For the retrospective, we take a turn to a Sonic Team gem that you might have not played before; NIGHTS into Dreams
Mainly from it popping up in so many Sonic games. The game got a pinball table in Sonic Adventure for example
This game was made by Sonic Team after work on Sonic & Knuckles and Ristar wrapped up, with them wanting to move on from Sonic after making four successful games in the series. SEGA Japan was cool with this, so they let them make new IP on Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast while other developers worked with the Sonic IP. We saw this with 3D Blast, Spinball and the Game Gear games for example
Anyway, the core idea behind NIGHTS was 'Can we bring Sonic into the air?', with the game still being 2D at its core, but 3D elements were still present (flying into the screen at points, playing with level gimmicks, ect). Like Sonic CD and Knuckles Chaotix, they also wanted to have some trippy looking visuals, to reflect the idea that you are flying through dreams children are dreaming up.
Detailed in the video released alongside the 2012 HD remaster of the game, Sonic Team heads talked with psychologists and experts with dreams to get a better understanding of the concept and it took off in 1996 on the Sega Saturn as one of the biggest games for the console.
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Lets get to the gameplay next! Like I said, its Sonic in the air, with you being able to move quite fast all over the place but unlike Sonic, you have full analog control. You can go in any direction on the stick and it pushes NIGHTS in that angle. It is impressive, as few games during 1996 use the analog stick in such a major way (outside of Mario 64 to control Mario's movement speed).
You have a button to move faster and if you move around in a circle around objects it can attract multiple items at once. You can also fly into foes and after pressing the dash button, it sends them flying in a direction NIGHTS aims. Lastly, you can interact with the levels in fun ways, with you swinging on polls and interacting with areas that can send NIGHTS flying.
So, does this sound fun? Why yes, it is
The game is a blast as you are tunneled forward in an effort to get enough orbs in each lap around the track, as after you complete all the laps with the max amount of orbs, you get some time to rack up more points.
Then it cuts to a boss fights using the games core mechanics (flying into foes, sending them into spikes, ect).
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You have a ranking system as well and......this is where the game annoys me a bit. While you aren't locked out of stages, it feels disapointing when you complete a stage, feeling like you got a great run, but you only get a D or C rank.
It pushes you to get better with repeated replays but still, it is a bit annoying.
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The music like all Sonic Team games sounds amazing, with it really having that dream-like feel echoing with the soundtrack.
The Amazing Water: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn5_i5kePmY&index=7&list=PL31A0ED4D8F0D5129
Sowing Seeds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfIdLPD1pPg&index=10&list=PL31A0ED4D8F0D5129
Spring Valley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyhaZ3TgVlk&list=PL31A0ED4D8F0D5129&index=12
NIGHTS vs. Reala: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddfqDW096bQ&index=13&list=PL31A0ED4D8F0D5129
Richard (who composed the 3D Blast Saturn and Sonic Boom 3DS scores) also made a really damn good remix of a few NIGHT's themes for the NIGHTS track in Racing Transformed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqE3B5KQA-I
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Some last things to point out before I cover my overall thoughts:
-Christmas NIGHTS released Fall 1996 with a unique themed Spring Valley level and a nice bonus of Sonic being playable in the Saturn version!
-The games HD re-release has some issues with the controls (not having analog control) but was latter fixed in a post-launch updated. You can switch between Saturn and HD looks and both look very nice.
-The HD version is based on the PS2 Re-Release that came out only in Japan.
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Overall, this game is a nice experiment from Sonic Team to try and branch out from Sonic. They wanted to do some cool things with the core Sonic style but wanted to do something really new with it. It is a case where Sonic Team had a fun idea and was allowed to let it grow into a full-on experience, rather then try to make it fit within the Sonic IP.
I love when Sonic Team does this and it shows how talented the studio can really be. NIGHTS is a great action game that does a lot of things right. If you own a PC, PS3 and 360, its easy to play the game thanks to its 2012 Re-Release.
Give the game a shot and lets have a nice dream