Ecco the Dolphin was everywhere in the late 90s. The game was a huge seller on the Megadrive and was ubiquitous with the system as it’s not often that you got to play as a flipping dolphin! The fact that the graphics looked amazing didn’t hurt it much either but it was only when you played it that you realised how batpoop crazy it was. Rather than a walking/ swimming simulator, the game involved the disappearance of your pod linked to the Giger-esque aliens who had their own creepy machinations planned for you kith and kin.

The game was rock hard and nearly impossible to beat without the invincibility code, which is how I finally completed the game. However, what really resonated with me was the sublime vapourwave soundtrack. It was my (and I guess many others’) introduction to vapourwave before vapourwave was a thing that gained prominence with the onset of the internet and nostalgia for the 80s.

I had heard and loved the Megadrive soundtrack as it was all ethereal, alien and warbly 80s style synths, but when I heard the Sega CD soundtrack many years later it blew my mind. Spencer Nilsen produced an amazing album that is reminiscent of the works of Vangelis, Popol Vuh and Waiting for Cousteau-era Jean Michel Jarre.

The album is my vinyl white whale as there are only a few bootleg copies out there and they seem to go for a high price. There seems to have been a pressing from Germany in 2016 and I hope to add it to my collection one day. In the meantime, I’ve linked an interview with the composer talking about his score below. Have a listen and be transported back to the mid 90s!

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LINK- Mysterious Cities of Gold Season 3 (English Dub) - Complete Series Review