NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams: a World Apart

In 1996, the Sonic Team gave Sega fans NiGHTS Into Dreams. In its own way, it gave gamers a whole new experience. The game was the top-selling Sega Saturn game for a while, but unfortunately could never compete with rivals Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot. The game was well-received by fans, even making favorable reviews appear in dedicated Saturn periodicals. Its success with cross-platform publications paled, but the game continued to sustain a significant fan following.

The game offered a completely new concept to gameplay. Mario bases his whole franchise on jumping. Sonic is built of speed (and boy, does he have lots of it!). The Legend of Zelda is the classic heroic fairy-tale. NiGHTS is based on flight. But not like Pilotwings, or Microsoft Flight Simulator. NiGHTS was based on personally flight, as in a person flying by himself. Yep. A human being shooting through the sky. How was this possible? It was achieved by another of NiGHTS's special components.

NiGHTS took us into the world of drams. Certainly not the first game to do so (Dream Master for NES came long before and may not have been the first), NiGHTS gave us more of a plot involving the world of Nightopia. A conflict introduced Wiseman the Wicked, who wanted complete control over the dreams of children. Two human children, Claris and Elliot entered the world and discovered the conflict. This would ultimately pit the titular character NiGHTS, a Nightmaren (one of Wiseman's henchmen), against its master.

The titular character NiGHTS is yet another unique addition. The character resembles a medieval jester, or harlequin, and exhibits a wide array of acrobatics. One does not simply fly with NiGHTS. One causes NiGHTS to tumble, pirhouette, and loop around the levels, just to mention a few moves. The producers have stated the character is genderless, neither male nor female. Though some characters call NiGHTS "him," the genderless approach is mostly kept. It just isn't an issue in the game.

A little more than ten years later, with the success of Nintendo's Wii, a sequel hit the shelves. NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams continues the story of Nightopia, with the major elements of the last game returning in a somewhat cyclic pattern. Again, Wiseman the Wicked comes to power and threatens the security of Nightopia and the entire scope of human dreams. Two children enter the world to once again right the wrongs and restore the world. Of course, NiGHTS returns, with all its acrobatics.

Journey of Dreams doesn't really add anything to the franchise. It merely continues the trend. But I think this is good, considering the gap in releases. After ten years, we don't really need anything. Just reintroduce the franchise. We can add to it later. Thus, the plot is nothing spectacular, just more of the same from last time, but it's what we expect.

The focus is decidedly on the human characters, a move which many fans decried. I don't mind it that much. We're given a clearer image of how much the real world and Nightopia intersect through the children's experiences. We see the children grow just a bit through their shared adventures. On the whole, it celebrates the spirit of youth.

The look of the game is a significant improvement, though still nothing new. The improvements come from technological advancements. NiGHTS is now smooth, instead of the jagged, polygonal Saturn rendering. The movements are refined. The scenery is much more pronounced. All in all, the gameplay is crisp and clear.

I will take issue with only one small bit. It's a Wii title, and even a Wii exclusive. But it fails to use the Wii's control scheme well. I expect more motion-sensitive controls from the Wii. What I experience is a basic button-masher and joystick-mover. I actually like this kind of game, but if the producers insist on a Wii-only release, they could have made it more Wii-sensitive.

But finally, in my opinion, the game's crowning feature, is the outstanding musical score. Each background piece matches the scene to a near precision. It literally is a journey of dreams with bright colorful pieces and ominous nocturnes. The game's feature song "Dreams Dreams" captures the essence of the game, summing the whole adventure in a nutshell. Small pieces of the song work their way into almost of the background themes.

It's colorful, imaginative, and so much fun. I do hate that it's surprisingly short, in the long run. I wouldn't have minded another fourteen levels. Some fans have voiced outrage over the Wii-exclusive decision. The producers have hinted that this platform could well be the only one for future NiGHTS games. I don't think the complaints are warranted. If anything, the Wii could use a few more exclusive titles. NiGHTS could be a perfect franchise. It just needs more motion-sensitive controls. The bright, bouncy colors make no less an impact on a Nintendo console than on any other.

All in all, it's a great game. Maybe not the greatest ever, but that's for history to decide. I could easily see this as a franchise in the making. But we need more of them. I'd love to see NiGHTS compete with Legend of Zelda, Mario, Sonic, and others for the distinction of Best Video Game Franchise. It has the appeal. It just needs more titles.