Ecco II Prototypes [Sega Genesis/MegaDrive]

Welcome to DARK SEA’s archive of Ecco II Genesis/MegaDrive prototypes. These are unfinished versions of the game that provide insight into its development, and showcase many ideas, stages, enemies and music that never made it to the Final Version. DARK SEA has thoroughly documented these versions, and is providing this information along with downloadable ROM binaries you can play on real hardware or in an emulator. Select the build you’d like to see below for more details.

Playable Preview (”E2A”) - Build Date ??? Under Renovation

  • This build of Ecco II is extremely early, and has been nicknamed “E2A” (Ecco 2 Alpha). It is so early, half of its bytes match Ecco I! But it shows Ecco II stages in an often-unrecognizably early state, bizarre enemies and environments never before seen. It is a veritable playground of algorithmic tests, and undoubtedly one of the most interesting game prototypes ever documented.

ECCO2_X11 - Build Date April 13, 1994

  • This build of Ecco II sits between the “Playable Preview” and the Final Version, and is approximately 50% complete. It contains numerous never-before-seen stages, songs, enemies, and much more. This is an exclusive release of DARK SEA and Hidden Palace!

23 Responses to “Ecco II Prototypes [Sega Genesis/MegaDrive]”

  1. Lozzie, said:

    I love the new design of the website! The newly found prototype is fascinating. I wonder what became of some of the levels?

  2. Epicenter, said:

    Thanks– I’m glad you are enjoying “Dark Sea II”! With lots of help from Tails151 and others I’m working to make it even better.

    You’ll get to see more of the stages’ development prior to being cut very soon– We’ll be releasing/documenting another Ecco II prototype from just over 2 weeks later than “X11″, designated “ECO20429″. Keep an eye out!

  3. Mobius 1, said:

    I have to hand it to you guys. The site is well-designed and easy to navigate. I only thought that there was one Ecco 2 prototype… Oh, well. The protoypes are great!

  4. GoldenKirbichu, said:

    I’m enthusiastic to hear about the new prototypes that have been found. Hopefully they’ll provide as much insight on the game as these existing prototypes have.

  5. ShadowtheHedgehog, said:

    I found yet another prototype, this time, in a strange disk that my friend, Black-Bull gave to me, (Black-Bull is from another Ecco fansite, in which I vowed never to release.) I have one of these such disks. Unfortunately, when I got the disk, I could not legally post these prototypes.

  6. Epicenter, said:

    If you do indeed possess prototypes, you can post that material. The original Ecco team is well aware of the content of this site and have expressed no concern. However, if you’re just making things up, I’d have to wonder why you’re bothering. There’s also quite a shortage of Ecco sites these days so I’d have to ask which.

  7. ShadowtheHedgehog, said:

    Never mind… the prototype was fan-made.

  8. Epicenter, said:

    If there is indeed a hoax out there, it would be amusing to see. Feel free to email me with a copy if you don’t mind.

  9. ShadowtheHedgehog, said:

    I have art of the bogus prototype

  10. ShadowtheHedgehog, said:

    And no, Black-Bull did not make the bogus disk. It was given to him, and his computer froze when he tried it out.

  11. Epicenter, said:

    Please refrain from posting lots of comments about imaginary prototypes.

  12. Epicenter, said:

    If you have something legit to discuss, please email me or make a thread on the BBS. Thanks. :)

  13. ShadowtheHedgehog, said:

    Whatever… I like the prototypes.

  14. N64fan, said:

    I found a secret level when I started up X11 on Kega , and it had a heart attack. My harddrive had a sezure so I lost the totally UNREPLACEABLE SaveState. Cool tho huh?

  15. Mather1, said:

    What secret level? Are you sure it’s secret?

  16. EternalRose, said:

    I know this is probably the wrong place to post, but I was wondering if there was a place where I could find a list of differences between the prototype and the original? Because my Ecco II cart seems to have some differences, for instance the main screen says “Ecco The Tides of Time” and any screenshots of the main screen I can find say “Ecco The Tides II of Time” and I am really confused. Are there, like, different versions or something? Because it would be near-impossible for me to have a prototype, but nobody in my family knows exactly where we got any of our Sega Genesis games except the one that I guess came with the console or something (I’m a teenager and was a baby when we got it, I don’t remember). Please help?

  17. Tails151, said:

    This was mentioned on the X11 general information page (here), but the “Ecco The Tides of Time” title is used for the US and European final versions. It’s only the Japanese release that kept the II on it.

    The X11 section is mostly focused on differences between that build and the final. From what I understand, the later prototype sections will mostly attempt to relate to X11, but will also reference the final if something significantly different is found.

  18. Nimbus, said:

    I have a prototype from ecco 1 that doesn’t seem like it’s ever been leaked. If I could find someone who can rip it from this cartridge I’ll give it to you.

  19. admin, said:

    Hey; Epicenter here. Tried to contact you, Nimbus, but the email address doesn’t seem to work. Feel free to contact me here, on AIM (Epicenter713) or try sending me an email (epicenter713@gmail.com) — I’m very interested to have a look at this prototype, since I do have the resources to copy it. Thanks!

  20. n64fan, said:

    I’m sure. It looked like the sea of crabs with no crabs in X11

  21. n64fan, said:

    actually, I recovered the state and used the debug menu and is was Level 16 (Upstair)!
    Sorry for the false alarm…

  22. Mather1, said:

    *sigh* Please check your saves before posting about secret levels.

  23. Mather1, said:

    At least I make sure my posts are legit.

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