Released in 1992, Ecco the Dolphin was an instant classic that bolstered the Genesis/Mega Drive against the defending Nintendo empire. The game's rock-solid control ensures that it always feels like your fault when you die, and if the profound storyline doesn't make you cry, the difficult gameplay will.
- Best Single-segment time: 0:28:32 by
Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan on 2006-06-15.
- Individual-levels run: table.
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Single-segment 0:28:32 by Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan.
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Author's comments:
First of all, I'd like to thank:
- Radix - for SDA
- Nate - for transfering the run from DVD
- Ninjitsu - for his very helpful TAS
- Nate - for giving me the idea to do this run
- my friend - for discovering the shortcut I use at the start of Undercaves
- Nate - for all the help and encouragement he gave me while I was running
- and everyone else who aided or encouraged me in any way.
I originally wasn't going to submit this run, as it
has a few very large mistakes, but I reached the point
where I couldn't play the game anymore without getting
sick of it, and this was the only completed run I had,
so here it is. Note that sometime in the distant
future I do intend to return to this game and make a
better run, unless someone else does so first.
- Home Bay:
One of the few levels that went perfectly (then again, it's the first 15 seconds of the run).
- Medusa Bay:
See above, but change 15 to 30.
- Undercaves:
This level was just filled with bunches of tiny mistakes. Fortunately, the current skip went
smoothly, and I (just barely) didn't miss the last key glyph.
- The Vents:
I charged slightly too late on the first jump, forcing me to circle around to make it over the
second island. Other than that, everything went fine.
- The Lagoon:
This level was interesting, in the sense where the dolphin randomly decided to follow me, which
was so unexpected that I started playing horribly.
- Ridge Water:
Those star rings really hated me this run. Plus I messed up with the first shell and swam
straight into a few walls near the end.
- Open Ocean:
I love this level.
- Ice Zone:
I actually managed to get the glyph glitch to work on my first try.
- Hard Water:
Had I turned slightly earlier, I could have gone in front of the first ice cube, but it only
saves about a second and greatly increases my chances on death. Those ice cubes after the barrier glyph
seem to be completey random, so I have to slow down a bit.
- Cold Water:
Best music in the game. Besides a few
problems with glyphs and sonaring, this level went quite well.
- Island Zone:
Ugh. What was I thinking?! Ah well. Besides that horrendus bit near the start, the level went okay.
- Deep Water:
Yes, I did mean to get hit by that spike near the end. No, I did not mean to sonar after I
started turning.
- Marble Sea:
Actually went fairly well.
- The Library:
I should've just ended the run right here. BLEH!! Not only did I mess up pushing the
block, I messed up TWICE. And then I messed up trying to recover from my mistakes.
- Deep City:
Got the jump on the first try. Went smoothly for the most part, if you exclude my getting
caught in the second-to-last current.
- City of Forever:
Missed the warp ring and had a bit of trouble activating the time machine.
- Jurassic Beach:
In case you're wondering what all the random sonaring is about, it's just because I love
that sound effect. No major slipups in this level.
- Pteranadon Pond:
Can anyone say "how to fail at glyph glitching?" Besides that, there weren't any problems
worth mentioning.
- Origin Beach:
Sometimes, that trilobite actually never appears. Wish I could figure out why. No big
problems, except maybe getting stuck against the ceiling of that diagonal tunnel.
- Trilobite Circle:
I kinda missed that first jump.
- Dark Water:
Here we are. The part I'm always afraid I'll die on but for some reason haven't yet. I got
stuck between the glyph and the wall a bit longer than usual. Asterite fight went smoothly.
- Deep Water again:
I have no idea why I decided to turn into the wrong passageway near the end.
- City of Forever again:
This time, I managed to hit the warp ring dead on, and I managed to sonar the time
machine right away as well.
- Home Bay again:
For whatever reason, Ecco always refuses to move properly for the first second or so.
- The Tube:
Sorry it isn't more interesting; I didn't want any chance of death.
- Welcome to the Machine:
Managed to avoid almost all of the slowdown.
- The Last Fight:
I was being a bit too cautious at the very end because of my low health.
Individual-levels run in 0:22:31:
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Level
| Time
| Date
| Player
|
Medusa Bay
| 0:00:11
| 2006-09-02
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Undercaves
| 0:00:44
| 2006-09-02
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
The Vents
| 0:00:19
| 2006-09-02
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
The Lagoon
| 0:01:34
| 2006-09-04
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Ridge Water
| 0:01:29
| 2006-09-02
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Open Ocean
| 0:00:47
| 2006-09-02
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Ice Zone
| 0:00:06
| 2006-09-02
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Hard Water
| 0:00:28
| 2006-09-02
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Cold Water
| 0:00:54
| 2006-09-02
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Island Zone
| 0:00:47
| 2006-09-07
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Deep Water
| 0:00:34
| 2006-09-04
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
The Marble Sea
| 0:00:24
| 2006-09-04
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
The Library
| 0:00:34
| 2006-09-07
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Deep City
| 0:01:01
| 2006-09-07
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
City of Forever
| 0:00:36
| 2006-09-04
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Jurassic Beach
| 0:00:48
| 2006-09-04
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Pteranodon Pond
| 0:01:24
| 2006-09-04
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Origin Beach
| 0:00:31
| 2006-09-04
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Trilobite Circle
| 0:00:22
| 2006-09-04
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
Dark Water
| 0:00:35
| 2006-09-04
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
The Tube
| 0:01:51
| --.--.--
| ----
|
The Machine
| 0:05:47
| --.--.--
| ----
|
The Last Fight
| 0:00:45
| 2006-09-08
| Jared 'BlueGlass' Minnihan
|
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