Nights Into Dreams
By Jeffrey Couto

Nights is Born

Back in 1996 Sega of Japan 's Sonic Team was hard at work on a game that was meant to help the company's latest harware platform (Saturn) fight off new products for Sony's Playstation and Nintendo, which had recently launched the Nintendo 64 along with a new game that would go on revolutionize the game industry and game design for many years to come, Mario 64.

Sega was struggling to show off the polygon-pushing power of its new platform and needed a killer-app to display the power of its hardware, which at the time was seem as inferior to it's competitors' systems. The new game would have to help push system sales and potentially start a new game franchise exclusive to Sega's system.

In 1997 the company finally released the game that it hoped would put the Saturn on the map and prove once and for all that it had a viable system with enough power to compete with Sony and Nintendo's new systems. Sega's killer-app was entitled Nights: Into Dreams.

The Story

In the game we are introduced to two human characters named Elliot and Claris, residents of twin Seeds city. One fateful night when both children go to sleep they begin to dream, Elliot of becoming a great basketball player and Claris of being singer, however before they can accomplish their goals their dreams suddenly turn into nightmares. We then go on to find out that the reason for their nightmarish visions is Wizeman, an evil entity that has invaded Nightopia, the world where human's dreams are born, and is now stealing people's dream energy.

Nightopia's only hope remains with Nights the only Nightopian who is not under Wizeman's control. However Nights cannot save Nightopia alone, he will need the help of both Claris and Elliot, who carry one of the rarest dream energies and the one power that Nights will need to save his world, courage.

The Game's Setup

The game itself is setup in such a way that when you first enter each of the children's different dreams you will meet up with Nights, who can then fly throughout each of the four courses that make up every stage, recovering the dream energies that are scattered around. If Nights fails to make it back to the Ideya Palace (found at the center of each dream) with the required number dream energy spheres in time he separates from the character you are using. Without Nights' aid both Elliot and Claris must explore the stage on foot, recovering the dream energies, which when returned to the Ideya Palace will bring back Nights for the next segment of the dream.

You must complete each stage with a minimum grade of C in order to open up the final stage. You can increase your grade for each stage by performing various aerial acrobatics, completing each stage quickly and dispatching of each of the game bosses as fast as possible.

Why so Popular?

Nights was a revolutionary game that managed to bring together not only great game design and art, but also an amazing vision of what a video game could be. It gave players a compelling game world in which to take flight as Nights and freely perform a dizzying array of aerial acrobatics, something that had never been achieved to the degree this game did.

Nights was also a piooner in that it was one of the first games to really require the use of an analog controller, which at the time was still a fairly new development in the game industry. With the new analog controller it was possible for players to maneuver Nights gracefully through his many aerial moves in any direction they desired, something that could not be really duplicated with the digital 8-way controllers that were the standard back in 1997.

Another one of the reasons this game stands out even today is its graphic design, which featured some of the most intricate worlds ever seen in a game by Sonic Team and really stood out from their past efforts, including their Sonic games. Each of Elliot's and Claris' dreams were carefully crafted to be a fun experience every time you played through them and each brought something unique to the game. However as great as the game looked and sounded players were not quick to welcome it to their collections.

The game's main character, Nights, a purple colored jester-like hero was not as easily accepted in the West as it was in Japan. Nights's concept was also very different for its day and was not quickly understood nor accepted by a mass-market used to playing fighting, sports and platform games. This lackluster welcome by players contributed to the game's failure to become a profitable franchise for the company and the reason we never received any real sequels to it.

Our Hero's Future

Nights has not been too active since its original release, only appearing on the special "Christmas Nights" disc, Sonic Adventure (in a Nights-themed pinball game) and more recently on Sega's Phantasy Star Online (in a special timed-quest that takes place in a Nights-themed area).

All is not lost though, there are still many hardcore Sega fans who want to see Nights bought back in a new adventure and the company seems to not be completely againt the idea of bringing him back. Just remember how long it took to bring Sonic back from the grave and into a new official game. Hopefully it will only be a matter of time till we see our old friend back again in a new game.

Jeffrey Couto