Ecco Jr. Overview
Ecco Jr. is a Sega Genesis title designed for a younger audience, serving as a prequel to the earlier Ecco the Dolphin games. Its underwater setting features three playable characters: the young dolphin Ecco, a whale named Tara, and another dolphin called Kitney. The core experience involves easy exploration and puzzle-solving across eighteen brief levels, each typically completed in under a minute.
Gameplay revolves around non-violent tasks such as finding specific animals, guiding seahorses, or retrieving lost objects. Players use a sonar pulse to locate items and a speed boost to navigate. While any of the three characters can be selected and swapped freely, they possess identical abilities. Each level concludes after locating a large glyph, following the completion of several smaller objectives. The title also incorporates educational facts about dolphins, contrasting with the more challenging nature of the main series entries.