Ecco II Build X11

This is a sub-page of Proto:Ecco: The Tides of Time (Genesis).

LevelsYOU MAY NOT PASS YET, BECAUSE NOT ENOUGHT ASTERITE GLOBES. Early and Unused TextYOU ARE GREAT, WE ARE FREE

General Differences#

• The title screen uses the music used in the Sea of Darkness level as opposed to the final game's unique title theme.
• Unlimited health and air are enabled by default.
• Pressing A when paused toggles the music on and off; however, it also overwrites whatever music was playing before with Track 01.
• There are no level title cards.
• Barrier glyphs make no sound when collided with, nor do key glyphs play their jingle when activated.
• The top and bottom rows of the screen are cut off, as in the previous prototype.

Password Screen#

Proto	Final

Passwords are five letters long, as opposed to eight like in the first game and the final version of Ecco II. At this point in development, there are no sounds on the password screen at all, and moving over a letter in the password itself causes the screen to flash to the fish palette as long as it remains highlighted. The final nudged the position of the entire interface up a few pixels.

Debug Menu#

The debug menu can be accessed by pressing C eight times when the game is paused on Ecco facing the screen.

Proto	Final

The prototype's debug arrangement is slightly different and is missing the options to force hard mode and change the game difficulty.

Graphical Differences#

Dolphin#

Proto	Final

As with the Playable Preview prototype, the dolphin sprites are reused from Ecco the Dolphin, albeit with the final Ecco II's bluer palette.

Magic Arm#

Proto	Final

The head used by a myriad of segmented alien enemies is completely different in the prototype. It also doesn't really look good in any palettes it uses; the final version just uses Ecco's palette instead.

Atlantis Crab#

Proto	Final

Similarly, what appear to be gigantic lice in Atlantis were changed to slightly more fanciful alien-crabs in the final.

Vortex Worm#

Proto	Final

The brown vortex worms are made entirely out of body segments in the prototype, while in the final they have a distinct head and tail.

Music#

Most of the game's soundtrack is present, but not all; the title theme, Two Tides, Trellia's Bay, Big Water, Inside, and Fish City themes are missing at this point in development.

Removed Music#

There are three tracks which are used throughout this prototype, but were completely removed by the 0429 prototype, and the music slots they occupied remain empty in the final. They all play off of each other's motifs in some way, and also bear some resemblance to the song used in Crystal Springs in the final.

Track 01

Track 02

Track 07