One of my fondest memories from childhood was playing this game for Sega Genesis (called the Megadrive for those outside the US) called Ecco the Dolphin.
Look at that picture. Isn’t he cute? Happy little dolphin. It’s a game full of labyrinths and puzzles, with the only object being: get to the end of the level. It was a really hard game to get through, but that’s not what’s so surprising about it.
This game will give you nightmares. Seriously, it was the scariest game I played as a child. And how? How could it be so scary? Well, for one thing, the music was really ominous. Here’s an example —
For another: every damn thing in the ocean was trying to kill you. Literally everything. Crabs, jellyfish, pufferfish… you know, creatures that normally scuttle away in real life, now suddenly they’ve got a crazy blood lust and want you dead.
Also, what was really discomforting was the sound the dolphin made every time it took damage. It would let out this shriek of agonizing pain over anything that touched it. This is the sound a dolphin makes when you’re forcing it tail-first into a grinder. So everything’s trying to kill you, and you’ve got this dolphin screaming in pain every time something takes a chunk out of you. Nice…
The first thing that really scared me was this thing:
Dear lord what is that thing?! it’s about 3 times the size of the dolphin, and first appears in the arctic regions. It comes out of nowhere, and tries to eat you alive. I’ve looked everywhere online, and have yet to see this spider crab thing defined. What the hell is it? It doesn’t even exist! The closest thing I can find that exists in real life is the Japanese Spider Crab. However, there are distinct differences here, so I have no choice but to conclude: this creature is an imaginary one created just for this game. Or is it possible that the dolphin is hallucinating? I don’t know, but man can they take off some health. Nothing more frightening than seeing this thing come shooting out from a wall at break-neck speed to try and maim your bottlenose face.
As the game progresses, you learn that this isn’t a simple kid’s game about getting to the end of the level. Suddenly, it gains this science fiction story about a war between the ancient Atlanteans and an alien race known as the Vortex. They feed on the earth about every 500 years. This is the explanation for the big freakin jump scare at the start of the game. You’re swimming around, minding your own business trying to figure out what the hell you’re supposed to do, until one dolphin says “how high in the sky can you fly?” Since it’s your only clue, you decide to find out how high you can jump out of the water. Suddenly a giant evil tornado appears, the world shakes violently, the sky flashes red and white, and everything in your home bay is quickly sucked out of the water into the sky.
Then you’re left with that evil music I posted earlier. That pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the game. Have fun, kids!
Remember, the average person has already spent 10 minutes trying unsuccessfully to progress, and the game’s only just started. They spend 10 minutes before this jarring scene.
But more on this war with the Vortex… the Vortex queen is what’s eating the world, so you eventually have to go attack her. This thing gave me nightmares. Horrible ones. It’s by far the most frightening thing I’ve ever seen, and no monster design since has ever topped it in any game I’ve played.
This was a game for kids! Look at all the vibrant colors and happy dolphins! How could it possibly have been such a dark game?!
Behold, the Vortex queen.
Here’s another one showing what this queen does…. She is malicious, and very angry. She’s pissed off that you had the audacity to show up and try and stop her feeding time. She doesn’t just eat your dolphin body; she eats your very soul.
After you kill her, the sequel to the game, Ecco the Tides of Time, tells you that she’s so pissed off that she detaches herself from the hive and follows you and your aloof dolphin family through the space tube you used to get there so she can start trouble on earth.
This is a picture of her doing just that from the beta of the game. It wasn’t used in the final version because this bitch is just too damn frightening.
Look at her! Run and hide – this is the true face of angered evil.
One of the first things she does is attack the source of all life, the Asterite. I’m not going to get into great detail on what the Asterite is, but basically it’s a giant DNA strand. It gives you the power to breathe underwater (that is, you never have to surface for air). She knew the Asterite helped you, and now that she’s on earth, she’s about to show the Asterite just how much she appreciated it. Look how maniacal she is in this video… Jesus… this is how the apocalypse starts.
I’ll post 2 more pictures of this creature here. The first is a small bit of the vortex queen rendered in 3D, shown from Ecco PC and in Ecco: Defender of the Future.
*shudder* jeez that face is angry and frightening.
And this one is a piece of fanart found from a google image search. The artist is Liris-san and she does a lot of great Ecco fanart.
If anyone asks why I’m disturbed today, or what in my childhood warped me so much, I can confidently point at this game as the entire reason! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for my therapy appointment!