Ecco the Dolphin: 2

The Team

Top row: BRUDNYOK MIHALY, BAKAL ANDRAS, MOLNÁR JÓZSEF
Bottom row: BALOGH ZSOLT, IGNACZ IMRE, SZENTTORNYAI LÁSZLÓ

Béla once asked me this: “Martin, how come that only the Americans and Japanese can make good games?”
I gave him a puzzled look: “But Béla, what about California Games?”
— Wow, was that Hungarian?
— And Cyborg Justice?
— You don’t say!
— And Ecco the Dolphin?
— You’re kiddin’ me! That was so beautiful, we definitely didn't do it!
— Well, Béla, these were all Hungarian games. And now I'll tell you something that’s going to blow your mind: the sequel to Ecco, subtitled TIDES OF TIME, is ready. You are such a fool!

Anyone who watched the SzEGAsztok TV series^[1], which was considered the biggest failure of Hungarian Television at the time, knows that I am not a big Ecco player. I will confess, I like Street Fighter 2 - however, I have to admit that Ecco was the Mega Drive game with the most beautiful graphics (in traditional sense) that I have come across to this day. I say “to this day”, because now that I had the opportunity to see the sequel, I can say without prejudice: I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE! Many people will probably be left in disbelief when they see the pictures: is this really coming from a Hungarian developer? Yes, it is, and for this we have to thank a team of professionals from whom programmers and graphic designers from large companies could take lessons. The guys work in an office building in Buda, where I have talked with them several times. The team (let's call them that from now on) is led by László, who has convinced with his overwhelming charisma countless times the representatives of SEGA OF AMERICA and SEGA OF JAPAN to see things his way. It's true that he wasn't "physically" involved in the work, but the game certainly wouldn't have been completed without his forward-thinking ideas.

The team’s other big trump card is Zsolt, with whom I have an acquaintance dating back to the heroic age, so I am a little biased about him. If I remember correctly, he also got his first computer nickname from me. So Zsolt created the graphics, which is going to blow your mind when you see the game for yourself. He worked for many months to find the most lifelike color palette, draw the most beautiful rocks in Mega Drive history, and make the ocean creatures look like they’ve come from the pages of an encyclopedia. You have to admit, Zsolt is on top of things.

Of course, brilliant graphics are nothing without perfect code. This part is József’s responsibility and he created the core program as well as code for the 3-D stages. He wrote the movement routines for the bosses and brought the cinematic cutscenes to life on screen. Imre worked under him as a side programmer — and when he was not busy coding, he would put together the level layouts, which makes him the “map designer” specialist of the team.

Mihály is the guy among the rest of them who could work on the most computers at once - 5 in total. He created the hardware interface and the utilities. András Bakai was the assistant artist, who worked on his tasks with no less enthusiasm as Zsolt. Unfortunately, I was unable to find out which parts he created exactly — perhaps this is not important considering the perfect final result.

The new Ecco game has been in the works for over a year and a half. After part 1, the team started working on the CD version of it, but the first ideas for a sequel were already born by this point. Zsolt did most of the work on the CD port, as it contained extra levels compared to the cartridge version. Eventually, it was done, but he could not sit around for long as László has tasked him with designing of the new episode. I had the opportunity to see the work about 3 times, so I essentially followed the birth of the game. First, the drawings of the dolphins were completed, since the team did not want to work with the old models. The new animals are larger; their animations are more detailed and more “polished”. We are going to encounter many more enemies, including jellyfish and super-looking snakes — several types of which appear throughout the game. Some of them look more like dragons than snakes, but I guess that's okay for a fantasy-themed game.

The background graphics can't even be compared to the old game: the rocks, as I've already mentioned, are immaculate, there are more aquatic plants, and long-sunken ships that appear throughout. It's very interesting that the game becomes three-dimensional when viewed with special 3D glasses — of course this is best seen in person. Once again, we visit the underwater city, but the game also has many other secret locations that, unfortunately, I am not allowed to talk about due to confidentiality. The backgrounds above the water are what really caught my eye: they feature vegetation, sunsets and sunrises, islands, and a whole bunch of other things a dolphin might see during its life. The problem is, they showed me all the levels almost at the same time, so I am not sure what to highlight from all of that.

Among the many new features, I would also like to mention the 3-dimensional levels that serve to connect the main locations. The goal in these is to jump through a certain number of hoops, but you also have enemies to to watch out for. Here, the game requires constant concentration, and this really brings a new dimension to the story. Things are moving so quickly that I could even say it will be leisurely to return to the “calm” atmosphere of the regular stages. By the way, it immediately occurred to me how fast we were moving around in those normal stages (this whole thing is not that scientifically deep).

In Ecco 2, we face huge and beautiful bosses. Each one is completely different from the other, and not just because of their appearance. There are some that you have to defeat (like the dragon emerging from the clam), but there are also some that “merely” hinder our progress (like the floating medusa). Anyone who loves H.R. Giger style aliens won't be disappointed: András has created monstrosities that would make any sane dolphin's courage fly. I shall say no more — you'll see for yourselves! As the story progresses, we will encounter orcas and I will even go as far as to tell you that by special request, the huge whales seen in the previous part will also make a comeback — in the plural, of course!

I'm just realizing now that I haven't even told you about the story yet. Well, things get complicated when Ecco defeats the Vortex Queen at the end of the first part. The monster somehow finds its way to Earth and completely disrupts the ecosystem with its tricks. So Ecco once again sets out to get to the bottom of it, sparing no time or money (sorry). The Asterite, the double helix that is considered the most ancient life form on Earth, will once again take centre stage — as will the Glyphs, the crystals supposedly created by the Atlanteans.

I can't say more than that, because the story will unfold before you as you play. And once again, I have to give praise the team's work, because you will be able to witness the important events not only in written, but also in MOVIE form. I'm sure many of you miss these animations from most games — and believe me, you won’t be bored!

Now I’m going to be a little vague, because I will be telling you about things that the creators intend to surprise you with. Get ready, maybe Ecco will take the form of another animal! After swimming underwater for a while, he continues his adventures up in the sky in a strange location, as shown in our picture, where you can see the beautiful pink background. If you observe the vegetation in some places, you will be reminded of the prehistoric environment millions of years ago — just how did Ecco get there? What is hidden inside the huge sphere that moves on the screen with grace never seen on Mega Drive before? Finally, remember that this is a HUNGARIAN game, and as such, this has important implications…

Now you must be feeling like a young couple before their wedding night, but unfortunately, my dear friends, you will have to wait until October for this special night! I have to say that the team's last work is Ecco — Tides of Time. Their next game will be made for the brilliant 32-bit Mega Drive add-on, Mars^[2].

Martin.

Notes:

1. ^ Szegasztok, also written SzEGAsztok, was a television show about Sega video games, broadcast in Hungary between 18 October 1993 and 30 December 1993. The show’s presenter was Martin, a console game reviewer for 576 KByte magazine, who also wrote this article.
2. ^ Project Mars was the codename for what became known as 32X.

Links:

• Original issue of the magazine at Archive.org
• Split PDF of the above containing pages 32 and 33 only
• Original article text in Magyar