EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus

The Good
The Search for Cetus is one of my favorite games, adventure or otherwise. It is a long, satisfying and beautiful game, a masterpiece of good writing, excellent artwork and amazing composition.

First of all, the game itself is one of the best adventure games I ever played. Although it's ecology-oriented, it makes an excellent play either way. Cleverly desgined gameplay and marvellous storyline make this one a true classic. The characters are well-developed and unique, and the way the game develops is simply a must-learn for every game designer. The graphics are simply spectacular - beautifully drawn images of under the sea flaura and fauna, amazing landscapes and everything is in lighted, shaded and living 256 colour graphics, one of the best in any adventure game. The music is what makes this game the amazing game it is: an amazing piece which sounds incredible on any sound device there is (and especially on a Yamaha XG synth), music which I listen to to this day.

The Bad
Nothing - it's one of the best adventure games I ever played!

The Bottom Line
An amazing, incredible game you just can't miss. Truly spectacular.

The Good
The strength of this game comes from the synergy of great music, strong story, beautiful graphics, educational information and a sense of wonder I have rarely encountered in any computer game. The game, at first glance, seems common and naive - a lonely child befriends speaking animals and saves their home. But as you play the game you discover that this is not what the game is about (well, of course it is but that's not the point of the game). The point of the game is exploration of the rich coral reef biosphere, as Adam identifies each and every organism you look at. You will come to appreciate the damage being caused by human civilization to coral reefs and the undersea environment. And you will learn how to prevent some of these damages, and how can some of them be solved. The game does not embellish the truth: some of the ecological damages caused by humans can not be restored by Adam, and can never be restored. But the game will expose you to some possible solutions currently in research. The music fits in perfectly with the game and the plot, changing from scene to scene to fit the surroundings and the plot. Sometimes the change is drastic, some times imperceptible, but it will always be the right thing. The graphics is colorful and varied - reflecting nicely and accurately the animal and plant diversity of coral reefs. Just looking at the scenes will teach you something.

The Bad

• Some of the background scenes seems like they were drawn on paper and then scanned - sometimes resluting in ugly areas of flat colors. I thing some more postprocessing would have benefited the graphics much.
• For a game that is generally accurate and obviously based on a lot of reserach, I am surprised that the developers "forgot" that dolphins don't have eyebrows. Sure, it makes Del more humanlike, but it looks ridiculous!
• The ending. It is probably the only ending it could have, especially when you are talking about a game designed primarily for kids - but it left me wanting more closure.

**The Bottom Line**
A fun, informative game, that manages to teach you without being didactic even a bit. Recommended to kids, and all people young at heart.

The Good
When the golden age of computer games (the Nineties, according to a really old MobyGames poll) was just taking off, Sierra introduced its “Discovery Series”, and if you brought a game that had these words on top of the cover, you know that the game was actually an education tool for children (although adults can enjoy them as well). I assume that the SDS games weren't as successful, since there were only six games released. One of these games was EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus, and it taught children about ecology.

The educational part of the game kicks in right at the start of the game when Adam Greene, the protagonist, has to get rid of the oil that a sea gull is carrying. In doing so, not only do they find out why they need to do this, but they find out how to do it properly so that they can apply their actions in real life.

Later, Adam plays with a dolphin he helped rescue from a fishing net. After being released, the same dolphin comes back to Adam, telling him that the underwater kingdom of Eluria is in trouble; and Cetus, the great whale king, is missing. What I like about the game is click the eye cursor on different fish and other plants causes Delphineus to give you information about them.

The majority of the game takes place underwater, helping any wildlife you meet and recycling any waste that found its way to the ocean floor. It is interesting to see other fish swimming by Adam. While swimming, I felt that I was actually experiencing life underwater for the first time, not knowing what dangers are lurking ahead of me and how I could deal with these dangers. Each underwater scene is filled with wildlife, and they look excellent.

Since EcoQuest is a kids game, the icon bar at the top of the screen looks quite colorful, and each icon is animated when you click on them. Some of the graphics are breathtaking, and every scene has beautiful, hand-painted backgrounds. The underwater scenes have plants and other creatures that are usually found in real life. Near the end of the game, the scene where Cetus occupies more than half the screen is just stunning. The characters are well animated as they mo

The way the sound effects blend in with the underwater theme to it is excellent. The game's soundtrack is excellent, and has that reggae-style to it no matter what sound device you use. (In my opinion, the Roland MT-32 sounds realistic.) The music at the end of the game is enough to make you feel good.

There are puzzles in the game, but they are not that hard to solve and take five to ten minutes to complete. One puzzle I know involves changing some pillars so that they match the ones on the other side of the room. Also, Adam also deals with a manta ray who threatens Eluria, and learns of a prophecy he must fulfil if he wishes to save the kingdom. This prophecy comes in a form of a poem, and it takes a few moments to make any sense of it.

The CD-ROM version of EcoQuest features some excellent voice acting. Adam is a young boy learning to be a ecologist just like his dad, so it made sense for him to be voiced by William Skirvin's son. Delphineus, the dolphin who guides Adam along the way, is done by a woman who I don't know the name of. The CD-ROM shows how some of the fish have a bit of attitude on them, especially Gregarious and Superfluous.

The Bad
Most of the cursors in the game are solid purple. They are a step backwards from the ones that were properly drawn in other Sierra games.

As stated in the description, there are some supernatural elements. The only one I can think of is at part near the end where Delphineus is swaying back and forth on a hook while Flesh-Eater is circling him. I found this quite disturbing.

Finally, I was disappointed at the ending. I am not going to spoil it for you, but let's just say that the biggest threat to Eluria wasn't destroyed, just stunned. Normally, when I play a game, I expect any antagonist to be dealt with and killed; and this did not suffice.

The Bottom Line
As I said before, EcoQuest is an adventure game that teaches you how to look after the environment. With the help of a dolphin, you must find a way to save an underwater city from destruction, and to do this, you must search for Cetus, the great whale king, and face dangers that await you. Along the way, you find rubbish laying on the floor, and you can pick this up for points The CD-ROM version of the game is quite rare, but if you find it, you won't be disappointed as it contains excellent voice acting and ambient sound effects that are not heard in the disk version. But even if you are unable to obtain the CD-ROM version, both versions of the game feature a colorful interface and excellent hand-painted backgrounds.