NiGHTS into Dreams...
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NiGHTS into Dreams...
GrahamOfTheDead Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:00 pm
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Price: 800MSP
The Sega Saturn. Not a very fondly remembered console, perhaps unfairly in retrospect. However despite it's relatively short lifespan it did play host to several classic games.
One of those games was the 1996 release Nights into Dreams, developed by Sonic Team. The game revolves around the dreamworlds of Nightopia and Nightmare and involves the evil ruler of Nightmare, Wizeman, as he attempts to take over Nightopia and eventually the real world. There is also a lot of backstory about representations of dream personalities and other things, but it isn't really of consequence as the game gets by without really divulging much story.
You initially control one of two children (Elliot and Claris) who escape into Nightopia while suffering nightmares. They end up releasing Nights, a "Nightmaren" created by Wizeman who has rebeled against him. By walking up to Nights, you release him from captivity and then you take control of him instead. This results in the main crux of the game as you guide Nights through a variety on-rails flying section to release the orbs that represent the kids dream personalities. Successfully complete the 4 sections in a stage and you will then engage in a boss fight.
At first glance, with only a handful of stages the game can seem short and truthfully there isn't really a lot of content here, but Nights comes from the twilight years of a generation where it wasn't about content. It was about playability and the urge to have one more go. This is where Nights comes into it's own. While each stage can be over within about 5-10 minutes, you can lose hours trying to perfect those 'A' ranks. Also included here as an unlockable is the 'Christmas Nights' game which was originally only available either bundled with select Saturn titles or on the cover of various magazines.
While this isn't a direct port of any one previous version of Nights it is most closely related to the PS2 release in that you can play the Saturn original or you can play a graphically enhanced version. Of course even the enhanced version looks dated now, but both versions run smooth enough and, to be fair, if you're looking at playing this cutting edge graphics aren't at the top of your wishlist.
Audio is also pretty decent albeit sparse at times, but it does the job well and doesn't seem 16 years old.
The control system is pretty straightforward. Analogue stick moves your character, trigger buttons perform stunts (as Nights) while the A button performs a dash attack. The analogue could perhaps be a little more responsive and while the dash is useful for getting through stages quickly, you do sacrifice accuracy for speed and it is a difficult move to master.
Achievement hunters will probably find this a tough game to complete. While simply finishing stages is easy enough, Finishing them all to A-rank standard is no easy task and as a result this is a game which will take time and effort to achieve all 400 gamerscore.
Overall, Nights into Dreams is a fun and absorbing title. Make no mistake, you WILL be replaying stages a lot but the fact that the gameplay is done in short bursts stops it from becoming too much of a chore. It is the perfect game to pick up and play for a quick gaming fix. Just be careful as that quick fix can quickly morph into a couple of hours.
8/10
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Re: NiGHTS into Dreams...
Tenlo Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:32 pm
Awesome review mate, I've been debating about this for awhile as I always fancied playing it but never got round to it. I'm just glad the gameplay hasn't changed much over all these years, will get this at the end of the month when I get some more points and makes sure I'm top of my friend's leaderboard!!
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Re: NiGHTS into Dreams...
TheTCD Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:25 pm
Excellent review mate. NiGHTS is one of my all-time favourite 32bit games, and it's good to see that Sega have started doing their back catalog justice with a new lease of life.
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Re: NiGHTS into Dreams...
Slayer1189 Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:53 pm
Nice review. gonna make a start on this in the near fututre. I only played it brieflt at a friends house back in the Saturn days but from what I remember it was pretty cool
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