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Ecco the Dolphin creator announces new game and two remasters in the works

The original Ecco the Dolphin and Tides of Time are getting fresh remasters followed by an all-new third game.

Ozzie Mejia

May 5, 2025 12:10 PM

Nintendo

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Ecco the Dolphin is remembered as one of the tentpoles of the old Sega Genesis console. It was a game about exploring the depths of the oceans as a heroic dolphin, who also traveled through time and fought aliens. The 90s were a wild time. In an effort to shine a light on the series and on Asian and Pacific Islander creators, the team at Xbox Wire spoke with Ecco creator Ed Annuziata, who dropped the news that the first two Ecco the Dolphin games are being remastered with an all-new third game in the series set to follow.

"Me and the entire original team are going to Remaster the original Ecco the Dolphin and Tides of Time games," Annuziata told Xbox Wire. "Then we will make a new, third game with contemporary play and GPU sensibilities."

Ecco the Dolphin is fondly remembered for its novel story about a lost dolphin who had been separated from his pod. While the story featured fantasy elements that involved traveling in time and battling an evil alien race, the game is largely remembered for its depiction of the ocean and its overarching environmental message. The Ecco games are also remembered for being deceptively difficult, because one wouldn't think that a game about an adorable dolphin could be incredibly hard. Newer generations and content creators like GrandPooBear have since come to learn just how challenging Ecco's adventure could be. Those who want to experience that for themselves can check out the original Ecco the Dolphin right now through Nintendo Switch Online.

Annuziata is encouraging fans to monitor the Ecco the Dolphin website. Right now, there's only a timer that's counting down. There's over 8,500 hours on it as of this post, which would mean it should reach zero around roughly April 25, 2026. It looks like Ecco's return will take a while, but we'll be here at Shacknews to report on his eventual comeback.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?