lesser creatures 3. The aliens won against the humans and dolphins

The soundtrack of the Sega CD versions of Ecco and Tides of Time deserve a listen for sure. It's the main thing that sets those versions apart from the originals (aside from a few cute FMV segments in Atlantis in the first game). Very Tangerine Dream-esque.

The prehistoric part actually happen after the end of ecco 2, even more mindfuck tier than the old paradox.

This was the foundational game of my childhood, and I agree it was terrifying, and a real challenge. Replayed it countless times.

The sound effects and music really dialed in the tension. The sound of ecco scream in pain, the sound of the machine moving around ecco, the echolocation sounds.

To this day. I can still beat "welcome to the machine" even though there was a 10 or maybe even a 15 year break. (i think it was in the first go too) That's how deeply ingrained the game is burned into my subconscious.

I remember my brother, sister and I playing this one as children. Even with all of us lending one another moral support, it became too frightening to continue. None of us could really express what it was that was so unsettling.

The unsettling atmosphere of Ecco reached me, even through a 14 minute synopsis video. Well done, and thanks for making this vid! I'd only known intriguing bits and pieces about Ecco and its reputation before watching. It feels similar to a SF novelette I read: "At The Fall" by Alec Nevala-Lee. A lonely, abandoned creature, deep in the ocean, with one improbable goal. Washed in an eerie mystique of Why and How.

Still an absolute favourite game, for these exact reasons.

I grew up with this game and it is in my top 5 favorite games. It is so nostalgic and I love it even now! 🐬❤

I remember playing this endlessly as a kid, and I got to the last level using my sheet of passwords, the music for the level "the machine" just would play over and over in my head and i couldnt sleep. Really weird and scary experience, just this song loudly in my head in bed :( I was made to not play this game for a few weeks after that haha

I couldnt get past the sea of darkness level for sooooooo long. Those scary vortex drones were too much for me.

Great breakdown of a game that I haven’t played in many years and yet still haunts me. You summed it up perfectly… despite the difficulty, the aggravation, the fear… it still captivates. How high in the sky can you fly?

Man that ending boss it's straight up nightmare fuel lol

Always nice to see Ecco getting some attention! I remember playing it when I was very little and I still think about how it affected me to this day. I recently bought both Ecco 1 and 2 and the ps2 version of Defender of the Future just so I could have those pieces of my childhood memories in a physical form. Excellent video!

I love Ecco. I got really far on it when I was a child and teenager after being really persistent with it, but let me tell you; it took me years to work out how to beat the Vortex Queen. I kept trying and trying that I knew it all like the back of my hand. Didn't work out how to complete it for several years. I've not played it now for a good few years. Played it this evening and I'm so rusty

I bought the game after watching this video. Never played it before. It is really amazing. It oozes atmosphere. Probably the hardest game that I have ever played.

Great video! I definitely think the loneliness and isolation the game makes you feel add to the terror.

The trilobites still attack me in my nightmares

Holy shit I had no idea there was this much in the storyline! I never made it past the first level as I had no sense of my bloody surroundings!!

I first came across this game when I was 4. The year was 2000, and I was just walking by the living room when I saw my mom play what seemed like a pretty colorful game. I walked in. The protagonist, a dolphin, jumped out of the water... and a loud, screeching noise filled not only the room but, it seemed, my brain. Many times I tried to approach it, and the only game (in this series, that is) I ever managed to beat was Ecco Jr., and even that one spooked me with those giant whales waiting in the empty, dark endless sea. I find it fascinating, truly. The soundtrack is amazing, and I always find myself listening to it, especially the CD version, but oh was I traumatized to the point where the only underwater levels I can handle, even to this day, are cartoonish ones like in, say, Ristar. What did my mom think of it while I trembled in fear, afraid to explore the very first levels? "Eh, it was boring." Well, that's my mom for ya c':

Funny thing is when I saw the title and got to the part mentioning blue whale I immediately thought- this guy's got Thalassophobia. Welcome to the club.

I played this on my xbox as it was in the sega genesis collection. I never completed it but I really liked the isolated feel to it, it was calming yet sad. Best birthday gift I ever got.

Whats weird is when i was younger i don't think i remembered how scary it was i just remember like swimming around and i forgot about the game until today and i didn't know if it was a dream or if anyone knew what it was or not

Great video that reminds me of how wild gaming was in the 90's. I kind of want to play Ecco now!

that fucking awful noise when shit gets sucked into the sky. ill never forget it

Ok how in the hell do you not have more subscribers??? Dude keep bringing the heat

Just started playing it and yes, it's truly terrifying!!

Uff the music... great and opens wound at the same time.

I played it as a 6 year old. All I would do was swim around in the ocean. It now feels like a fever dream.

That's classic! I was almost always a little poor, but loved gaming. The first game (and system) I ever actually owned was this. I made enough money to be able to spare some cash for it. I've always wondered if I finished the actual game, and for a moment in your video in the prehistoric part, I thought "Oh, I know I've never seen that. I must've given up cause it was too hard." Then I saw the Giger levels in the end and realized I had totally beaten it. Just forgot parts. I'm going to have to see if it's on PC now with an emulator or something. In this era, I'm into Dying Light, Dying Light 2, Dark Souls 2 and 3, and getting ready for Elden Ring. I've missed a couple waves along the way, but I've been gaming since Pong in '74 at my friend's house.

*Ecco the Dolphin Support Group* Was the funniest line I've heard today :D

Ecco Jr. was a pretty fun collection of mini games

That intro... NOSTALGIA OVERLOAD

I played this on Gamegear, and the Tides Of Time, and I love the music, the GameGear's Ecco Music.

What's interesting is I had a friend who had a PS2 version of ecco in 3d, that was beautiful and so fun. I encountered that before the older eccos games, so they already had a better light to them, but they were more unsettling from the start.

Defender of the Future is terrifying. Snatching the Power of Vigor from the humongous great white in the second level comes to mind. Then there are the three last levels. Then there is another humongous shark in Perpetual Fluidity. Then there are scary machines in the enslaved dolphins levels. Then there’s the Hanging Waters level where you’ll make many falls to your death.

Bro I played this game like 20 years ago (I was born on in the late 90’s) and this game was sooooo scary man the sounds were just too much but I really wanted to play it - was just too hard for me to finish lol.

Your accent is so awesome dude. And yes this game was scary. I was born in 1998 and my parents bought me this game in 2004, the music horrified me lmao

soundtracks are very disturbing in this game..

Swim slowly past eight arms, and welcome to the machine friend.

Great video and yes, truly terrifying 🥶

You gotta admit ecco is one the most beautiful games on the genesis, even if it makes you wanna bang your head in frustration sometimes.

I was always pretty bad at games so I couldn't really do ECCO but it always fascinated me because it was so different to other games, and it was a nd is beautiful too. I also find John c lily's work fascinating, he pioneered isolation tanks, he'd float in them all alone while on ketamine, he said it cured his chronic migraines, he saw them drifting out of his head and claimed to have never had one since.

I never completed the game, never saw the Geiger aliens. I remember the game was very unsettling even in the beginning. Going from a happy frolic with your pod mates to them disappearing suddenly… it felt so lonely. Then the hostile waters, the melancholy other mammals. Honestly it’s always stuck with me.

I had this game but never got that far and just kept replaying the intro up until I’d die after not understanding how to proceed and how to stay alive

That would made great special game mode for Subnautica - with you, the sea critter as player and Leviathan as final part of food chain!

Ecco on Dreamcast was amazing. I played the original and dreamcast Ecco games. Never able to beat either one. The dreamcast version has the music and improved graphics, while still causing some terrifying moments like the original.

Time isn't linear. We just experience it that way. The future can change the past since they are all happening simutaniously. That's what it's hinting at. If the future can affect the past just the same, then the paradox can no longer exist.

I didn’t realize how emotional some of these old games were, if anyone knows of more like this please lmk

I had this game on a plug n play and I don't know why but it absolutely terrified me. I could barely get past the cinematic.

The dreamcast game also came out on PS2! Ecco the Dolphin - Defender of the future It’s absolutely INCREDIBLE imo I adore and recommend it every chance I get!

I had it on Game Gear as a kid. Beat it a few times. For an 8-bit version it is surprisingly faithful. I think a big part of why the Master System version just didn't manage to capture the same tension/vibes for you may have something to do with the smaller sprites peeling back a good bit of that mystery and claustrophobic feel. I guess this is one instance where that Game Gear screen crunch actually helped.

Such a wonderful beautiful atmospheric game that is crushingly difficult. The version I had was the Sega Mega Drive original and I never could get very far, but still always adored the game that is part of my childhood gaming :-)

I’m 37, and when I played this when I was a kid, it was the dark blue of nothing in the back ground that scared me. I was always on edge in case something came from the darkness. Great game 👍

I was scared of the giant medusa's sky tube in the sequel

Accidentally guessing a correct password as a boy and ending up in the Machine or the part where ecco time travels back to prehistoric times baffled my kid brain in mystery and yeah worsen my foreboding Thalasophobia

You forgot to mention the constant need for air adding to the stress.

Bro, when I was younger I played Ecco the Dolphin I never got past the second stage but it always gave me the creeps.

when i was like 6 or 7 i had a sega game collection disc and this was on it, it was fun to swim around i remember but i never knew it had all this to it

I LOVE Ecco the Dolphin. Yes it’s hard and unfair. Yes the controls and mechanics are fucked. Yes it’s a buggy mess that makes you repeat stuff over and over again. But let’s get real. The story is insane. The music is atmospheric and beautiful. The graphics were incredible for its time. The feeling of being alone, lost, tense and fearful were all very real. Now imagine it today with todays graphics, sound, evolved story telling and in the hands of someone who could put together incredibly tight fluid controls and offer up a balanced AI and game mechanics and add a ton of new fun elements, abilities, features and customizations to the game…. I am willing to argue it could rival even the best of the best platforming / Metroidvania / cinematic adventure games out there. How do we will this into existence?

I was too young to get very far when those games came out I did have the Dreamcast version and I absolutely loved it.

when i was a kid we rented this game i swam around for a while clueless as to what to do and im pretty sure i literally never even started the game outside of swimming around not knowing what to do and turning it off but i still remember the game

I actually landed on this video right after starting to read your blog because I wanted to see the hurricane part as it seems so... unreal? So... full circle? LOL

This game might be why im not good with large bodies of water in video games

I have played the 3D version of Ecco, and I can tell you it horrified me enough to where I couldn't make it on through the entire game. I'm pretty sure I have thassalaphobia, and the thought of trying to play though those deep water segments where you could see nothing and then something shapeless and unknown comes out of the hazy darkness was too much for me. There is no bottom and you are so far from the surface that is only lit by the ambient lighting. Its fun at the beginning, but it definitely held some deep seated fears for me (and I played that bad boy as an adult!)

This sounds ahead of it's time. I wish I'd have played it when I was young.

Whenever I don’t play Ecco the dolphin for awhile, It gives me vertigo. Even watching videos of it I throw up.

The vibe reminds me a little of the Oddworld: Abe's Odyssee games. Definitely a subtle kind of horror

as someone with thalassophobia, this game fucked me up.

So, idk if this is still relevant, but I grow up on Defender Of The Future (the 3D one) and I personaly learned to like that game, its controls are basicly one to one with the 2D games just in 3D and tbh to fault, in terms of atmosphere, I REALLY like it, just like the first 2 games it really know how to give that feeling of the deepness on the ocean and its mysteries. Along with still having uniqe and pretty enviorments like Atlantis and even different time periods with back stories that add very interesting context to these areas. Altho it may be a little to scifi for your liking during the later parts(judging by your reaction to Ecco 2). Also the ost in this game is freaking amazing to me and really sets the moods for me, it isnt really as scary as the older games but I kind of like the mystirious underwater charming vibes it goes for. However it wouldnt be a typical Ecco game is it had actualy good game design. Which unfortunetly is probably one of weakest parts of it. Like the other games the levels can be confusing with back tracking , memorization and lots of deaths, altho luckly in this game death is meaningless because of the checkpoints and inifinite lives. However like I said earlier the game feels like the 2D games to fault in terms of controls. Sometimes you have to swim in a precise way or jump above the water in a specific angle and while it is a nice challenge it can also be infuriating to do because the game's controls barely have any homing proporties or a marker or any useful aiming tools. if you dash for example, you have to aim him directly at the enemy or other small targets and because ecco sits directly at the center of the camera at all times its kind of dificult to see where you're going. Also the sonar has a very limited radius. And without an aim marker its very hard to aim it at other stuff unless they are very close to you. Over all, I would say its an Ecco game through and through just in 3D. for better or worse....mostly worse.but I still think Its worth at least looking in to if you like the original games and want to play something similar. You can always emulate the game on a dreamcast emulator, played the whole thing on Demul and it works great. If you want the PS2 version well...idk didnt bother with that outside of playing it on my PS2 as a kid. However I think what would really settle the deal for which version to get for me would be the map. You see ,like the 2D games Ecco can use echo location to make a map of his sorounding. However the map works differently in both games. In the Dreamcast version the map is drawn from a top down 2D perspective while also being transparent and monochrome. And drawn infront of the player while also letting him control ecco (my personaly preference). In the PS2 they decided to change it entierly by makeing the map more similar to the original by completely pausing the game. Personaly while the Dreamcast map sounds annoying , it feels more worth it overall because I can move while viewing the map which keeps the pace instead of me constantly having to pause the game to view the map (iirc it also takes a while for the map to load each time). Well...thats the sum of what I have to say. Hope this helps

I ❤ this game. Beat is several times. The second one was too hard to beat

Omg I thought I was the only one who was traumatized from this game

I was terrified of Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future as a kid (the dreamcast version).

I played this in the dark it gives you the feeling of being alone in the deep ocean

Found your channel this morning as I was looking for an Ecco review, incredible video production. I know your modest subscriber number does not reflect the quality of output.

I've been saying Ecco is horrifying for twenty years. I would play it over Resident Evil: Director's Cut. From the desolation, to the machine, and any direction hiding predators...if you know, you know.

I got this on the sega back when I was 5. And this game imbued me with fear and dread. The ocean depths while limited scared the hell outta me like I was gonna find some nightmarish creatures on the ocean floor. Once a friend made it to the vortex queen and that shit proceeded to give me horrible nightmares, like from the ages of 7 to 13. The nightmares finally stopped when I beat it during a summer break.

Ecco is legitimately my favourite game of all time. It inspired a deep love of the oceans that sticks with me to this day. Heh, and yes, I also agree with this review. Funny enough, I am actually scared of deep water. Terrified even. I can't go deeper than my waist in things like creeks, and I try and avoid going into oceans and lakes at all. Though I do love being on a nice rocky beach NEXT to the ocean. Anyway, I digress. That sort of vice like feeling on your heart when you play the game is part of the charm, I find. :) Er, and I know it sounds weird to say that I love the ocean while saying I am terrified of water. I just find it fascinating, even if no amount of money could get me to go even shallow water scuba diving. I will stick to games like Abzu and Ecco, thank you.

watching HD footage of it doesn't do the original experience justice, playing it through an old CRT television made it 10x scarier.

I did not know that Annunziata was a Floyd fan but it makes sense now. I had the Sega CD version with that amazing soundtrack and it really fits those vibes. While I was playing Ecco my brother was jamming “High Hopes” in the next room. Also my childhood ruining movie was ‘The Wall’ 😂.

In the original game, the Vortex Queen is a big alien head with no body in the middle of a pitch-black background. While this is shocking and startling at first glance, I think it is a bit lame. Apparently some people working in the series thought so too, and they decided to remedy this. In the Sega CD version of Ecco - The Tides of Time, in the level City of Forever, there is a glyph in front of you that will show an FMV of Ecco's first showdown with the Vortex aliens. It shows how Ecco could fire lasers from the star marks in his forehead (which has nothing to do with anything, I just wanted to mention this because it's rad as fuck), but most importantly, the video shows a different version of the Vortex Queen, as a much more macabre alien cyborg head with tubes connecting it to a number of machines. The thing seems lifeless and purely artificial, unlike the Vortex Queen head in Ecco 1. Genuine nightmare fuel. I cannot put it into words, the thing has to be seen to be fully understood. If this version of the Vortex Queen had made it to the actual game, the kids who had been traumatized by the Queen in the game would be significantly more scarred, I'm sure of it. If there's anybody curious to see the FMV, you can find it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xJsbW4Nu9sw.html

The echo games are like the Terminator games. The first Echo and the first terminator were very psychological and moody. The 2nd echo, and the second terminator were very sci-fi, and very action-based. After that, Echo Junior, and all the Terminator sequels beyond Terminator two were just fluff, made for children. With the occasional nonsense for adults, like a dolphin in a sago game. Dammit Echo Junior, you inspired The death of the terminator franchise

Ecco jr helped me to get over nightmares induced by Ecco the Dolphin. It was also first game for me that didn't have fighting system which kinda shocked me, but I was so happy that I don't need to fight chthonic horrors I wholeheartedly enjoyed it.

"Ecco: Defender Of The Future," is an AWESOME game! You should play it. There was a sequel to it called "Ecco: Sentinels Of The Universe." However, it got scrapped after a few levels were produced. Basically, you can download a demo of it.

Пиздец... Looks like it's finally time to get through the both of the game! I've only "finished" Tides of Time with a much use of ceats, because I didn't know a hell of an English back then in 90s... Thanks for the video! Why does we can't see Likes? ;)