Everybody's favourite sub-aquatic mammal makes his long-awaited return, but was the original game actually any good?
Andy Ashwin

What are you trying to say, like?
Well, we remember all the excitement surrounding the Mega Drive version back in 1993. Admittedly, it was lovely to look at and controlling a dolphin was something of a novelty at the time, but many found the whole experience a mite shallow.

I enjoyed it immensely, especially the puzzles.
We're not saying it was a bad game as such, it just wasn't as groundbreaking as some would have you believe. In essence, the original Ecco the Dolphin was a very pretty underwater platformer that kept us busy for a few days.

And your point is?
When you see Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future for the first time, you'll be forgiven for baring your arse and grinning like a baboon - it looks absolutely stunning. However, the gameplay is essentially the same as it was all those years (and processors) ago. We spent the first 10 minutes just swimming around, admiring the scenery and testing out Ecco's various abilities. Great fun we had too. Then we chatted to another dolphin, who challenged Ecco to bring him a blue fish. Nice. Next we hassled a humongous whale that told us she'd lost her baby.

How awful!
Not to worry. Within minutes, Ecco and his friends had reunited the whalette with its relieved mother.

Ahh...
It's a very nice game, you see. However, a simple structure was already becoming apparent - speak to large fish A, follow instructions, speak to large fish B, and so on. We've only played a severely limited preview release of the game, so it may well be less repetitive later on. After all, the early missions may only be there to acquaint you with the game world and control system.