Nights Into Dreams HD review

[Dogg Thang]

Nights Into Dreams - a Sega Saturn classic that I find tends to divide people. Some adore the score attack gameplay. Others just don't get much from scorekeeping and find there's not much to it. I am neither. I have no real interest in the score attack thing here (or anywhere else) and yet love Nights. For me, I just love the experience of it - the fluid flying, the feel of the levels, the pians, the beautiful music. Nights blew me away back on the Saturn and I spent most of my time just flying around breeding different pian mutants to see what I'd get.

And of course Christmas Nights to me was one of the most awesome giveaways ever.

So I'm coming to Nights HD as a fan and I can never claim to be truly objective about the game. So how is it? Well, it's Nights. It's still beautiful and the music is still great. The models have been polished a bit, some elements that were once 2D are now 3D (like the enemies) and it runs 16:9. It's 720p so not all that HD. HDish. The pop-up has not been improved - the game is constantly drawing new objects as you play. And the frame rate isn't great, which I suspect is all the more noticeable in these times of pretty huge TVs. So it can actually be slightly hard on the eyes, especially for those of us who are more frame-aware than others.

But the textures are good, it's really colourful and very pretty at times.

Control feels very different but I suspect only because the Saturn pad had a strong level of resistance not found on the PS3 pad. That resistance worked really well for Nights and I think made it feel a bit more fluid as twitchy movements are harder to achieve with the Saturn pad. But it still controls very well with the PS3 pad and I quickly got used to how it feels.

So it's Nights HDish.

It does come with a Saturn mode which feels smoother and more familiar but I'm not convinced it looks the same as it did - maybe that's just the TV difference again.

[Wools]

I love that Sega are going back releasing their classics, this is one of the lost Saturn games that deserved the treatment.

Got Virtua On, Sonic CD, Daytona USA, Jet Set Radio and I'll get this at the weekend!

[BaronSqwelch]

The pop-up has not been improved - the game is constantly drawing new objects as you play.

Really? Cant buy this then
Really was my main interest in this, a game I loved as it was originally intended, not held back by the lumbering 3D oaf that was the Saturn!

I can take iffy frame rates, muddy textures and everything like that but pop up and draw distances are what nearly drove me away from gaming in the early 3d days. Makes things impossible to play for me. Daytona on the Saturn nearly made my brain seize up

Will try the demo but that really is ridiculous in this day and age!

[Lyris]

Is it basically an HD version of the PS2 port?

[Dogg Thang]

Apparently so. I haven't actually played the PS2 version to compare.

[saturn-gamer]

I love this port. Some are complaining about the controls being digital and they could be right, but I was never a great player and its been ages since I played this on Saturn. I got every trophy except for the A rank thing.

It basically ends with Merry Christmas which is great.

[Sam The Man]

Would still prefer to play it via Emulation looking like this:


Looks awesome in 720p

Of course it would cost you alot more to buy a PC capable of running it.

[Judge]

Just smashed through this on 360. (It's there, but bizarrely you need to buy it on the web via a PC before your console will download it). There's been a few subtle tweaks to it, including getting rid of the exploit that allow you to get a head start on Course 1 of each dream and making Stick Canyon take place at sunset rather than during the day. As others have said, it's NiGHTS, although I'm finding the 360 pad a hassle here, as it's just a bit fiddly pulling off some of the tight turns.

Currently 5th on the leader-board for Soft Musuem, but doubt this will last.

[DANGEROUS-3]

Why the hell is this only 720 and not 1080p?!

Seems like a wasted opportunity.

[Yakumo]

how many games are in 1080p? Not a lot that's for sure. So few in fact that I have my 360 set to 720p to stop screen tear in some games.

I bought it and finished one side of the game. It is basically the Saturn game with a lick of paint however the music doesn't seem to change with the mood of the game or at least I haven't noticed yet. Also the Saturn version may not actually be Saturn code. It doesn't look right. I'm going to do a side by side check later on.

Over all I'm happy with the 800 points this game cost. Well worth playing NiGHTS again in a prettier way.

[Judge]

Don't worry, the A-Life music remixing is still there.

[DANGEROUS-3]

OK, just played the demo and it looks fantastic in 720p and keeping the FMV in 480 lends a nice retro feel to proceedings. Can't buy it for a few days till I get paid, arghh.

Also to the peeps complaining about pop up, it's been softened a bit in this version, but it's part the game's visual style- the dream world fading in around you, not just a technical constraint from the Saturn although that's where it came from.

It would be interesting to know if this version uses any more polys than the PS2 remake, or if it's just the same code running at a higher res. Also I hope this new version has as much unlockable art as the PS2 game. It would be nice if it had some unlockable TV ads as well.

[bcass]

I've noticed the controls being raised as an issue on other sites. Are these issues present on both the 360 and PS3 versions? I tried the 360 trial with a 360 pad and a Saturn pad and it does seems a bit twitcher than I remember it being on the Saturn.

[Yakumo]

It's a little different on the 360 but I put that down to analogue controllers these days having mini joysticks while the Saturn was basically a thumb pad. It isn't that hard to get used to though. I've finished both dreams.

MAJOR SPOILER

->Open Spoiler<-

Complete both dreams and you'll open Christmas NiGHTS!!

[S3M]

Is it basically an HD version of the PS2 port?

It is the PS2 port just running at 720p, which means it is missing quite a few features of Nights and Christmas Nights. So no playing as Sonic and the two player mode, time attack and score attack modes are all gone, to name a few of the changes.

I got the impression the PS2 version was done on the cheap hence why a lot of the stuff being missing. Also the Saturn version doesn't seem to be at all correct it looks like it's built with the new engine with some of the original art assets chucked in.

Don't worry, the A-Life music remixing is still there.

Not that I've seen there's a sound test, but you can't alter the tunes yourself in the 360 version as you could in the Saturn version of Christmas Nights, unless I've not unlocked it yet?

The controls are a little bit twitchy nothing major, it's a solid port and I'm really enjoying it, the music is timeless as always. That said I do wish this included all the content from the Saturn versions as it's just an inferior version without it.

If you've never played I suggest picking this up, but if you have a Saturn I'd suggest investing in the Saturn's version first. Still at 800 points you can't complain for the price of this classic.