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More calming than an hour in a floatation tank, more intoxicating than a 'Fruits of the Forest' joss-stick, more atmospheric than a sunken Spanish Galleon, no wonder Ecco was such a great Megadrive success. This conversion follows almost a year to the original, and presents the game in much the same way. Some levels are missing, and some puzzles have been changed, but the handheld version of our fave dolphin chum is a chip off the 16-bit block.

The many levels of Ecco (there are seventeen) start as you'd expect in watery caves and quite inlets. They soon progress, as the story unfolds, to the frozen land of icebegs and later to prehistoric seas, filled with primordial life. Add to that trips through ancient Atlontean ruins and the alien fluid ways!

Ecco has the dolphin's characteristic of using sound for navigation and communication. To locate your position in a level, fire a sonar beam and hold it. The beam returns with a map of the level.

Firing a sonar boom at another creature is the same as talking. Glyphs can also reveal messages.

Ecco has some dramatic moments - like swimming through shark-infested waters, conversing with a globular helix, travelling through time (an amazing sequence) and fighting a huge beetle boss. The rest of the levels feature puzzle-based action like moving starish to eat walls.

Small but perfectly formed is what immediately sprang to my mind when I saw this Game Gear conversion of Ecco. As with all the other versions, this is graphically superb and super-smooth too.

I must admit, I found even the Megadrive version utterly frustrating at times and you certainly don't get off scot-free with this - it's rock! All in all a great, if frustrating, conversion and a good addition to any Game Gear library.

Ecco Game Gear looks stunning because the graphics so closely match those of the Megadrive. The programmers have done a great job with the look of the game. It also features the same original blend of puzzle action and exploration.

However, the seventeen levels on this cart are even harder than the Megadrive's, while the control is slightly less reliable. The result is a frequently frustrating game. This is a great Game Gear achievement, but the excessive difficulty will spoil it for some.

Presentation 71%
A password option, and the presentation matches that of the Megadrive.

Graphics 93%
Fantastic! Although it's sometimes hard to make out enemy sprites.

Sound 74%
The dolphin song's great but the music doesn't catch the spirit of the MD Ecco.

Playability 89%
Ecco has gameplay of a depth and complexity that is rare on the Game Gear.

Lastability 85%
Seventeen levels are going to take a lot of battery charges to see through.

Overall 88%
Ecco has come up trumps on every format. An outstanding title within the Game Gear library.