I have been ashamed for years about my defeat at the hands of that stupid alien head! I thought I must be the only person on the planet who couldn't beat a family friendly game about a little lost dolphin and his sea friends.
As a child, I saved up and paid for a used sega cd. Ecco the Dolphin was one of the games the seller threw in. I wasn't interested in it, but after I broke my arm I could only play with my oversized arcade controller. The way my hand was cast, I couldnt reach any buttons, so I learned to play with my bare feet. My favorite sega games were completely impossible this way. I pretty much went through my entire library looking for something I could actually do well without my thumbs.
The first level of Ecco seemed easy enough, so that's what I played. By the time I got my cast removed, I was well into it, and felt the need to see that little chicken of the sea back to his family. On and on I played. I felt like I was on a quest. Like that little nerd from the never ending story. Finally, I entered the final battle.
I was completely owned.
I tried again.
And I was completely owned.
Once I thought I was close, we had been fighting for so long, victory had to be mere seconds away....owned.
I never played it again. This game is my childhood nemesis. Some games I was able to finish in my later teens on the original systems. When I moved out into the world on my own, a lot of these were sold to pay rent. Some of them, I have since beat as ROMs on downloaded emulators. But Ecco remains. The black stain on my gamers soul. I see that goofy alien head in my dreams. Laughing at me before he sucks me into his poorly animated jaw.