
A spiritual Ecco The Dolphin sequel could be heading to game shores if a new Kickstarter campaign meets its target.
Ecco The Dolphin was one of the more unique games on the Mega Drive. A serene action-adventure game that saw the titular porpoise on a mission to find the whereabouts of his pod after it gets mysteriously sucked from the ocean, it was a massive hit for Sega and spawned several sequels.
Since 2000 though, following the release of Dreamcast sequel Defender Of The Future, the series appears to have sank to the bottom of the ocean and been forgotten about.
Well, game designer and producer Ed Annunziata has brought together members of the original Ecco The Dolphin team to try to salvage the essence of the series with a brand new game project, funded through Kickstarter, that will have clear ties to the franchise.
Named The Big Blue, Annunziata describes it as a ‘next generation, underwater, adventure game’.
While previous Ecco games were a mixture of shooter, puzzler and adventure game, the project (which is looking for USD $665,000 of fudning) will mark a slightly different direction by allowing players to control a whole aquatic ecosystem and breed and manage their own sea life.
The setting also sounds pretty intriguing too: an ocean one million years in the future.
As well as members of the original creative team, Annunziata will also be teaming up with acclaimed videogame musician Spencer Nielsen for the project – assuring fans that music will again play a big part in his team’s vision for the game.
More information about The Big Blue can be found on the Kickstarter page. The deadline for pledges is Monday Apr 29, 10:11am EDT.