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"Peanut free, not Dolphin safe."

Perhaps the most prominent way to design a sequel is to expand and capitalize on the original design. For many series, playing the next game is the same as playing the last. There's little growth and difference, and it really wears thin. What should be required of the game is not to necessarily surpass the previous on the old terms, but to provide new experiences with the heart of the series in mind. The moment a series subscribes to a formula, is the moment it opens itself up to stagnation.

Ecco: The Tides of Time thankfully takes this method of sequel in the right direction. While the gameplay remains very similar, it makes great strides for improving upon the first while staying true to the heart of what made the first one original and compelling. While you'll be leaping and passing over a great deal of sharks, Ecco didn't ‘jump the shark,' to borrow the popular term.

But enough with the weak attempts at clever indulgery, let's get down to it. How can one most effectively illustrate the core difference between the first and second game? We'll need to contrast their gameplay mechanisms. In the first game, a large chunk of puzzles were solved by touching one glyph crystal for a song, and bringing it to another glyph. Singing this song would remove the glyph blocking your path and grant Ecco access to more of the level.

The Tides of Time have similar mechanisms. However, it's not always so cut and dry. Sometimes, you have to assemble the key glyph by moving its broken components together... Sometimes, the barrier glyph stays open for a short time, then closes again. This could be a limited time to complete the section, or you may have to get in and get out quickly. For instance, maybe you open it with the key, then get another key before passing through?

So what? Well, to be truthful this is a saving grace for the Tides of Time. These changes might seem very insignificant on paper. But in their only significant application - the game - they make a world of difference. Ecco's sequel already makes great strides at improving the original design within the first handful of stages. That makes one think the sequel has potential right from the start, but of course we need to scrutinize and see where it takes this throughout the main body of the game.

As Ecco travels through time, you will come in contact with some very different areas. The future has a well realized ecology, including tubes of water connecting the oceans of the world. These tubes often provide fast paced levels in the skies as you zip between suspended bodies of water.

Ecco can also travel through some 3D areas to reach new depths of the ocean... these involve zipping forward through rings. You need to keep your speed up to reach them before they disappear, whether they're above the surface or below. These are typically at the end of a level. While some games have much more compelling 3D scenes, Tides of Time does a decent job and again - they tried to give us more variety.

I'm not going to focus much more on the mechanisms therein. The point is, The Tides of Time made a big push to improve upon the level design of the original game. For the most part, the folks behind the game were successful. There's still the banal design of too many edible fish and too many air bubbles, and often too simple of levels. But it's not nearly as big a problem as it was in the first game.

As for how the game actually handles, this game sees even more improvements over the first. Ecco had a tendency to get stuck on certain objects in the first game, including the surface of the water and the walls of tunnels while dashing... not quite as often in Tides of Time. The game seems to play better in general, though Ecco still gets stuck at times. This is most often with regards to new features, unfortunately. Or even the water tunnels, it's sometimes very difficult to get back into the main body of the tunnel as Ecco seems to want to jump back out. The edges are just like the surface of the water, and so Ecco behaves as such.

The other issue I have with control is the new transformations. This is an interesting new feature, but the animals Ecco can transform into are just uninteresting to use. Nice mechanism, could have been more engrossing.

Ecco also has the ability to go on land to a greater extent than he could in the first. If you miss the full extent of a jump, for instance, you can make short hops across the ground to reach the water that awaits you. This is a good feature, but it's kind of awkward. And this is understandable. After all, Ecco is not meant for land travel so he controls pretty jerkily on land. That's no problem for short stretches.

But when Ecco is faced with levels designed to actually keep him on land for extended periods? These are often designed in a way that is really counterintuitive with Ecco's abilities. Different jumps onto landings without any previous momentum, for instance. They're perfectly possible, but so much less natural than most of anything else Ecco does. I guess it could be construed to be an example of his valiant struggle, but that's reading too much into it. It's not game breaking, however, and it's only really an issue in two of the levels.

Otherwise, Tides of Time plays very much like an improved Ecco the Dolphin. Ecco seems more accurate and just as slick. You have the sonar which damages enemies when you dash from the first game, and your sonar maps are much bigger and more detailed. Ecco is totally at home in the sea, looping and dashing.

He's very agile in open water, and just like the first games he provides one of the biggest sensations of speed on the Genesis. Mainly because you direct the speed, you increase it as you see fit, and you still have control even when he jumps. Ecco has speed without taking the control away from the player. You retain all the freedom of the game even when moving at top speed.

But Ecco's a marathon, not a race. There's a lot of exploration in this game. While it often falls to the same kind of “Activate point A to open point B” from the first game, the levels are larger and more open and Ecco has new tasks to complete - as I covered earlier.

There are often branches in the path, meaning you'll have to check out a number of tunnels. The glyph or item or what have you is often hidden partially, making your sonar scanning all the more helpful. There is a lot to explore, and it's easy to skip things if you don't make use of your sonar. It all comes together very nicely.

But there's danger in the sea as well. There are plenty of enemies in the sea to terrorize Ecco. There's a greater variety now. Some enemies have been toned down, others have been made more vicious. The sharks seem much more aggressive, while the super crabs from the first game often return to their starting position after attacking Ecco. Some enemies give chase, but aren't as utterly random anymore. All in all, it results in a much more balanced game.

Ecco still has to worry about air, and beneath the waves this is mostly relegated to bubbles and less often undersea caves. Of course, there's a surplus of air and edible fish as I mentioned before. Air is such a commodity that the stages that force you into a situation with very little air are actually pretty challenging.

New enemies consist of either more sea life not covered in the first game, or completely new species in the future areas. These fill in a few new niches and they're worth experimenting with. Some will provide a key to reaching new areas.

Even in the future, enemies are reasonable. They aren't so far gone from Ecco's present that they're inconceivable. It's interesting to see what they consider to be an extension of current life. The future dolphins were pretty amusing, to boot.

This is all brought to life by perhaps one of the most beautiful examples of art on the Genesis. Tides' art sets the atmosphere of the game. While above the water is often nice and sunny, Ecco excels at the melancholy. Beneath the waves the colours are more subdued. This muted colour brings such a somber feeling to the games.

And when you get late into the game, they make the choice to often have the sky set at later hours or if in the day - a little more grey. It keeps the game moody, and casts sinister overtones more and more as you learn more and as the levels become more dangerous.

Even Ecco is a little more muted in this entry. He was very slick and offset with a lot of light in the first. It all hints at a more dire situation, where the resolving events of the first game weren't completely positive. Tides could have been vibrant, and I imagine that a lot of people expected as much from the series. After all, it's a game about dolphins. But the somber mood fits the game and I don't think I'd have appreciated the art quite as much if it were opposite.

And on the other side of the coin, Tides of Time makes great strides. While the music still doesn't make the atmosphere that much more moody, it at least seems to be _present_. You could put Ecco's music out of mind on an almost total basis, but there's more songs in Tides that do enhance the atmosphere and do sound catchy. There's one I'm particularly fond of played during the future that sounds like a background song from any number of post apocalyptic animation. It would fit right in Rock and Rule or Akira.

So when it comes down to it, Ecco is an artistic treat with the gameplay to back it up. I always love to see games that really make use of what's givent o them. Genesis games, well many 16-bit games for that matter, often have a very muddy palette. Tides' theme and implementation comes off as one of the most competent uses on the Genesis.

I hate to keep using the word, but it makes the game more sinister. There's not a lot of plot exposition in game, so the mood is really helpful in conveying what Tides is all about. The exposition that is there is largely through singing with other sea life.

Tides of Time can be played standalone, but there are certain prominent themes from the first game that will quickly make themselves apparent and you will realize and appreciate this sooner if you've played through the first game. It's not required, but it's recommended.

Essentially, you soon get the idea that the sea is not safe. The primary antagonistic force from Ecco the Dolphin has _not_ been quelled, and instead has followed Ecco into the seas. When you encounter the first of these - and it is very early - you know what you're in store for. Thankfully, the game gives us a number of new phenotypes of these creatures.

Events from the first game have caused problems with the time stream, and the arrival of your old foes ultimately results in the abolition of the strongest powers you received in the first. It's done tastefully, and within reason. Ecco doesn't just start out naked of power nor does he lose them via Deus ex Tuna Net. The storyline of the Ecco is series is kind of strange at times, but always tasteful.

I know I've compared Tides of Time to Ecco the Dolphin quite frequently in this review, but there's few other ways to broach the subject of that games sequel. Tides is more like a continuation of the storyline from Ecco the Dolphin, while improving on many of the first game's flaws. While the first game was good, I can best illustrate Tides as great by drawing the comparisons.

And it does improve on that design and does do the unique design justice. Most of the levels are well designed, with the obvious exception of resource overload. Some of the most final levels have a few of the flaws that were in much of the levels of Ecco the Dolphin. I can't really say anything about them here, but I'm not referring to any of the future levels. Beyond that, most of the levels are on the short side. But I will say, when they're long... they're very long... ha ha ha.

The focus on time travel in The Tides of Time was a huge boon for the game. This provides a fair chunk of the game with an excuse to be creative. And the folks behind it certainly took advantage in their art and level design. Even in the present, Ecco does new things and there are a number of stages that are completely different in design than any others. Excellent.

In the end, Ecco: The Tides of Time is a pretty great game. It's the realization of a concept in a concrete method of conveyance. It can be challenging, but the challenge is something you can overcome. Most deaths in the game are your fault completely. So when you rise above and break on through, it's all the more satisfying.

Tides is definitely one of the foremost Genesis games and the series itself is one of the most original around. While it's short, it's a very compelling game with enough distinct sectors to accommodate repeat playthroughs. The Tides of Time is a concept realized.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/10/08

Game Release: Ecco: The Tides of Time (US, 08/25/94)