All manner of animals have accompanied us along our gaming journey, but Ecco the Dolphin just hit a little different. These games were a trippy 90s ride that saw the aquatic hero saving the world from aliens, even occasionally traveling through time to do so. Hey, dolphins are really smart.
Obviously, there was nothing like Ecco out there at the time. That was both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. A 2001 Ecco sequel never saw the light of the day because the Sega Dreamcast was gasping for its last breaths of oxygen. Both Ecco the Dolphin and the Dreamcast deserved a much better fate.
Now, A&R Atelier, a group of veteran game developers including the original creators of Ecco, have announced he will return. Ecco's resurrection will occur not just through games, but several other projects. There's even an official Ecco the Dolphin Discord server. That community will get some of the first looks at Ecco's long-awaited return.
"It has been years in the making, and we're honored to bring Ecco back," said Ed Annunziata, Chief Creative Officer of A&R Atelier. "Ecco has always been more than a game about a dolphin—he's a bridge between worlds."
Creator Ed Annunziata actually took Sega to court over the rights to Ecco, finally settling a lawsuit in 2016. Ecco's games carried messages about preserving our fragile environment for humans and animals. Among his plans for the franchise are remastering the early game and perhaps - an Ecco the Dolphin movie? I mean, it worked with Mario, Sonic, and even Minecraft.