IGN's Levi Buchanan has written a feature questioning the significance of Sega's NiGHTS, both on the Saturn in 1997 and on the Wii now. The feature suggests that NiGHTS may not be as important as Sega fans think it is (but what could be?) because it wasn't really 3D and, more importantly, not that many people played it compared to the hits on the Saturn's contemporaries. Both of these points are unfortunately true. With the exception of the included analog controller, NiGHTS didn't really influence future games that much (we went full-3D). And if Sega's hoping to sell this game on its nostalgia value alone, they will be disappointed. The kinds of numbers that made for a hit Saturn game probably wouldn't translate into a hit Wii game. Neither of these points necessarily mean that NiGHTS doesn't matter. It does, because it was a really great game. And that's what we expect from the sequel as well. We're content for NiGHTS just to be a really great game while the Marios and such get lauded as watershed gaming events. We'd all be happier, of course, if it was a real hit rather than a niche game.
The problem outlined in the article is that Sonic Team needs to satisfy the people who have been waiting eleven years for a sequel, while also delivering something that will intrigue new players. Where our opinions differ is that Buchanan seems to think that the classic NiGHTS gameplay is insufficient for a game in 2007, while we think it's great and could go far with enough visual sprucing up and advertising help.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-19-2007 @ 10:40AM
ELIJAH said...
No consumer knows if they are going to get a crappy title but it(THE QUALITY) lies with the game makers. For example i hated the legacy of goku for the gba but when i heard they made a sequel i purchased it and was happy because it was great.Basically even if a developer makes a crappy game that doesnt mean the next one will suck eggs.
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10-19-2007 @ 10:45AM
troy said...
Well, if it makes you feel better I don't know anything about the older one and I am getting this. Hope there are more like me. It just looks like fun and an original idea.
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10-19-2007 @ 10:54AM
ELIJAH said...
@TROY you dont know how fun and joyful it was. And i was just playing the demo, over and over and over again. until one of my siblings broke it.
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10-19-2007 @ 10:57AM
ELIJAH said...
To believe i was about eight years old. NIGHTS INTO DREAMS BABY,NIGHTS INTO DREAMS.
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10-19-2007 @ 4:54PM
Mr Khan said...
well, NiGHTS has the place at the top of the "hidden gems of gaming list" now and forever
Although the original game is obviously leaps and bounds more popular 11 years later than it was when it released, and thats due to all of Sonic Team's references to NiGHTS in many of their other games (like the Hotel NiGHTS in the background of Dark Story Level 4 of Sonic Adventure 2, NiGHTS being playable secret character in Sonic Riders, and the NiGHTS-based online quests in PSO, as well as the GBA downloadable-off-PSO NiGHTS game)
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10-20-2007 @ 12:42AM
padgon said...
The first time I new NiGHTS was when they announce it for the wii, an actually I was really curious about this game that everyone was talking about. But after seen the game play video… no offence but it doesn’t look fun to me, this is at the moment just a rental.
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10-21-2007 @ 10:57AM
Mark said...
I never played it before either and I plan on getting it. I only know of it from a Pinball machine in the Sonic Adventure casino area, that had a Nights Pinball machine, and sometimes if you went through a certain portal in the machine you'd start gliding over a forest or something. That's what I remember at least. It's been close to a decade since I last played it.
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