NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams
January 2,2008 - NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is the sequel to the 1996 Sega Saturn release, NiGHTS Into Dreams. Today, that game could be considered a cult classic, and though the jury is out on how the sequel measures up, it’s got all the potential to make players fall in love with it as well. Unfortunately, Journey of Dreams mucks around a great deal with unskippable cut-scenes and banal on-foot platforming, so many players will get bored or frustrated and never uncover the sweet little game that lies deep under the surface. For those with an affinity for speed-running and score-chasing, and who are willing to put up with a lot of nonsense to get to the good stuff, NiGHTS is definitely worthwhile.

At first glance, NiGHTS is far too simplistic for its own good, but it gets better as you open up to it. Basically revolving around going to the right really fast, the idea is to move NiGHTS, a flying jester, through sets of rings in 3D levels. The rings on the levels are there to fill up the meter that allows NiGHTS to boost along more quickly after he flies through them, and their arrangement leads you all over the screen. On some levels, NiGHTS flies through hoops while chasing down three giant, brightly colored birds before the timer ticks down. On others, the goal is to see how consistently you can weave NiGHTS through rings, forming longer and longer links before you break the chain, essentially trying to outdo your own previous efforts. Every now and then, the game throws something different at you. On one of the more creative and enchanting levels, you fly alongside a section of sheet music, trying to touch the notes of a song in time with the background music; the more accurate your timing, the better your score. The camera likes to go out of its way to restrict your ability to see what you need to, which can be highly annoying. It forces you to memorize the levels a bit, so if you like that sort of thing it’s not a big deal, but it really just comes off as problematic. You can go at the game one-handed, using just the Wii remote which is a fun and competent means, but plugging in the nunchuck, using the classic controller, or even plugging in a GameCube controller nets more precise, natural control. Whatever your fancy, the game is plenty of fun as long as it stays in the air. Any time it goes to the ground, it nosedives.

Offering an unusual kind of gameplay, NiGHTS already has an uphill battle when it comes to gaining mass appeal. Unfortunately, Journey of Dreams is a very poorly constructed game, which makes that obstacle even more daunting. The first big problem is how the game is constantly punctuated by cut-scenes that fill out the story. Ideally, beating one level would lead right to the next one without any fuss (think of the original Sonic the Hedgehog games). Instead, what actually happens is that you beat a level and then have to sit through about four minutes of poorly-scripted, abysmally voiced, pug-ugly cinematic drivel. If you could skip past these sequences, the story wouldn’t be such a burden, but because you absolutely have to let them pan out, they’re like punishment.

Then there are the god-awful platforming levels, which aren’t the least bit of fun or otherwise justifiable. The kids you play as during these sequences have three abilities: walk, jump, and throw ball. So, as you can imagine, slogging through their levels revolves around walking around places, jumping onto and over stuff, and clumsily hurling orbs at weird looking enemies who can’t actually do any harm besides slowing you down. Sure, you could distill any game down and make it sound uninteresting if you wanted to, but in the case of these levels, that’s really it – they’re just flat-out uninspired and boring. Not only do they exacerbate the whole cut-scene situation, but in all honesty, they have no place in any modern video game, period.

Graphically, NiGHTS is all over the grid. One moment it’s knocking your socks off with stunning, fluid cinematics (like during the intro), then it’s suddenly numbing your brain with the sloppy filler that comes in between levels. Luckily, the graphics fall somewhere in between during actual gameplay, so as a whole the visuals are pleasant. The same inconsistency exists in the audio as well. The dialogue is trite and amateurishly delivered, but the sound effects are sweet and the rich, orchestral musical score is absolutely magnificent. It’s the kind of music that loops through on your mental mp3 player long after you shut the game down, and you’ll absolutely love it.

No exaggeration, a straight-shot playthrough of Journey of Dreams’ story mode yields about three parts fluff to one part legitimate gameplay, which is pitiful by today’s standards. Thankfully, you only have to do it once, and after you do you can play through your favorite levels again and again, or even race friends and random opponents via Nintendo Wi-Fi, racking up new high scores, logging wins onto your record (no losses are accounted for), and generally lollygagging about. Speaking strictly from a design standpoint, NiGHTS is exemplary of how not to make a game. NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams grows on you though, if only because of its charm, character, and addictiveness. Toiling through the story mode the first time can be painful, but once that's over and done with, NiGHTS' strengths shine, putting it right in line with the best the Wii has to offer.

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