Ecco the Dolphin (referre to on the title screen as simply "Ecco") is an action-adventure video game released in 1992 for the Sega Genesis. The central character, Ecco, is a Bottlenose Dolphin controlled by the player through a progression of side-scrolling aquatic levels. The game was designed by Ed Annunziata and developed by Novotrade International, and spawned a series of sequels. Ecco is known for its high difficulty level. It has recently been released for Nintendo's Virtual Console and Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade.