So Nights is old now.... Why bother writing a review? Because it's fair for the game... Nights needs to be remembered for all gamers in the world. It's a Must-Have and definitely a must Play.. Why? Read on..
Well what's all the ruckus, Nights is a game where you choose from being a Boy or a Girl (Eliot and Claris) where a creature identified as a Nightopian explains to them that they need to recover four types of dream energy from Wizeman's Ideya Capture, a group of large machine-like beings. The four energies are White (representing purity), Green (wisdom), Yellow (hope), and Blue (intelligence). Wizeman will attempt to steal Elliot and Claris' dream energy and try to confuse them by placing them in strange dream worlds. These worlds are places developed from the depths of their minds. The fifth and rarest of the dream energies, bravery (Red in color), is the only type of energy Wizeman and his henchmen can not steal. It is said that the only one not yet under Wizeman's power is NiGHTS, who appears as an aerial acrobat and is attracted to red dream energy. The Nightopian believes that Elliot and Claris possess this rare energy, and thus NiGHTS will come to their aid. At the end of each level, after gathering all energies, the player controlling NiGHTS must defeat a nightmare.
OK that doesn't sound fun or complex at any point. So why is Nights so great??? Because of the only thing that makes a real game Fun GAMEPLAY!! The game was firstly introduced by Sonic Team in a time where Saturn owners were "EXTREMELY" hungry for a new Sonic, Sonic Extreme. To make it more attractive the game launched along with the 3d pad for the Saturn.
Gameplay, the highest point of the game. The control is top notch, handling seems a little strange the 1st minutes, and maybe you'll be lost in what you have to do. But as soon as you get it, you'll be addicted. There were so little games that used the 3d pad, it even looked like the pad was made just for Nights, if that was the case then Sega messed it up. You have a pad with 2 directional pads 9 buttons for a games that uses 3 buttons and 1 analog directional pad. Which gives you an idea of how simple and intuitive Nights controls are. Nevertheless the game handles unbelievably well. Additionally the Nights delivers excellent level design. Every level features new experiences and variety for the player.
Graphics, the levels and the characters are beautifully rendered it almost makes you forget that tha Saturn was a difficult hardware to program for, at least on 3d. Sonic Team achieved an excellent graphic quality for it's time. The scenarios are extremely colourful, and the visual effects elevate the games presentation even more.
Sound, although the music is excellent and illustrates the environment and the feel of the game really well, some sound effects are not at the same level as the rest of the game. This explains why the game may loose some sound points.
Value, what can I say... At it's time the game was a real bargain you get a game and a new controller for your Saturn at a considerable price. The games scoring makes you come back again and again, which adds a lot o the replay value. And it's so fun you won't notice how much time you've spent playing. In all the game's worth it.
So what's wrong with Nights if it's so great? Well it may sound unfair but timing is the only thing Yuji Naka and his team did wrong. Nights came out in a time where the Saturn owners were hungry for a new Hedgehog game for their console, instead the got Nights and many people did not judge Nights fairly. But the real reason it's not a 10 is more of a personal opinion besides the occasional sound effect mistakes the game is too short, you'll end wanting more and more, and you know what??? No more than cameo appearances after 10 years of it's release.
I decided to write this review because at the time Nights was released couldn't do it, and it's 10 years since Nights was released and I'm still playing it in the hope of a new version.