Nights does it still hold up? Is it still relevent

Now obviously people are going to say Nights Ps2 was amazing

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/saturn/2008/02/nights-into-dreams-looks-phenominal-on-ps2.html

But, I'm lookign at the gameplay... and I honestly don't get it. What the heck is so great about the gameplay here, it seems like a 2.5D version of pilotwings. How does a game where you fly through rings really hold up to Mario 64?

Or do I not understand the gameplay. What exactly is the point of the game?

JoD honestly didn't look too much worse then the original. What really made it all that different.

Is the original really all that relevent. What does anyone who had their first taste of nights only recently think?

I was thinking of purchasing the Ps2 remake. But I look at the videos and it kinda seems like this game is just overrated

 

I admire your braveness for posting this!

I am a Saturn owner but I owned a nintendo 64 before it.

In short, no Nights is nothing more than an arcadey 2D flying game and its relevance today depends on your taste. It's not as ground breaking as Mario for sure, but it was (back in the day) a technical demonstration of how the Saturn could handle the polygones. It wasn't a bad game, but nothing to write home about gameplay-wise.

nostalgia and Saturn are the key words here in order to appreciate Nights.

 

I bought it on release day, played it for like 2hrs, then never again.

...IMO, it was the start, of the fall, of the SEGA dynasty.

 

You guys are playing it wrong then. Nights is all about linking and getting great scores and it's a lot harder then people think. The 3D controller gets a great deal of use, probably the best game to show the pad off. It's not everyones cup of tea, the same way that Zelda Ocarina of time isn't everyones, however it is a ground breaking game and it does play fantastically if you give it a chance.

 

Nights is probably the very last game that made people go WTF and required you to read the manual. You approach it like a racing game: the goal is to get enough stuff to proceed to the boss battle. If you don't have enough stuff, then you have to make another lap. But you can't go the whole lap unless you have enough seconds left on the timer. You have to continuously balance the speed of your play with your ability to collect items. A tutorial with pop-up text would probably have been helpful, in retrospect.

 

Pretty much this. You do need to put some time into Nights to "get" it, but it's time well spent.

 

NiGHTS is fantastic. I simply find it a joy to play. Relaxing and challenging at the same time.

The 3D pad made gameplay so fluent. NiGHTS himself (herself?) somersaulted and rolled and flipped smoothly independently of your movements.

Basically each level is a 3D arena, with 4 'tracks'. Grab 20 blue gems, dump them off, advance to the next track, all within a time limit. Fair enough. The real gameplay value for me comes from racking up score. Once you have your gems, you can zip around the track until the time is up in order to drive up your score.

Hurtling through 15 rins, spinning around into a gem stack, somersaulting into an enemy, hurtling through more rings, with mere split seconds between continuing your score chain and losing it completely is intense. I was so proud upon getting all As, huge scores, 120+ upwards links... the slick, smooth gameplay enhanced it so much.

And don't forget that the music changes depending on the mood of the 'artifical life' on the stage!

 

Game is about mastery of controlling youre character, its one of the only games that gives the player the chance to express themselves and remains a points driven actual game in the oldest of senses. One of the greatest soundtracks too, a true marvel of gaming imo.

 

Play it with the original pad, don't worry if some skin peels off Great game, excellent graphics/music, simple gameplay, do you need more ?

 

As jamtex said. You really need to understand the game. It's like when people say all Cave shooters are the same. Just get from point A to B without being killed. Well, that's sort of the point but not the aim of the game. The aim of a Cave shooter is all about scoring and links. The same could be said about NiGHTS. When it first came out I played for a few hours and to be honest, didn't really think much of NiGHTS. Back then though I was poor so I went back to it to get the most out of my 60 pound imported game and pad. Man, am I glad I did. I found NiGHTS to be a wonderful change from what I had been playing for so many years. Links, scores and speed are what make this game a joy to play.

Others may disagree and that's fine. Personally I think Chu Chu Rocket is a load of crap while others think it's one of the most addictive games on the DC. Each to their own I say.

Yakumo

 

NiGHTS is fun, but not near "groundbreaking"

I liked it. I liked the Wii one also.

But it's not in my top games.

 

Ah, I found the Wii version a bit turd. Well, maybe not turd but it didn't feel right.

Yakumo

 

I would say it does if you play it right.


Also note:
Playing NiGHTS without a 3D controller means you are not playing it right by default. Without that wonderful controller, I think a lot of the magic of NiGHTS kinda goes away (for some odd reason).

Sega should be shot for the Wii version though. Making NiGHTS talk and sound like Mary-fucking-Poppins, shame on them.

 

I got NiGHTS last month, I only got to play it for a second as a kid so it was cool to finally have it.

You need to read the manual to get it, I think it's fun because of the boss fights and the awesome music. It is a little scratchy looking now though, but it does support 16:9, lol.

 

I'm assuming you actually mean "without"? Playing Nights with the 3D controller is a joy, playing it with the standard Saturn pad just doesn't cut it.

 

Quoted for truth!!
I cringed when I first head those voices x_x but the game itself was fun!

As for the original I thinks its the whole experience that makes the game so special to many of us.
Not just the gameplay or the 3D showoff but also the absolutely amazing soundtrack that keeps on changing/evolving acording to the A-Life, all the stuff that goes on in the background that most of the time you hardly notice when speeding through the levels, and the whole surreal dream atmosphere the game makes it one of my favorite games ever.

Also a big part of the Nights experience involves Xmas Nights as well IMO
Specially the Sonic in Xmas Nights, when you get to fully explore all of the playfield

 

Ah, yes, thank you. Ha, this is what posting at 3AM after a few hours of Complex Analysis homework does to somebody. :lol:

 

I agree. With the standard Saturn pad NiGHTS movement is jerky (due to the digital controls obviously) and it also hurts your thumbs! With the Analog Pad is so fluent- poetry in motion! A great showcase for the analog stick back when they weren't the norm.

 

they were the norm for us N64 users buddy