Ecco 2 Japanese Speedrun Differences

ECCO: THE TIDES OF TIME (Speedrun related) JAPANESE DIFFERENCES

[SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM IF YOU JUST WANT TO READ ABOUT THIS VERSIONS VIABILITY AS A SPEEDRUN]

- (Aesthetic) The Title Screen shows Ecco II: The Tides of Time instead of Ecco: The Tides of Time like in the US Version.
- (Aesthetic) Pausing the game leads to the word "Pause" in the middle of the screen instead of the blinking health bars like in US.
- (Aesthetic) Level Name/Password cards are still in english

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GENERAL SPEED DIFFERENCES:
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- For the most part, all 3D stages have significantly reduced lag. It's similar to playing the US version on Kfusion (which has less lag).
- All swim currents cause WAYYY less slowdown compared to the US version. I think it's because there are less bubbles in the currents in this version.
- There is no default lag when Ecco charges/swims to max speed. Movement feels a lot smoother in the Japanese Version because of this.
- Teleport Rings (used during the orb collecting stages) do not lag when ecco is entering/exiting. The only exception to this is the one in the very middle of The Eye (ironically, this is the one you use most during a speedrun). The one in the middle of deep ridge was inconsistent.
- Post Time Travel Animations where ecco is spinning (Two Tides, Lunar Bay, and The Lost Orcas) all have less lag

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LEVEL SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES:
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[HOME BAY]
- 3D stage/Current has less lag as mentioned above.

[FAULT ZONE]
- Almost no lag during the earthquake sequence. Getting damaged does not affect the slowdown like it does during the USA version.

[TWO TIDES]
- Less current lag as mentioned above. The post time travel cutscene has way less lag.

[SKYWAY]
- No lag when swimming through the plants that stop your speed.

[SKY TIDES]
- There is basically no slowdown when the holes are onscreen. Using your sonar to close them does not affect the slowdown.

[SKYLANDS]
- Less lag when sonaring certain bubbles. Getting grabbed by the levitating dolphin at the beginning no longer slows the game.

[FIN TO FEATHER]
- Less lag in the 3D stage. Not as much of a difference as the other 3D stages compared to the US version.

[ASTERITE'S CAVE]
- Worm does not cause lag
- Asterite still causes lag. Swimming through him seemed harder compared to the US cart, but that could just be me being bad.

[FOUR ISLANDS]
- Current does not lag.

[SEA OF DARKNESS]
- For some reason, this level was actually slower than the English version. The part where you have to sonar the spike... thing to break some rocks had more lag compared to the US version. RIP.

[VENTS OF MEDUA]
- 200000 Jellyfish being on the screen no longer causes a lot of lag, lol.

[GATEWAY]
- 3D stage is not as laggy. Pushing the rock through the current doesn't lag the game.

[LUNAR BAY/BLACK CLOUDS]
- The vortex future worm dude seems a lot more determined to chase you and lag your game. That could have just been this particular playthrough though.

[GLOBE HOLDER]
- Absolutely no slowdown during the first phase. Second phase is more or less the same.

[DARK SEA]
- Doing the Autoscroller skip will kill you unless you do the setup from halfway across the wall. Still works fine, just have to use a different setup.
- THIS IS WHY YOU CAN NOT REALISTICALLY USE THIS VERSION FOR SPEEDRUNNING: The Machine Autoscroller in this stage moves at approximately 1/3rd of the speed of the US version. What absolutely drives me insane is that this change is not documented anywhere on the internet, as every source I looked into said that the Japanese Version of Ecco 2 had the exact same level setup as any other version. Unfortunately, unless we find a way to skip this autoscroller as a whole, the 2(ish) minutes you lose from this compared to the US version is simply far too large in order for this to be used for speedrunning.

[RETURN TO HOME BAY]
- One less text box during the credits. Saves roughly 2 seconds.
- 3D Stage has significantly less lag compared to the US version.

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TL;DR WHY THIS VERSION SUCKS
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Despite all of the time the Japanese Version saves due to having a lot less lag, the speed of the Machine Autoscroller in dark sea makes this version completely useless for speedrunning. Until we find a way to skip this autoscroller as a whole (of all the potential skips we could find in this game, this is probably the least likely), the Japanese version will be several minutes slower then the english version.