Christmas NiGHTS

"May all your dreams come true"

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening,
A beautiful NiGHT...

Claris is an up-and-coming diva. Elliot hopes to prove that white men can jump. (He's a basketballer, if you don't catch my drift.) These two kids are going through some rough times in their lives, and all that stress is making it damn hard for them to get some good sleep. On one fateful night, they both find themselves having the oddest dream; an androgynous jester-like character who calls himself (herself?) NiGHTS begs for their help to stop the dastardly Wizeman the Wicked from taking over the dream world. Since they are stuck in REM and it's only 4am in the morning, they kindly oblige.

The story is very cliched, but it's perhaps one of the least important aspects of this game. Or should I say, this promotional disc. When you first boot up this freebie (not so "free" these days), you'll have access to both playable heroes and one sublime level, Spring Valley. If you have played the original NiGHTS Into Dreams to death, this may initially look like another CD-ROM soon to be used as a coffee toaster. But wait - what is this "presents" option? Upon selecting it, you will see twenty-three slots, blank slots - pfft, probably some worthless unlockables, right? The bottom-right one is already accessible, though. Highlight it and press the magic button (that's A or C; two of very few buttons required to play) and you'll find that you've been transported into a giddy NiGHTS-fan's dream. Christmas NiGHTS has begun.

All that awesome NiGHTS music that previously backed the title screen and the levels themselves have now been replaced my Christmas-ey bells and jingles (not coincidentally, Jingle Bells is one of the surprise remixes here!) It doesn't stop there; graphics are also given a complete overhaul and Spring Valley now sports a very Winter Wonderland vibe, replete with christmas trees and highly decorative wreaths. Sega sure knows how celebrate, and they sure know what it means to provide fan-service.

The core gameplay remains unchanged; you fuse with NiGHTS guy/gal and then it's flying time. NiGHTS showcases some truly spectacular 3D that's brimming with dazzling colours. It also puts on a heck of a dynamic show; gliding through all the rings and nabbing all the sparkling items while the side-on perspective pans around the place is breathtaking - even by today's standards. At heart, NiGHTS is a 2D flyer, though. The controls are very simple and it's a breeze for anyone to perform some really great looking aerial manoeuvres; twirls and dips and hurtling dives, you name it. At first, it may look like style-over-substance; the idea is to collect blue chips used to retrieve these luminous crystals called Ideyas (go figure) and bring them back to home base. You will be flying around the same circuit multiple times, taking slightly modified deviations on each round (as afforded by the full-3D engine), but doing the same thing over and over until you recover the Ideya. While it sounds- no, it IS very repetitive, soaring through the vibrant skies is always a surreal experience. And when you finally get to grips with how linking works (to chain some massive scores together), this becomes one of those super-addictive games which are near impossible to put down after just one play.

Christmas NiGHTS doesn't offer a full game experience - it is just a limited edition tease after all. But remember those unlockable presents? Playing through the single dream (level) will give you a chance to open these goodies up. (Unfortunately, the memory-match card game used to determine whether Santa comes or not is rather trite). Most of them are just high-quality CG stills to peruse through, but there's also a karaoke sing-along mode too! Sensational music deserves such wacky tributes. One of the best unlockables, though, is being able to play as Sonic Team's own Sonic the Hedgehog as he blasts through the stratosphere to knock up his arch enemy, Dr. Robotnik. Sonic, in 3D, and in a good game... WHOA!

If you loved NiGHTS Into Dreams, you're sure to love this special Christmas rendition (although I'm willing to bet that you've already played it if so!) Newcomers may feel deterred as nothing is really explained to help you understand what the game is about, nor how it's meant to be played (linking combos and avoiding being caught by the hovering alarm clock once you lose your NiGHT-ly status); it assumes prior knowledge of the main game's mechanics. But past the learning curve, NiGHTS is so simple, yet so addictive, and it's filled with an astounding amount of eye-candy that single-handedly it should've saved the Sega Saturn. (It didn't.) Christmas NiGHTS is a great gift from Yuji Naka and it is the very definition of short and sweet.

VERDICT - 8.5/10 One of my favourite games + one of my favourite festivals = one dream come true.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/15/07

Game Release: Christmas NiGHTS (EU, 1996)