3RRSS Nights

When people think back to the Saturn a lot of fans will think of the
same few games that really defined the system. Some will bring up the
Panzer Dragoon games, others will say Saturn Bomberman, some will
swear that the Saturn existed for Radiant Silvergun, and others will say
it was for all of those import fighters. However, one game that seems
to top the lists of many Saturn fans has always been that Sonic Team
classic, Nights Into Dreams. An imaginative, impressive, and fun game
of just flying around and being free.

The story revolves around two kids, Elliot and Claris. Elliot loves
basketball, but when the new kids on the block school him at some
hoops he starts having nightmares about the game. Claris on the other
hand wants to have a good audition for a singing part but she keeps
getting nervous about it. Enter Nights. This protector of dreams comes
in to wash away the bad dreams and help them reach their goals. In all
of this, Wizeman, the king of nightmares, is probably trying to take over
the universe with his nasty dreams. So with the help of Nights the two
kids will try and stop him too. The story is very easy to follow. There
are some CG movies after the title screen that explain the story but
there are no cut scenes before or after levels. Still, it's a simple tale
and the characters rock.

Nights is all about flying around. You have to collect 20 blue orbs and
then take them to this flying container. Do this 4 times in a level and
then fight the boss. So basically, you just collect orbs, fly through
hoops, and look cool in doing so. Not a hard game to figure out and the
fun is in the sheer simplicity. Sure you can have Nights do little tricks
while flying, and you can see how big of a combo you can get by flying
through those hoops really fast, but it all boils down to some very
simple gameplay.

Nights is a short game, though. There are 3 unique levels to each
character and then the final 4th level is the same for both kids. So this
game can be beaten really quickly. There's a 2-player versus mode
thrown in and an "a-life" system as seen in Sonic Adventure on the
Dreamcast, but the meat of the game isn't much. It would have been
great for more levels as the ones here are all awesome and fun. This
game was really an experiment and it was a success. Still, Nights
hasn't seen a proper revival, despite a few cameos here and there.

This game is a joy to look at. It is so colorful and cheery, and just very
peaceful. The levels are all very different, from forests, to ice caps, to a
dessert, to the beach and back. The enemies that litter the screen are
also all very unique and fun looking. The bosses are huge and very
impressive. I don't remember encountering any slow down while
playing and you can get Nights flying pretty fast at parts. This game is
just a pleasure to look at.

I can't decide what is a better, the graphics or the sound. As the music
in this game is very good. It's just very relaxing and peaceful, very
dreamy. The classic Nights jingles and tunes that have since become
some of the best music in a Sonic Team videogame. Characters don't
really have voices. They may laugh or gasp, but not much in the way of
actual speech. But that's all right, the graphics tell the story very well.
When the sound and the graphics come together, add in the awesome
and simple game play, and this game becomes just so much fun to
play. It's not in your face; it's not very difficult; it's just pure fun.

If only there was more of it though! Sure you can beat the game with
both of the kids to get their endings, but after that there's little in the
way of new material to play through. Oh well, there's always that X-
mas Nights disk you could try and hunt down. Still the fun game play
will bring gamers back again and again to just fly around with Nights
and get higher scores on the levels.

IMPORT WARNINGS: This is probably one of the most import friendly
games I have every played. There was no Japanese text at all. The
menus are all in English, and even the tips when you get a game over
are in English. The story is told through action, not words, so that's
even more reason that this game is just very import friendly. The
instruction manual is all in Japanese of course, but all the in-game text
is English. I got the import version mainly because I was able to find a
sealed copy for only 5 bucks. I figured since I had played the English
version before that this one would be just as easy to pick up (and it
sure is). No warnings at all here, import or domestic, it's all the same.

This is the game that also came bundled with one of those 3D Saturn
controllers, the ones that look like early Dreamcast controller
prototypes. Playing with that is a blast, but also playing with a
standard Saturn pad is just as fun and easy to navigate. With every
new console that is released, there is always a new batch of rumors
for the return of Nights. The game looked great and still looks
awesome on the Saturn. I can't even begin to imagine how in the next
wave of consoles an updated version would look like. But, there's just
something very magical about this game that you can forget how short
it is and become immersed in the addictive gameplay. Sonic Team
gave Saturn fans a dream that really did come true. They gave them a
game that went beyond their wildest imagination, and it was only on
Sega Saturn. This is the stuff dreams are made of! Now there's a
cliche!

Review by: Orochi Sonic