NiGHT, NiGHT
In an attempt to add some variety to the flying levels there are a few nice additions to the game, including persona masks that transform NiGHTS and give her extra abilities, such as a rocket mask that allows her to travel at high speeds or a dragon mask that allows her to withstand any winds.There are also levels where NiGHTS transforms into various things, such as a boat. In this section you need to direct her down a ravine whilst picking up any drowning ‘Nightopians’ along the way. The ideas and the situations you find yourself in are fairly entertaining and new NiGHTS fans and youngsters will enjoy them, but anyone who knows their platform games will be familiar with many of the ideas and as a result the gameplay feels a little stale and devoid of any real gameplay ideas.
The platforming levels are, without want of a better word, dreadful and it feels as though you’ve just warped into a dream world, probably sometime in the 1980’s when this type of mini-game might have been considered cutting-edge. The big boss battles fair no better and range from a confusing and utterly infuriating balloon clown boss, who you need to hit whilst guiding him through a maze, to trying to find a chameleon baddie by para-looping on sections of the screen to reveal his location. The first is as annoying as hell; the second is pointless and requires no skill whatsoever.
Click for larger image
Click for larger imageSo, aside from the flying segments does NiGHTS excel in any other area? Well, not really. Graphically, the cut-scenes have been put together with great artistry and do a good job at setting the scene, but despite being draped in a kaleidoscope of vivid colours the graphics in general aren’t all that great, especially if you look at them with Super Mario Galaxy in the back of your mind. There are some pleasant looking levels, with nice water effects and fine attention to detail, but generally the game sends out a mixed message; sometimes it looks great and other times it looks awful.
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams lacks direction and purpose. The missions feel disjointed and lack continuity and flow and there’s a fair deal of repetitiveness in the mission types. The flying courses are a big plus point and the interactive set pieces along your flight path keep you entertained. The smoothness of the flight may encourage you to come back for more in order to try and beat your high scores. Apart from that though, there’s a lack of variety and NiGHTS feels more like a set of mini-games rather than a meaningful adventure.
Youngsters will find the purple acrobat, the colourful environment and the range of quirky characters undeniably stimulating, and they’ll also get something out of the My Dream section, where you can create and invite other NiGHTS gamers into your garden to marvel over your creation, but any gamer who knows games will have hoped for much more from Sega.
Pros
Controlling NiGHTS is good fun, with the Nunchuck
Flying courses are entertaining
The cut-scenes look fab
Cons
Poor integration of Wii-mote
Platform levels are awful
Boss battles are boring and occasionally infuriating
Lack of gameplay ideas
Flying is great; everything else is pants.
HEXUS Awards
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams – Wii
