Hello this faq It's dedicated to Ecco
the Dolphin, released in europe during summer'92 and '93 in the USA.
It was created by Ed.Annuziata.

2023 small revision, because why not.
Added a section for versions difference, and revised on which version some glitch work or doesn't work

Each region release of the game had some slight to very noticable changes.

This game got released in various revision, and the changes with this one goes from barely noticeable to very noticeable.

- Megadrive and Genesis EU and USA port -
This is the version that probably everyone played, this is the only version available by legals means, however this is probably the overall hardest version of all.
There’s absolutely no difference between the EU and US port.
This is the only version where all glitches work.

- SEGA-CD and Mega-CD EU and USA port -
The most noticeable change is the soundtrack, and good lord what a soundtrack, to this day this is still one of the best synthwave soundtrack of all time. The game did add five extra levels, and to be fair you are not missing a lot here, these levels except for one where nothing but prototypes of some of ecco 2 levels.
When it come to others changes, the minor one are only noticeable if you already knew the game a lot, first object collision detection is a lot better, yes like the shells you need to push, Next in the level deep water there’s a narrow passage with spikes, this part is harder with this release since there’s no safe spot any more and you are very much forced to take damage, unless you go very slowly.
In the level “Open Ocean” the safe spot is a lot easier to reach since it’s right under the surface.
For the two last level of the game you will gain the ability to regenerate your health after taking damage, this power is gone on the final boss.

Also you will need to play the open ocean level twice.

However due to a lack of knowledge by some, the final boss is currently a lot harder with this version, since they balanced out the regeneration with increased damage from the last boss, and attack that weren't that dangerous before could outright kill you in less than mere second.

Now another big change, is that every door glyph act as as check point. But due to the previously mentioned change the last part of the game is currently the hardest of all version.
This version is I think the third best if you want to play the game for the first time.


- Megadrive JP -
Take all the changes from the sega-cd version, add 4 check point in the final level of the game, take the fact that you don’t need to replay the final level if you die on the final boss.

The soundtrack also use some unused tracks from the original game, you are not missing anything here since they are quite bad, no wonder why they went unused.

But the biggest change is happened probably if you got swallowed by the final boss, you will have to play a totally exclusive level called the stomach, and to be fair this level is very meh, but still better than having to redo the whole machine.

This is probably the second best version if you want to play the game for the first time, the checkpoint in the final level is a literal game changer.

However the game is fully in Japanese, and this could be an issue if you wanna read the story.


- Mega-CD JP -
Same changes as the sega-CD + japanese port.

This is for me the best version if you want to play the game for the first time, but it’s still in Japanese. So… in the end maybe not the best ?, unless you don’t care about the story.

However there’s one very big problem with this release, it’s hard very damn hard to find.


- Windows 95 -
Yes, you read It right ecco even got a windows 95 port. You can even play it today with a special re-release of the game (I will probably upload it somewhere, since I can’t tolerate file sharing through a discord only, seriously stop with it, nobody want to join a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ discord channel just to download one files.. yes I hate discord) this is probably the version with the most noticeable changes.
First this version have revamped graphics with new sprites, this may sound nice but sometimes it’s hard to differentiate the background from the foreground in the final level.
Next something I didn’t mention yet, but all of the other release of the game have a 7 frames of input lag, this doesn’t, meaning this the version where the movement is the smoothest. Still I don’t think this change is that great since the movement in this game can be really fast you will still bonk in a wall all the time.

Another addition this one come with 3 difficulty option, easy normal and hard.
On easy this is the easiest revision of this game, no contest. On normal the difficulty is indeed harder, one of the weirdest change is with the Tube level, the safe point position changed and it’s not really that safe any more.

Hard mode is well hard, first your oxygen deplete faster, around twice at fast, and off course you take more damage. If you know the game this is not an issue.
Where hard mode get very interesting is with two levels.
First is hard water, there’s no way to get a perfect cycle now, you are forced to wait since there’s always two block that move at different speed, and even different pattern.
But the biggest change with hard mode come with the level The Tube.
On hard mode this level is a literal hell, no more safe points and it’s very easy to die,
With this difficulty the tube is by no contest the hardest stage of all the version of this game, and no this is not a joke, the tube is absolute hell on pc hard mode, this is why I don’t recommand playing it on hard.

Also another weird change is that the safe spot in open ocean is the same one as the sega genesis version and not the sega-cd version.
Pushing object like shells, is a mess in this version, worse than the original release.

And there’s only one small skip that work with this release.

The sonar map is also very good in this release.

Overall an interesting version to play if you are curious, but the game stability is kinda a mess, for example the game will likely crash at the end of dark water.

- Digital Release -
100% of the digital release are based over the original EU and US release, the genesis classic version come with the Japanese release as well,.

- Master system and game gear release -
the 8 bits version of ecco the dolphin, not gonna talk about it, it’s not the same game, and I think it’s plain terrible.

- Sega smash pack -
Holy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥, this release is so bad that I had to mention it, just forgot it exist.


So overall. The best version if you plan to play the game for the first time is definitively the Japanese version on the MEGA-CD. Then followed by the japanese port, then the sega-cd port, then the original release, then the post port. I’m thinking with emulation in mind, since getting the original hardware can be quite annoying, and not everyone have room for CRT setup nowadays

V1.0 - first version of the guide
V1.1 - corrected the wrong video link in section R10
v1.1 - Added small aditional information in section R07
V1.1 - corrected wrong information in section R13
v1.1 - Added information if a glitch work or not in the pc/window version
v1.2 - Release on google drive
V1.2 - Fixed one video link.
V1.2 - Added screenshoots
V1.3 - Steam version
V1.4 - Added 4 new glitches , form now they where only tested on the pal/us release of the game.
V1.5 - Added 3DS section
V1.6 - 2023 revision, added version differences, corrected wrong information on hard water and jurassic beach shortcut, clarification for the super armor glitch.

This is the most popular glitch of this game, it allows you to
bypass the "door glyph" without the "key glyph" however some of them
can't be bypassed. Here's how to do this glitch.
First did you see this hole between the glyph and a wall ? if you try to
pass over it you will be bounced back.
here's the trick , first make sure you are in the right position
(between the glyph and the wall) face the glyph and don't be too close to it
then press "Left" (not at the same time but with a sightly delay) and "B" ,
if done right you will not be bounced off but attracted beyond the glyph.
If there's no hole, it means you can't bypass it and you must do it the
straight way.
one of them is kinda hard to do , it's the one at the end
of "ridge water".
For a long time people thought this one was impossible but it's not!
First stand at the very bottom of the ground, somewhere in the middle ,
then do the trick, now wait 'til your tail (not yours... ecco's tail..)
hits the crystal (or else be very close) and press up , voilà

This is actualy a truly weird glitch, and i don't know
how it works , but in my own theory the game got something like
"exit the level code" when you did it.
Actualy this glitch works on every level , except for autoscrolling stages
(the tube and welcome to the machine)
here's what this glitch do. When you use your sonar map on some areas of the
map after exiting the "sonar map" you will exit the level.
However this glitch works
on two levels (as far as I know , but i'm sure there's no more levels),
if you want to do it on every stage you must use the
"camera freeze clip"
The reason is simple, this glitch only triggers if you are precisely at the
opposite side of the exit , and at the very end of the map
(meaning there's nothing after that, if you bypass wall)

here's the first sonar exit and this is on the first level
First pass the jelly fish swarm and jump over the hill , go down and
then left into the cave , pass the cavern with the small jump
go to the left until you can't anymore , go to the bottom left of this area
show the map with the sonar , exit the map and if you move
(sometimes it's not required) you will end up this level ,
yeah it's really really easy to do.

The second and last map exit that doesn't require freeze clip. This one is at the deep city level , sadly you will need to do
the big jump part. Proceed on the level normaly until you aree at the point
where the "door glyph" is and with a stream down here.
Stay close to the wall from the right (the room for the glitch is big ,
so don't worry about your position)
use the sonar map and exit it , go up (it's not required but sometimes you have to)
and voilà.

Yes you read it right , you can skip the lagoon level.
This glitch was found very late by me at the end of 2010.
That is the first hard-to-do glitch. You're gonna need some training to do it.
First we need to get to the right spot , jump over the hill on the left and
swim down to the bottom , here you can see a small flooded cavern with spike
at the top, with a stream and two jelly fishes.
First part is ecco position, make him stay as close as possible to the small
edge on the right side.

Now stay diagonaly (press up+left once and release it)
now you need to wait for the right moment to do it
the trick is to watch the two jelly fishes ,
once they move up once or twice in some cases press B and hold or mash C.
If you are bounced back you didn't used the right moment or you didn't pressed
C just swing up a little bit for resetting the jelly fish position.
If done right you will swim into the wall ,
now you just have to exit down right to the end of the level.

This glitch follow the same rule as the lagoon clip. But in that case this one is pointless and there's no real interest in doing it.

This glitch was frist seen in the tas (tool assisted speedrun) of this game on the tasvideos website.
For a long time it was suposed to be a tas-able only trick but this is not hard at all to do , it require just very little luck and the right timming.

Now we move to another glitch , it was found very recently.
And this one is really hard to do (maybe hardest glitch of the game) ,
The first part only requires some input that aren't that hard to do.
the second part requires a very accurate timing that's near frame perfect.
Currently it's almost impossible to do this glitch without seeing a video
for the timing. I did one but i will explain how to do it anyway.
First activate the pteranodon (the first one..) now swim where the small
hil his. Position yourself at the very right of that small volcano looking
thing.

Ecco's nose must face up Now press "Down+B" you will jump out of the
water with ecco noise facing the water.
Quickly press "Up+B" , quickly press Down+B and hold Down
Until the pteranodon caught you. This is the first step.
The position where the pteranodon caught you is essential , if he's to high
in the sky the glitch won't work the way we want.

Once he caught you hold and do not release ! "up left" at the same time.
Now here's the very hard part you must release thoses
direction at a very precise moment.
Once you get to the second wall wait 2 or 3 seconds
then release all the direction (up/left) you will be thrown
violently back into the wall now press "right+down" and hold "C".
If you did it right you will land into a wall.
Now all you have to do is to swim down into that wall , exit at the bottom.
Move to the left and take the key glyph , go to the right
and to the bottom for the last key glyph and voilà.
Now if you missed it some things may append.
You may get stuck in the wall or you may get stuck in the sky flying
endlessly until you got lack of oxygen.
Yes oxygen because the game thinks that you are still underwater
and proceed in a weird way.

This one is one of my favorites , because it looks so badass when
you do it. First you must know that it works only in two areas of the game
The first one is at the very beginning of the "undercaves" level ,
and the second is at the very end of the "ridge water" level,
but we gonna cover only the first level. Because (I think) it's pointless
to do it at the ridge water level.
Some of you may saw the "tool assisted speedrun" with that weird ending
at the ridge water level. Actualy we managed to know how this glitch worked
and how to do it. It's not that hard to do , just need some training.

Like I said , I will cover only undercaves.
First, you see that little tunnel with the stream and an air pocket
and false spike at the top ?. Between the key and the door glyph.
Go up into this tunnel , now make sure ecco is facing up, do not stay too
close to the surface and not to far.
Now wait 'til you are perfectly stable, ecco must not move an inch ,
then press "Down" and sightly after , not at the same time
but almost press "B" , now press UP/B , now Down/B successively,
the number of time you need to do it may vary.
The only difficulty is to find the right timing.
Now once you are out of the wall hold down+left now you are inside the wall.
just swim to the down left , pass to shells at the left, do a
jump out of the water
(YES out of the water, because it's still here but
it's gone) you will jump into the wall go to the left of the area,
use the sonar map glitch and voilà.
This glitch is a total WTF when you see it.
Also not this is possible to do this glitch outside of a "small shaped cave" but you many know that this is absolute frame perfect

And now we move to the broken glitch of the game. This glitch is so broken
that I even refuse to use it !
First you must know that it works on every level , except on autoscrolling area
(the tube and the machine) it's also pointless to do it on "open ocean".
What this glitch allows ? .. well it allows to ... walk trough walls !
yes, broken right ?
But it's not easy to do , well thanks because it's so broken !
To do it first you must not see any wall on the area you aim,
but you still need a wall (it must be offscreen).
Now let's see , you wanna pass that wall on the right ,
so make sure ecco is facing right and stand still (he will start
swimming slowly in random direction) now if you press Left
and sightly after you press B you will notice that ecco move to the right
but the camera won't follow him.
Now you will need to press "right" , then "left" then "B" ect ect ,
ecco by magic appears at the left side of the screen
(or the right if you faced left) ,
the timing is extremly important and this glitch needs a lot of training.
And now you will know what's beyond the rock at home bay before the storm.
Or watch the video.

A graphical glitch to do on the vortex queen.
It does nothing to the gameplay.
First here's how the final battle works on the game.
The vortex has got 4 parts you must destroy ,
first is the eye there's two of them and require
8 to 10 sonar hits. Second is the mouth
(you can destroy the mouth first, but the glitch
won't work if you go with it first)
you need to destroy it 3 times , and it needs 4 charge hits for each of them.
And the last part is the head itself (actualy we only see her head
not the body)
it requires 5 hits to kill it.
BUT if you hit her body when one of her mouths is destroyed you can hit her
body part when you aren't supposed to do it.
It's possible to hit her twice but the window is very very small.
Some weird things may append, the queen can get darker,
She can turn full red , the screen can turn full red.
the screen and the vortex can turn full red , and you won't see anything
except walls and some body part of the queen (very rare).

Now something totaly useless , there's no real point with this glitch. And it only serve for show off purpose to make you look pro.
Its easy to do , so just look at the input in the video , the only thing you will need to do is to find the right timming

More a glitch than a short cut.. Anyway , after have you passed
the first crystal there's a swarm of fishes , with some jelly fishes ,
upward there's the area with the star eater that destroy rock
and thoses sting ray , this shortcut allows to bypass that area with the
star eater
to do it , instead of going up
go down you will see a small area with a red crab , kill it first.
Now swing up diagonaly and eventualy you will get stuck into the wall.
Don't panic ! just up+right and wait a few seconds
until you are out on the other side.
If you also hold "C" it makes the process faster.

This one was found very recently , this is not really a glitch
but a shortcut that makes the level way shorter.
At the start of the level swim down,
then left where the crushing ice block is Pass those two and go to the right
where the end of the level is.
Now swim at the top of the wall, you may notice a small edge now try to swim
into it.
It can be a little hard to pass , try to go slowly.
Fews things may append here.
1. You die
2. You got stuck , just hold up+right and C until you can move inside the wall
3. You are inside the wall ! you win just swim to up right to the end of
the level.

Last of the list.
This one is really easy to do , first do the level normaly but instead
of taking the first crystal inside the volcano tunnel
at the right , go directly into the left tunnel , at the end of it.
Instead of going left swim diagonaly up into to left wall.
Now you are inside of it , just swim up , then left ,
then a bit down And this is the end of the level !

This one will make you truly invincible, absolutely nothing will kill you, however if you miss the machine level exit or get vore by the final boss the game will softlock, the only option will be to reset.
This is also very easy to do, during a level title card, simply hold start+A until the level start, the game will buffer into pause at frame one, then just unpause it.

Q. Who found thoses glitch ?
A. Mostly from the speedrun community and myself.

Q. This part is "too hard", and there's no way to beat this game without save stats.
A. 1. It's a very difficult game, especially when the difficulty balance is kinda all over the place, but once you are used to it it's not that bad. As for the save stats, krill issue. However i won't blame anyone who use save stats right before the final boss.

Q. I think i found a glitch
A. Send message here, with the most details if possible.

Q. I can't do this glitch the faq is wrong !
A. Some of them are really hard do to, get used to it.

Q. how about the pc version ?
A. It's good, but it's a mess

Q. What is "ios" ?
A. The ios version is the iphone / ipad version

Q. What is "Xbox live"?
A. That's the version you can found on the xbox live arcade.

Q. Is the virtual version on the wii console good enough ?
A. Yes and no , actualy the pal version is horrible. It runs at 50hz
The pal version also got slowdowns when it was supposed
to be lag free , i will say the pal version of the wii virutal console
is one of the worst virtualisations of this game.
The virtual version from the US Wii store
is very good and does not suffer like the pal version do.
Also you may know that this is the same for the PS3 collection.
The pal version suffers of the same problem

Q. what about the gba version ?
A. The sega pack release ? this release is beyond garbage, pretend it doesn't exist.

Q. You didn't cover those levels in the sega CD and WIndow 95 version
A. No, but the window port need research, as well as the extra levels.

Q. Is the drug backstory real ?
A. No it's clickbait bs

Q. Can i use some of them in ecco the tides of time ?
A. No because it's a different game all of thoses glitches won't work
Making a section or a faq for just how to skip the eagle bay level
(i am the one who found this glitch) is not necessary