With Nintendo's fortunes continually looking rosier by the day, the number of exclusives hitting the Wii is growing in number. While many of these third-party exclusives aren't expected until next year, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is among a handful slated for release this holiday season. We recently had a chance to check out the game, taking stock of the ways in which it revives the little-known series with unique controls and family-friendly action.
As the jester NiGHTS, your job is to defeat the Nightmarens infesting the dreamworld of Nightopia. Across seven themed worlds divided into smaller stages, you'll chase down various Nightmarens and even confront powerful enemies in unique boss battles. We had an opportunity to play through the game's first two stages, both set in a bizarre upside-down ocean world that saw fish swimming in midair, water flowing in odd directions, and colorful rings dotting the landscape.
In the first stage we played, NiGHTS was tasked with chasing down a bird-like Nightmaren. By tracking it down and pulling it three times, we could defeat the creature. The Nightmaren weaved through columns, behind waterfalls, and other obstacles littering the level; as such, the challenge was in navigating past these obstacles while gaining enough speed to catch up. The game focuses less on combat than it does on aerial acrobatics. Flying through rings rewards you with points, which increases the amount of available boost. Additionally, you'll be scored at the end of each stage based on accumulated points and time taken to completion.
Should you accidentally run into an object, such as a column, NiGHTS will be stunned temporarily and you'll lose a bit of time. Each stage is timed, with a set number of seconds allotted for completing objectives. Since the focus rests in finishing stages within a specific time frame, NiGHTS doesn't possess any health. As such, you can take an infinite number of hits, although you won't likely complete a stage if you haphazardly make your way through a course.
You can fly using the Wii Remote and nunchuk, as we did, with the control stick dictating the direction of flight. Although not demonstrated, SEGA representatives inform us that NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams will take advantage of the kinetic capabilities of the Wii Remote. It doesn't require much imagination to see the potential in wielding the Wii Remote and nunchuk for flight, twisting the motion-sensitive controllers could prove not just more enjoyable but precise too.
Following our avian chase, the second stage we played had us battling a massive boss Nightmaren. The bloated foe had to be pushed up a vertical level, much like a pinball machine. Although NiGHTS couldn't directly attack the creature, rushing into the Nightmaren allowed us to knock it about the stage. There were some issues with the camera, namely it moved too much, making it difficult to get a good sense of direction. A couple times we ended up pushing the Nightmaren down because our orientation had been misaligned due to a constantly shifting camera.
While not shown, some stages will require controlling characters other than NiGHTS. Exactly how that works and its role in the game isn't entirely clear. Hopefully it's complementary in terms of quality to the sections we've seen. As of now, we're still on the fence as to how NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is shaping up. The potential is certainly there, but some polish, particularly with the camera, is definitely needed before the game takes flight later this year.
