Baryn said:
I :lol'd.
But seriously, is it just a ride through hoops with a limited ability to backtrack? Why does that make for such an awesome game? I never owned a Saturn, unfortunately.
All right... Each stage has four sections to it. To clear each section, you have to fly around the map and collect 20 chips, bring those chips to a cage that is holding an orb to release said orb, and return the orb to your starting point. You're awarded points for how fast you do this in a 2-minute time limit (2 minutes per section, mind you). Do it four times to reach the boss of the stage.
Where NiGHTS comes into its awesomeness is that you don't have to immediately return the orb to your starting point. If you can imagine the starting point being the pit of a racing track, you can avoid it entirely and stay on the track for the remainder of your time each section and continue to rack up points by collecting more chips and doing various other things. While collecting the orb isn't necessary to go another lap around, it's preferred since having it in your possession kicks in the 2X points multiplier.
You have to return the orb back to the starting point before the two minutes are up, or bad things happen.
After clearing all four sections of the stage, your points from each section are added together and you take on the boss in another 2-minute trial. The faster you take out the boss, the higher your score multiplier for the stage will be. You can earn up to 2.0x the sum of your score from the four sections you played through earlier.
If you don't appreciate score attacks, this ain't for you.
edit: :lol@junkwaffle <3 <3