Ecco the Dolphin/Development/Mega Drive
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| Ecco the Dolphin/Mega Drive development |
|---|
| Missed release date(s): |
Dolphin was the working title for Ecco the Dolphin during development. Created by Novotrade International, it was shown off at various trade shows during 1992-1993, and in promotional materials Sega would give publications in their press kits. These early glimpses into Dolphin showcase a variety of changes not present in the final versions and all known discovered prototypes.
1992 Spain VHS
In 1992, a VHS from Sega was circulated around Spain to various Magazines showcasing upcoming in-development titles. Dolphin is seen in this tape, showcasing a few notable differences:
Immediately noticeable is the color of the water gradient, which features a much more prominent shade of purple than the final. Other pre-release screenshots show a similar color gradient, indicating this is likely an actual palette change, and not a result of video compression.
An unknown shelled enemy or perhaps food source is shown suspended in the water near the beginning of the video. This object appears similar in appearance to a piece of background art in The Home Bay, where it is embedded in rock. A similar object can be seen sucked up into the Vortex tornado in the beginning of the game, but this specific object is never seen floating in the game.
In the final game, this cave entrance is blocked by round boulders stacked in an arc. Ecco pushes a spiraled conch shell onto these rocks, which cause them to break away. In this prototype footage, the barrier is instead made of the conches. The footage does not show what object would be used to break these instead.
The Dolphin video footage can be downloaded here: https://segaretro.org/File:Ecco_lo_nunca_visto_de_sega.avi
Timeline
| Timeline (Mega Drive) |
|---|
1993 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 1994 01 02 03 04 05 1992-12-06: Yuusei Sega World 1993-01-07: Winter CES 1993 1993-04-21: Prototype; 1993-04-21
1993-06-29: Prototype; 1993-06-29
1993-07-30: JP release 1994-06-01: US_Sega Channel release |
References
