Games for Lunch: NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

In a nutshell: The world's foremost flying-dream-jester simulation
3/18/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

0:00 Despite having played the Saturn original many times at a Toys 'R' Us kiosk, I never understood the maniacal devotion some fans have for the game. This sequel puts the whole legacy at stake, in my mind.

0:01 A Big Ben-style clock tower appears over a highly fictionalized version of the London skyline. A boy sleeps soundly with a soccer ball in his arms. A girl in another flat does the same, albeit without a soccer ball. Twinkling stardust and the jester-like NiGHTS alights atop the clock tower. The title appears briefly, then NiGHTS is flying with seabirds a few inches above a river. Now he's reaching out to the boy in a deserted meadow. The girl's dreamworld is full of crystal, for some reason (Is she Shirley MacLane?). Jump cut to an evil-looking red jester, then more acrobatic flying cut scene, then the menu screen. Not bad, as intros go.

0:03 There are four potential control schemes: Remote, remote and Nunchuk, classic controller or GameCube controller. This is a worrisome sign to me. It seems as if they couldn't decide on one good control scheme, so they went for four mediocre ones.

0:04 I choose Will's dream first. He's practicing soccer on a dirty field with... his dad? It's unclear. Suddenly everything gets foggy. His dad (confirmed now by Will) is driving away in a car that turns into a plane. His soccer pals start laughing maniacally from a black void, then turn into wispy, red-eyed wraiths and chase Will. The poor boy is saved by a bright white light. Everything is suitably ethereal and dreamlike. Charming, really.

0:06 Into the actual game. It looks ... a lot worse than the cut scenes. Very blocky and rough... original PlayStation-level graphics, almost. I walk an entire 10 steps before another cut scene.

0:07 "I am Owl. I have lived here since... well, since long before you were born." I get it. He's old. Besides the blockiness, the choppy animation is pretty distracting, as well. Owl explains that this is the world where people go when they dream. Blah blah blah.

0:08 "That carefree little rascal" NiGHTS flies in. He has an incredibly feminine British voice. Reminds me of Mary Martin's Peter Pan. Owl explains "Dualizing." Blah blah blah.

0:09 Back in control for two whole seconds, then ANOTHER cut scene. Apparently "Dualizing" means "turning into NiGHTS." Well, why didn't you just say so!

0:10 I decide to try out the Nunchuk controls first. It's as easy as ever to make NiGHTS do beautiful loops with the analog stick, but it's hard to tell where he'll go because the 2-D movement plane keeps moving around the 3-D backgrounds. We'll see if it impacts the actual gameplay.

0:13 Learning the "drill dash" and flying through rings. I can't go in the water because "Will's body couldn't take it." Lame!

0:15 Learning how to make loops in the air to get items and destroy enemies. It's a bit annoying because, with the camera is so close, I can't see the start of the loop by the time I'm in the middle. Very annoying.

0:16 "You must never go near the dark ocean. It is a world of chaos and void." So it's like every other game? Weird dual-NiGHTS/Will in this cut scene.

0:17 "That red light. That's the Ideya of Courage." Is that anything like the Triforce of Courage? Also, door to Nightopia, which is a "paradise." Boy, there's nothing that can go wrong with that setup.