Ecco's quest continues as he travels forward into the future, meets up with his advanced dolphin descendants, and fights the Vortex forces for a second time. Tides of Time begins just as the Queen has been defeated, as Ecco is celebrates with his family - until things get crazy all over again. Not wanting to see his family pod of dolphins become lunch for the invaders, Ecco set out on a quest to stop the harvest - and was successful, after having traveled back in time, gained the assistance of the Earth's oldest living creature, and vanquished the sinister Vortex Queen. It's a weird plot, but it goes like this: An ancient alien civilization called the Vortex comes to Earth every five centuries to go fishing, collecting marine creatures from Earth's oceans to feed upon for the next 500 years. Its story picks up immediately after the events of the first game's conclusion.

Tides of Time is one of those follow-up games that really feels more like an expansion pack of extra levels than an all-new adventure.

That's the truth of the matter for both the first Ecco adventure, and also for this game, its 1994 sequel, Ecco: The Tides of Time. But if you're looking for a more traditional game experience, you'll likely just be left frustrated and annoyed. The open-ended, undirected feel can be engrossing, if you're of the right mindset and willing to invest the time.

It's less about action, more about exploration less about jumping across platforms, more about swimming through caverns. His style is all his own, his games are made to play in ways totally removed from what would seem normal for any other 16-bit side-scroller.

Ecco the Dolphin's an interesting animal.

Download ecco the dolphin tides of time