

Health can be restored by eating fish, swallowing bubbles from certain Shelled Ones, or singing to an Invincibility Glyph. Late in the game, Ecco will be granted Infinite Oxygen by the Asterite. If Ecco's oxygen bar runs out, his health bar will begin to deteriorate until he surfaces for air.īreaching will automatically restore Ecco's oxygen bar, while simply poking his head out of the water will restore his oxygen at a gradual rate. Health is depleted upon taking damage from enemies and hazards, while oxygen is generally depleted the longer Ecco stays underwater. Running out of health automatically kills Ecco and forces the player to restart the level. The player has two bars to be mindful of: health and oxygen. All levels are arcade style and must be cleared in one try with no checkpoints present. With the exception of The Last Fight, the player has infinite continues.

With the exception of the battle with the Vortex Queen, upon starting a level, the game will give the player a password that can be used to return to that level at any time. In other cases the player will have to solve puzzles or fight a boss. Usually there are obstacles such as Barrier Glyphs that impede the player's progress and have to be removed. Most levels consist of having to find and reach the exit.
