Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis)

In Ecco the Dolphin, you play as Ecco, a dolphin with some unusual marks on his head, whose pod vanishes after a waterspout. He then roams the seas in a time-traveling journey involving paradoxes, time loops, alternate timelines and a creature made of spheres known as the Asterite, in order to find his pod. Despite the game's hard difficulty and propensity to scare the player, there is at least the kickass Pink Floyd-inspired soundtrack to keep you sane when the game really doubles down on you.

This page focuses mainly on the international versions, except for the section about the Japanese version.

Prerelease Info

Debug Menu#

In-game, turn to either side and pause the game while Ecco is facing the camera. Then, press Right, B, C, B, C, Down, C, Up. A screen titled "The Dolphin" will appear, and you'll be able to change some settings.

• Stage Number – Goes from 0 to 27. Change this and press Start to be sent to the corresponding level. Some of them are meant to be used in cutscenes and might freeze the game.
• Sound Number – Goes from 0 to 65. A sound test. Choose a number, and press A to listen to the song with that number, and B to listen to the sound effect with that number.
• Music Tempo – Goes from -120 to 120. 0 is the default value and plays the current song at normal tempo. Other values just add or remove BPM to the normal tempo of the song. Some values will work incorrectly for some songs.
• Message Number – Goes from 0 to 54. Choose a number and press A or B to view that message. 22, 31 and 32 are empty and 43 gives you invincibility.
• Unlimited Life – If set to 1, your damage and oxygen meters will not decrease.
• Teleporter – Change the X and Y values, and when you press Start and you will be teleported into that place. It will be canceled if you choose out-of-bounds coordinates. If you get yourself inside a wall, there'll be no way out, as you can't turn around to face the camera and perform the cheat again.

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.

By changing address 00FFB86F, one can change the options below the visible ones. The values for them (at least for the first 3) are 00FFF830, 00FFF834 and 00FFF838. Changing their values may cause you to go to different stages.

Unused Music#

To do: Can you hear the full Time Travel song normally? If not, add it here.

There are some unused songs in the game, accessible through the debug menu.

14#

Sounds like it could belong to an island-related level.

18#

Sounds like it could be used in levels that are mostly played in deep waters.

19#

A bit similar to 18, but this one sounds like it belongs in the ending.

Unused Text#

Ancestors#

In the top-left and top-right corners of Origin Beach are 2 glyphs, hidden inside the walls. If you use your sonar on them, you'll get the following messages:

Left (27):

We hear song in
the ocean!

We hear our kind
in the sea!

Never have we
heard songs in
the sea!

Right (28):

You sing our song
under the waves
Who are you?

Could we sing in
the sea?
Could we live in
the sea?

Perhaps we will
try!

Ed Annunziata said that this was the answer to a question put on earlier in the game, "Why do dolphins live in the sea?". These glyphs were meant to be ancestors to Ecco, but due to time constraints, they were simply moved out of the way.

There are also other unused messages, without a source:

10#

Great winds of
water pulled me
here - now I am
lost...

Please help me
to pass the
current below

11#

Thank you...
I will give you
a song to confuse
the jelly fish

14#

The Hungry Ones
will not let me
surface for
air...I am afraid

17#

Some shells will
eat through stone

21#

The Asterite is
very deep...

Fill your lungs
Swim fast

33#

I will see you
again young singer
Good luck!

41#

I give you a song
to open
the next glyph

Unused Graphics#

A turtle with four animation frames exists in the game. It can be seen by going to ROM address 0x86642 and replacing 97 with 0F, 10 or 11. Start a new game and check the unique shell under the entrance to the next level; it should be replaced with the turtle. (The stray pixel underneath the tail is present in the original graphics.)

Regional Differences#

The Japanese version has several interesting changes.

Miscellaneous#

• The SEGA logo screen has a sound of Ecco using his sonar. There's only silence in the US/EU version.

• The main "menu" has signs telling you that to the left is the password screen, and to the right is where you start a new game. These are absent in the US/EU version.
• In the password screen, if you write an incorrect password, the sound of the Vortex Queen munching on you plays. Nothing plays in the US/EU version.
• When you pause, the word "PAUSE" appears in the middle of the screen, and the song's tempo gradually decreases until it stops. When you unpause, the tempo gradually returns to normal. In the US/EU version, 2 blinking bars appear, parallel to each other vertically, forming the classic "pause" symbol. The music keeps going like normal.
• Fixes certain bugs and glitches.
• At least one hint message was improved, helping the player.
• Some barrier glyphs act as checkpoints now, so you don't have to replay a level from the beginning after dying.
• Fewer enemies.
• Enemies don't respawn by default.
• There are two new levels: "Open Ocean 2" and "The Stomach".
• There's an undocumented and broken "easy mode", accessed by entering "EASY...." as a password. It skips several levels, shortening the game, but it doesn't have an end (the last level gets repeated over and over - because they took this feature from the Sega / Mega CD version and forgot to correct the level numbers).

• Welcome to the Machine was heavily changed between the US/EU and Japanese releases. Three save point glyphs were added to the level in order to make it easier. Upon dying after reaching one of the glyphs in the Japanese version, a screen will appear allowing you to continue the level or restart it. Despite only appearing in the Japanese version, the options for this screen are in English.
• The Vortex Spawn in Welcome to the Machine had their colors changed from green to gray in the Japanese version. This change also extends to the projectiles that are fired out of the walls. Strangely enough, this color change does NOT extend to the Final Battle. The Vortex Spawn in this level regain their green coloring, and the Vortex Queen appears green in both versions.

• When the Vortex Queen eats you, instead of being taken to the Machine again, you're taken to a smaller, easier and not-auto-scrolling level called The Stomach. This uses a unique theme (read below). This level also features sprites for jelly fish that would later be used in Ecco: The Tides of Time.
• On the fight with the Queen Vortex, you only need to drop her jaw twice, for a total of 8 hits. In the US/EU version, you need to drop it 3 times, for 12 hits total. Before the ending credits, a few messages appear in Japanese:

Debug Menu#

To do: Find out what the 2 extra messages are. And for that matter, find out if some messages were added/removed/changed.

The debug menu doesn't overlap the current screen. Instead, it fades to black and changes the background to a regular ocean backdrop. And when you leave, the music continues where it left off, whereas the music goes silent in the US/EU version.

The first option also starts with the value 0 instead of your current level number. When you try to view a message, the game shows it to you (in Japanese, obviously), and quits the debug menu, instead of staying on it. This version also adds 2 extra messages, as the number can go from 0 to 56.

Unique Songs#

There are 3 songs that are only used in the Japanese version. However, these can still be heard in the US/EU version's sound test.

This theme plays in Cold Water.

This wacky theme plays in Open Ocean.

This one plays in the extra level, The Stomach.

References#