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Ask any of the 20 or so people who owned one of Sega's 32-bit Saturn gaming consoles back in the 90s what their game of choice was and most will immediately answer with Nights Into Dreams.... Developed by Sega's in-house Sonic Team, the game featured a variety of 3D dreamscapes which could be explored either on foot as a human "dreamer" or in the sky as the titular Nights character.
The never-franchised franchise now returns as a Nintendo Wii-exclusive sequel from Sonic Team USA entitled NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. And the biggest question gamers should be asking themselves right now is why.
Hit the jump for the full review.
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams begins with players choosing between one of two children to explore the game's dream worlds with. There's Will Taylor, a 12-year-old aspiring soccer player, and Helen Cartwright, also 12, who dreams of becoming a professional violinist. Each child comes accompanied by daddy and mommy issues which have led to them having nightmares. Fittingly for the Wii, NiGHTS' story is very much a family-centric affair revolving around getting to the root of what's causing these nightmares: changing familial relationships.
Regardless of which child is chosen, each one starts out at the Dream Gate mission hub where they meet a talking owl and the impish Nights. It is here they learn that Wizeman and his chief lieutenant Reala - an evil-eyed, predominantly red-clothed version of Nights - are seeking to take control of the Night Dimension by stealing the Ideya of human dreamers. Or somesuch nonsense.
For many gamers, the first glimpse of story in the Night Dimension will be enough to make them want to skip all subsequent cutscenes. Why? We'll respond to that question with another one: what's your take on fountains comprised of dolphin and whale statues? Moving on....
Each child's story unfolds differently but the gameplay remains fundamentally the same between them both. Starting from the Dream Gate, players complete a variety of missions in one of five unique dreamscapes with a sixth one, common to both children, unlocked for the endgame. Entering a door for the first time immediately triggers that dream's opening mission; subsequent visits allow for further exploration and access to additional missions.
Before taking control of Nights, players can explore each world as their chosen dreamer. The only true threat in the game is time; entering any location other than the Dream Gate initiates a continually ticking timer. Once it reaches zero, the night - and any dreaming in progress - ends. Unintended contact with enemies chips away at the timer in 5-second increments. Exploring the worlds first on foot as one of the dreamers allows players to collect a variety of pickups which can extend the amount of time left, fend off pursuing "Awakers" (touch one three times and it's dream over) and unlock the game's hidden secrets, some of which reference its predecessor.
Upon reaching NiGHTS in one of these dream worlds, the dreamer is able to "Dualize," essentially allowing players to take flight with the dream denizen under their control. This is where the bulk of the game's action takes place, with NiGHTS flying along a set, mostly 2D axis (complete with a racing-style mini-map) in the game's 3D landscapes. Several different mission types are revealed as more progress is made, though they all generally involve chasing Nightmaren (the game's enemies) for captured keys, flying accurately through series' of rings and fighting off boss creatures.
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams also has an ambitious online mode which ultimately falls short due to restrictions imposed by the console as well as by the game's design. All players are able to access "My Dream," an ever-changing personalized environment where captured creatures and objects from the main game are stored. Without voice chat the opportunity to have fun is somewhat limited, though players are able to exchange gifts from their stocks of collectibles.
There are also two 2-player modes available, though only one can be played online. Battle is the offline-only option, allowing two local players to ambivalently exchange blows in the poorly polished game engine. Race, which also allows for online matchups, fares somewhat better since the game is designed more for this style of play. That said, both of the multiplayer options are only fun for those who can get past a control scheme which is fundamentally flawed.
The original Nights game came with a special packed-in controller which featured one of the first analog control sticks on the market. The stick was necessary in for controlling NiGHTS as it allowed players to easily perform the mid-air acrobatics essential to completing the game. Little has changed in the Wii version, with the Nunchuk's or Classic Controller's analog stick offering the best control option. An IR-box-styled motion-based control scheme is also available, but the less said about that, the better.
Across the board, the controls in Journey of Dreams feel unpolished. On-foot dreamers move far too slowly in the game's generally large environments. Things don't get much better for NiGHTS in the air; quick maneuvers are simple enough on the overly-responsive controls but more gradual movements suffer here. And forget about precision. Thankfully, the game (usually) makes it easy enough to turn around when something is missed.
The graphics are similarly disappointing, loomed over by surprisingly drab environments for a game based entirely within the dreamscapes of 12-year-old children. Characters shimmer with jagged edges as they deliver badly synced lines of cringe-worthy VOed dialogue. There are even framerate issues which appear at times, downright shocking considering the overall low quality of the visuals. Only the game's all-CG cutscenes impress, though they are few in number and, much like 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog for Xbox 360 and PS3, do not justify a purchase.
The worst offender of all is the monstrously slow pace at which the game's story unfolds, complete with unskippable cutscenes and an abysmal autosave feature. No matter where a mission ends, failure results in an automatic restart. This is a hassle even in the game's multi-sectioned early levels. Will's first, for example, involves three stages of "chase the key" gameplay and one final boss battle. Run out of time anywhere and prepare to start it all over again. Shoddy controls can be overcome and sub-par visuals overlooked, but it's impossible to forgive such an unpleasant save feature in a game with this kind of child-friendly vibe.
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is only a recommended purchase for longtime fans of the series who already know what they're getting into. Even those people may want to first consider a rental. Control issues and lackluster visuals are the least of the troubles here when compared to the plodding, unchangeable pace of the story and the unforgiving save feature. Too difficult for children and too frustrating for adults, what could have been a dream come true for fans of Sega's flying purple sprite instead devolves into the stuff of nightmares.
Final Score: C+
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