Nights into dreams...

NiGHTS into Dreams (ナイツ into dreams) is a video game developed by Sonic Team, and was originally released for the Sega Saturn in mid-1996. It was the first game to be produced by Sonic Team not feature Sonic the Hedgehog, and debuted with the 3D Control Pad, Sega's answer to the Nintendo 64's innovative controller.

NiGHTS is seen by many to be one of the strongest original titles for the system, with cutting edge visuals and surprisingly complex gameplay. In the western world, NiGHTS was used as a marketing ploy to allow the Saturn to compete against Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64, and other 3D titles for the Sony PlayStation in the 1996 winter holiday season. Today it is seen as a cult classic and one of the flagship products of Sega during the Saturn era.

For the most part, NiGHTS into Dreams is a "2.5D" video game, where the world is rendered as 3D textured polygons, but gameplay is played on a two dimensional field. The basic goal of the game is to reclaim the four stolen "Ideyas" from the four Ideya Captures spread across the level, and return them to the Ideya Palace. Ideya Captures are destroyed by collecting with them, however 20 Blue Chips dotted across the level need to be collected first.

Players usually have to take control of the jester, NiGHTS to achieve this goal. NiGHTS traverses across the 2.5 plane through the skies, performing aerial acrobatics, defeating enemies and ranking up points. However at the start of the level, NiGHTS is held captive within the Ideya Palace, and players need to control the children, Claris or Elliot. The children are not restricted to the 2.5D plane, and can in fact traverse across the map as if the game were a 3D platformer, scaling mountains and wandering across valleys. The children are, however, restricted to the map's boundaries, and will be pursued by the infamous "Alarm Egg" - a floating egg with a clock face on one side. Getting caught by the Alarm Egg is the only way the game can end within a regular level - enemies will slow the children down, but not cause any damage.

Freeing NiGHTS is as simple as entering the palace (usually placed a short distance in front of the starting point), but is not strictly necessary to rescue Ideyas from Ideya Captures. In the 3D children mode, many of the items usually found in the skies lie on the ground (including Blue Chips), and Ideya Captures are within jumping distance. This style of gameplay was adapted for the Sonic into Dreams minigame of Christmas NiGHTS.

Like Sonic the Hedgehog the game is played almost entirely with one button (, or ) and the D-Pad (or analogue stick), allowing the children to jump or NiGHTS to speed up and spin. Spinning however, drains power from the meter in the bottom left of the HUD, and is replenished by flying through large yellow/orange rings. The and buttons allow NiGHTS to perform acrobatics, though are only useful if the player flies through a "Power Loop". NiGHTS can defeat enemies by performing a "paraloop", otherwise known as moving in a clockwise or anticlockwise circle. This can also reveal bonuses and collect multiple items at once (including sometimes those in the background).

Each of the four Ideyas is located on separate looped 2.5D "courses" (or "mares") for NiGHTS, each of which passes through the Ideya Palace. Players will travel around in circles until the Ideya Capture is destroyed, but items will re-spawn if the far away from the camera. NiGHTS' play is timed, and once the time runs out, you will lose any collected blue chips and become the children once more. The scoring system of NiGHTS is rather complex - scores are multiplied considerably by forming chains (links) of rings, and the value of items on the current course will increase further if the Ideya Capture is destroyed (the blue chips turning gold within this time).

To confound things further, NiGHTS has a surprisingly complex "A-Life" system, in which friendly Nightopians littered across the stage, can have their moods changed, be bred (not just with other Nightopians, but with enemies (Nightmaren), creating genetically modified "Mepians"), and be killed with very little effect on gameplay. If the player manages to not kill any Nightopians, an extra point award will be available on the fourth and final path for NiGHTS. The mood of the Nightopians can affect the level's music, though the change will only be heard if the player re-enters the stage.

Collecting all four Ideyas and taking them to the Ideya Palace will take NiGHTS to a boss, which needs to be destroyed within a certain timeframe. Here, it is impossible to play as the children, though getting hit will cause you to lose valuable seconds. Bosses vary depending on the stage, though usually involve bouncing off a weak spot or paralooping.