NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (Wii)
Filed Under Reviews
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, a sequel to the 11 year old Sega Saturn game NiGHTS: Into Dreams that was Sega’s answer to Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64, tells the tale of Will and Helen, two children who find themselves trapped inside the dream world Nightopia. With many of the key development staff returning to again flesh out the NiGHTS’ muilti-verse, all of the trademark themes are here: cute nightopians, devious nightmarens, enchanting music, and imaginative visuals.
Upon staring the game, players get to choose between Will Taylor or Helen Cartwright, who live in Bellbridge, a very London-esque town complete with Big Ben bell tower. After a gorgeous cinematic, they meet Owl, an old-timer of the dream world, and NiGHTS, a rambunctious fellow who flies through the air in a dizzying display of aerobatics. The two briefly explain what’s happened in Nightopia: Wizeman and his minions are stealing ideya from visitors in an effort to bring all of Nightopia into the Nightmare realm.
Depending on which character the player selects, a variety of worlds and objectives open up. The storyline also changes, though both stories ultimately come to the same conclusion. Seven worlds await the two characters, three for each with a shared fourth, each more beautiful and imaginative than the last. At the end of each world, after defeating Wizeman’s fantastically sculpted henchmen, one of the four stolen ideya are returned: green, yellow, white, and blue.
The first game was arguably light on story considering the technology and expectations of the time, but this game doesn’t skimp. Each stage opens with an in-game video to set the mood and objectives for the level, complete with full voice overs. The children, Owl, and NiGHTS have spectacular voice work and, as expected, Reala, Wizeman’s right hand man, is devilish in his delivery and Wizeman is your typical deep-voiced arch-villian.
Sonic Team has meticulously crafted a a visually immersive game in NiGHTS. Nearly everything runs at 30 frames per second, even with the sheer amount of activity on screen. The game only suffers a hitch during the in-game cinema, where the frame rate drops and the lack of graphical prowess of the Wii becomes a little more evident. It’s not unnerving but one does wonder if it was due to the power of the Wii or sloppy programming that caused the drop in frame rate.
NiGHTS also has full screen pre-rendered CGI that are emotive and indicative of the quality and attention to detail that Sonic Team has paid to this project.
With a game that looks this good, Sonic Team made certain to invite Naofumi Hataya, one of the original game’s composers, back to flesh out the music. Blending both the ethereal with vocal melodies, Naofumi managed to retain everything that the original game was known for, while also delivering enough of the new to have you coming back for more. The Dream Gate music is one of the most infectious songs every composed.
The game controls wonderfully, if using anything but the Remote alone. The game uses three different control schemes: Remote singly, Remote and Nunchuk in tandem, or Classic Controller. The Remote alone is difficult, as NiGHTS is not actually controlled with this method. Instead, a reticule on screen indicates the general direction NiGHTS will move. It’s an imprecise control method that causes nothing but frustration and makes boss battles in particular impossible to complete.
Using the Nunchuk or Classic Controller offer a more enjoyable experience, as the game plays much like the original, which came packed with an analog controller. Moving the control stick moves NiGHTS and pressing ‘A’ makes him drill dash. Shaking the Remote initiates some cool little aerobatics like in the original. Playing as the children is straightforward, with the control stick controlling direction, ‘A’ performing a jump, and ‘B’ allowing the player to throw blue orbs to stun enemies.
With as much as they managed to pack into the single player game, Sonic Team USA was not content to leave it at that. They added a 2 player race and battle mode as well as My Dream, an extension of the A-Life simulation that has appeared in other Sonic Team games in various forms.
Playing through the game unlocks stages that can be used in 2 player race mode. Once inside, the options to play locally, over Wifi with a friend, provided a NiGHTS specific friend code is entered, or a random player across the globe are accessible. Once ready, depending on who is first or second player, players will control either NiGHTS or Reala. Finish two laps on the course and declare victory over the other player.
Two player battle is a lot more fun but it’s for local friends only. The object is to grab and launch large balls at the other player, which bounce around the stage and have the chance of exploding on the player who is throwing them if they’re not quick enough about it. It’s infinitely harder than it sounds and chances are likely that luck will play a major part in who wins and who loses in this mode. Either way, it’s a blast.
My Dream is where everything comes together. During the course of the game, players will undoubtedly paraloop an assortment of nightmaren and nightopians. My Dream is where they end up. As the game progresses, the My Dream portion of the game evolves. Nightopians spend their days relaxing and playing games while the trapped nightmaren try to eat them.
My Dream is also linked to the Weather Channel and any changes in the real world will be reflected in the weather of My Dream. Plants grow in spring, leaves fall in autumn and snow falls in winter. Nightopians also celebrate festivities during the course of the year, each month holding a celebration of some kind.
If that’s not enough, the nightopians and nightmaren will sometimes combine in this world, spawning new inhabitants not featured in the single player game. Players can also visit friends’ My Dream or random strangers.
When all is said and done, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams captures the essence that the original game held, thanks to the care with which Sonic Team USA approached the sequel. Innovative when it was released, NiGHTS for Sega Saturn showed what a great team could do when given a chance to excel. NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams might not be as innovative or awe-inspiring as its predecessor but it’s an excellent addition to the legacy. Sonic Team’s return to form never looked or played so good.
