Resembling a brighter, competently realized Waterworld, Dolphin Blue presents a future where oceans have long since covered much of the land, to the point where the planet's been renamed “Aquadia.” Yet feuding nations remain, as seen when the vaguely Prussian Great Empire of the Iron Standard raids the kingdom of Bluetear and kidnaps its princess, Annette. The beleaguered country cobbles together a rescue force consisting of wandering mercenary Erio, pink-haired volunteer Anne, and their dolphin companions, Maru-Chan and Blue. Ecco was presumably unavailable.

Dolphin Blue tackles its side-scrolling formula in three play styles, the first of which sends Erio and Anne across battleship decks and dry land without the use of their dolphins, who frolic in the background and contribute nothing. The second perspective has our heroes riding their aquatic allies across the ocean surface while firing, jumping, and occasionally rushing at foes for especially powerful hits. Other sections of the game take place entirely underwater, as the dolphins swim alongside their masters and perform helpful special attacks.

Dolphin Blue's gameplay isn't so much a rip-off of Metal Slug as it is a tribute to the same jump-and-shoot influences: Contra, Gunstar Heroes, Cyber Lip, and perhaps even Mega Man. The weapon selection is also familiar: a standard rifle, a machine gun, homing missles, explosive shells, and a high-powered “Melt Gun” that lets you sweep the screen. The game's few traces of Metal Slug are actually drawbacks: players can't aim diagonally under normal circumstances, and firing is even more restricted during underwater combat. Perhaps the most irritating limitations are the special assaults in the ocean-surface levels, where powerful attacks cause the dolphin riders to rush at a target and flip backwards, often landing directly in the path of unavoidable projectiles.

Eschewing the entirely hand-drawn art of Metal Slug, Dolphin's look is a flashier mix of 2-D and 3-D; characters are animated sprites, while everything else is rendered in pretty polygons. The blend of traditionally cartoonish characters and 3-D scenery is surprisingly smooth, far less jarring that it was in, say, Capcom's Strider 2, and there's never a lack of explosions or glitzy effects. The letdown comes with the actual designs. Erio, Anne, and the human characters are colorful and vibrant, but the vehicles and robotic bosses they face are generic and reused too often. Get used to seeing the same boxy green helicopter throughout the game.

The level architecture sometimes gives way to similarly bland appearances, but each stage has a nice variety of play modes. True to quarter-sucking form, though, the game grows bitterly unfair by the final level. I ran out of credits before I reached the ending, though I'd like to think that it shows the people of Bluetear watching as Anne and Erio's dolphins swim through the ocean while having furious dolphin sex. Anne then explains to a shocked Princess Annette that dolphins, like bonobo chimps, are among the few animals intellectually advanced enough to fuck solely for pleasure.

But that's just wishful thinking on my part. Like countless action titles of the pre-PlayStation period, Dolphin Blue doesn't have a story. It just has a premise and some characters. That's really all a shooter needs, but I couldn't shake a desire to see more of the game's flooded-earth setting, or some exploration of the obvious connection between Anne and Princess Annette.

Yes, really.

Despite some undeveloped elements and a gameplay oversight or two, Dolphin Blue has undeniable appeal. The control is responsive enough, the action is satisfying, and the visuals have a vivacious, open-air allure that makes the game seem carefree even when you're gunning down a phalanx of identical enemy soldiers. The soundtrack is pleasantly booming stuff, although both it and the decent sound effects are likely to be drowned out by the cacophony filling any given arcade.

In the years to come, Dolphin Blue won't be reckoned a classic, cult or otherwise. It won't earn a cadre of fans who will lament its low profile and cram websites with disturbing fan fiction. And it probably won't be ported to a home console. It will, however, remain a modestly fun action-shooter, and one that could easily use a sequel. Dolphin Blue is nothing great, but with its sharp looks and unique charm, I'd say it deserves another chance.