3D Syndrome OR "How 3D Killed Franchises" (Part 2)

Following Ecco the Dolphin's success, we get a sequel that does what every sequel should: build upon the original. Everything about Ecco was tweaked in some form or another; the levels were better designed, many involving unique aspects to them, such as the addition of darkness, "sky tubes", or relative gravity. The controls were improved mildly, and further allowed Ecco to jump off rocks, which were the #1 source of frustrating jumps in Ecco The Dolphin.

Not counting the awesome ice sliding, which is strangely gone from Tides of Time.

The graphics received the biggest improvement, with Ecco getting a makeover along with a lot of the other sprites. It also features some truly stylistic level design both under the water and above. Words can't describe it, so have a couple more screenshots.

Yeah. For a Genesis game, its absolutely gorgeous.

The auto-scrolling levels are used more, most notably in "travel scenes" to replace and replicate the level of "Open Ocean" from Ecco 1. At the same time, each travel level introduces a new obstacle, to keep them from being too repetitive. Does it work? Not exactly. But I'm not going to fault the game too hard for them, since some of them are fun and challenging, notably the one that takes place at night. And thankfully, they included a mini "Not as Dickish" Welcome To The Machine level.

In all its H. R. Geiger glory...

Intriguingly, there exists files of the game where there was supposed to be an extra level, possibly cut to meet deadlines or keeping with certain themes of the game. I say the latter because it appears to be an internal level, fitting in with the vortex future...however, it could've been a good opener to the vortex future levels. There were unique, unused sprites in it as well, including a metal spear and a robotic dolphin.

What is it with Ecco and Sonic having these parallels? All Ecco needed was a two-finned sidekick and a dreadlock-wearing octopus pal to round everything up...

This game holds a special place in my childhood, because,

1. Ecco the Dolphin scarred my fragile mind as a kid, and has left me with a phobia of oceans to this very day
2. Had some of the best music ever (See below, with one of my favorites to start. But almost any song will do. As a bonus, I've also included a prototype song.)
3. Had some of the coolest graphics ever (already QED)
4. Was one of the most unique experiences the console had to offer.

Tides of Time was also slated to have a sequel, and even had a password given to use in it; however, Ecco 3 never saw the light of day. And Ecco fell to the wayside for the most part, only being seen on the Sega CD (with an improved soundtrack) partly forgotten in the next generation of consoles (the PSX N64 era). I used to think as a kid, that Ecco would totally kick ass on a 3D platform, being able to explore gorgeous, underwater scenery...a spin through a sunken city of Atlantis, or high in the Vortex Future skies...down in the deep freeze of the icy north...You name any level from the Ecco series, it could have been amazing in a 3D setting. Yes, even Welcome To The Machine.

It wouldn't be till the PS2 that Ecco would resurface in his 3D debut...

3D Syndrome OR "How 3D Killed Franchises" (Part 1)

Ah, the Genesis.

A simpler time. 16 bits and all the Blast Processing you'd ever want.

Lets get one thing straight; the SNES is better, but the Genesis will always remain my favorite. Not for lack of trying mind you; the SNES had plenty of good games, from the Mega Man X series to Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, F-Zero...it did a lot of things right and pushed the envelope of how far you can take a game. And I'll give it the better sound quality as well. But Genesis was no slouch either. It had plenty of great games, plenty of silly games, plenty of "damn, thats pretty cool" games.

Hell yeah.

 But that's not why I'm writing this.

This was a time when 2D reigned supreme. And some franchises understood this: Mega Man has kept the 2D straight into the X series, 8, 9, 10...from the NES to the PS2, it knew what worked and kept it.

And a couple games...well.

Lets just say one blue skinned, sound-named entity didn't get quite such a good treatment...the transition from 2D to 3D was rough, making the fight against a technologically advanced enemy all the harder with tough controls, less-fluid gameplay and generally, an inferior product from what it used to be.

I'm talking of course about Ecco the Dolphin.

You poor blue bastard...

 Who? Sonic? Oh him. Yeah he's down here too. But Sonic fared much better than Ecco. He survived Sonic 06', Sonic Unleashed and Shadow the Hedgehog. Ecco? Ecco got the shaft during his 3D transition.

Lets wind the clocks back about twenty years. Ecco just hit store shelves on a warm July in 1993, and not too long after that, came to be in the possession of our family. It was a quirky 2D game no doubt, as he was probably the first dolphin hero to be created for a video game. Between him and the hyperactive hedgehog, the Genesis touted quite a few unorthodox blue-themed animal heroes.

Right down to an opossum in blue armor that had a friggin jetpack. I mean REALLY.

But Ecco was different. It was a game that had a wicked awesome plot, delving into the depths of the ocean to proceed on toward your goal of finding out what happened to your family that was sucked up by a hurricane that happened every 500 years...you find the origins of life on the earth, hit up the lost city of Atlantis, travel back in time, and get kidnapped by aliens.

Tell me that isn't a batshit awesome concept. A time-traveling, alien-fighting dolphin...who also happened to yell at his ancestors on land to come into the water in the first place.

Genesis did what NintenDIDN'T...gave your kid mental scarring for entering NNNNNNNN as a password.

So good of a concept, it got a sequel

A GOOD sequel.

NES - Conveyance? (Part 1)

While wandering the halls of Youtube again, I re-watched Egoraptor's Sequelitis in regards to Mega Man and Mega Man X, which also touched upon the poor conveyance that Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde had in "what the hell is going on". And on that same train of thought, I realized that the advent of roms and emulators have exacerbated that same problem of conveyance.

Granted, the Internet has since fixed "poor conveyance" like a boss. Even Pumpkinhead.

But lets say for the sake of the hypothetical, you're a kid pre-Internet craze, and you buy or trade a game off one of your friends or from a garage sale. Its just the cartridge, straight up. You pop it in your NES console, not knowing squat about anything. The obvious disadvantage has existed since the days of Atari:

What the fuck IS all this?

Yeah. Almost always, the issue is the visuals. Not always controls, since its four directions and four buttons; I'm sure even a hyperactive kid can figure out "jump", "shoot" and "run" for Super Mario. But visuals usually pertained to power ups, hazards, and enemies...however, if you lacked a game booklet, you wouldn't know who or what something is.. Some games got around that; Ghosts and Goblins had clear indications. Knight statues gave you points, weapons were weapons. There weren't obvious traps except the wizard that popped up. But even then, most games made clear indications that "he's a bad guy" or "you shouldn't pick that up". See Super Mario Bros. : The Lost Levels for their "poison mushroom".

X-men for the NES, on the other hand...had a power down that wasn't clear in the slightest, froze you, and didn't tell you squat why. Nothing on screen told you, and that's....fine. It was the NES, I say its the console not catering to you due to its limitations at the time.

But you want to know what the freakiest thing is?

LJN...I have to say. Their games may suck, but take ONE look at their booklet. Just...its AMAZING.

All booklets I post here are from Digital Press Library.

Go ahead, load that image up. Its credit where credit is due. I'm giving credit to LJN. I'm playing devil's advocate and you CAN'T STOP ME. 

Okay credit over.

The game is terrible, but the "conveyance" of the NES years? It was typically in the booklets. Good or bad games, both had the same thing going. Legend of Zelda is virtually a game guide that avoids spoiling the "secrets", like destructible walls and movable rocks. But items, weapons, enemies, plot? All in there, same as LJN's Uncanny X-Men. Granted, Legend of Zelda has better mechanics, graphics, sound and overall execution...but if we're going by the booklet, LJN put forth everything you needed to know, right down to the awkward style of their power-ups.

To properly convey Uncanny X-men: "Its a shitty game with a pretty book."

It's unbelievably hilarious to me. Bad games have good conveyance outside of them. Deadly Towers? It alludes to the parallel zones, and their entrances being invisible. Dirty Harry? Bosses are described, and hints that people will help you (though jumping and eating to chili dogs to "talk" to them might've been helpful to know). Milon's Secret Castle tells you to shoot to find hidden objects. Predator is an ugly-looking game, but it tells you about its power-ups, "big mode", and how the game works. Winter Games? It tells you how to do tricks and stunts by holding down certain directions for certain tricks.

Even...I can't believe I'm saying this. Even Action 52. Action 52 had the..."decency"... to cover each of the 52 games, even though its simply the controls and the plot in a sentence or two...translated six times over.

You now know the plot of these shitty games in SIX LANGUAGES. 312 different ways!

Though, to counteract this, its really kind of funny they ask $2 a pop for game guides per game. Hey I just dropped $200 on this, you really ought to give me the manual. Could you imagine an Action 52 Deluxe Edition? For only $300, you get a complete game manual to all these games! And a cheap-o Cheetahmen action figure I suppose, just to entice the kiddies.

Now why did I bother writing this article? It can be viewed as an addendum to my Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde defense; the booklet held the answers, though not all of the ones you may ask for Dr. Jekyll's side of the game. But the lightning, most of the enemies overall...it was in the booklet. And really, that's the other way to view it. It's been the first and last line of conveyance for players since the start, and has continued to be within new games. 

In the best of games? In the booklet. In the shittiest of games? In the booklet.

Though good conveyance doesn't FIX a bad game per se...

All the conveyance in the world ain't saving this game.