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LIVES: Life

Retro animated character

NiGHTS into Dreams


NiGHTS into Dreams screenshotSega - 1997

Generation: 5

Machine: Sega Saturn

Genre: Platformer

This is one that everyone has heard of, but few people have actually experienced the wonder of Nights. This was of course due to the failure of the Saturn in the marketplace. Sequels have long been rumoured and now a simple version has appeared on the Gameboy Advance. But for the real deal you still have to go to the Saturn.

Nights was made by Sonic Team the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog. It was born out of one of the many experiments made when trying to bring Sonic game play into the 3D world. This method idea was turned down for Sonic because despite the 3D world the game play is essentially still on a 2D plane. Sonic Team knew the game's engine had potential and so it developed into the astounding Nights.

The concept of the game is really quite odd and too complicated for this space but basically you have to fly around Nightopia (the world we all go to in our dreams) and get back the Ideyas that the Nightmarians stole from the sleeping humans. Well, whatever!

The game play is brilliantly simple, you take control of Nights, a flying resident of Nightopia. The object is to fly around picking up blue orbs to fill up and eventually explode the Ideya capture. There are also various aerobatic tricks you can perform as you fly to kill baddies and gain points. It’s difficult to explain the pleasure you feel looping and diving around the beautiful stages, but it’s a relaxing almost spiritual experience, even with the clock ticking! It plays like a platformer but there are no platforms instead there are loops to pass through which move you up and down as you move through the levels.

What’s incredible about this game is the atmosphere, it’s just, well happy, for want of a better word. The stages are set in beautiful 3D worlds that are quite strange enough to live up to the concept of the world of our dreams. The Soft Museum stage is spectacular, being reminiscent of an ancient Greek ruin, your local garden centre and a bouncy castle all at the same time!

Nights till plays wonderfully today esp. with the incredible 3D controller (see below). A remake on a modern machine is long overdue; the glimpse we were given in the casino stage of Sonic Adventure was torturous!

Jakey 06 Dec '03

Another NiGHTS into Dreams screenshotAvailable From

ebay - Buy the game, the controller and the Saturn NOW. It’ll cost you less than a single new X-BOX game.

Links

Nights: The Unofficial Fansite - A great site with lots of stuff to see and do.

Wikipedia's NiGHTS into Dreams page - Lots of great information.

If you like NiGHTS into Dreams, try:

Jet Set Radio
Sega's stylish future blading, grafitti spraying wonder. More...

Nebulus
A quirky rotating platform puzzler. More...

Super Mario 64
The first successful 3D platform game and still the best by a long chalk. More...

Arcade control panel Start Start

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