NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

Platforms: Wii

Rocket man, burning up his fuel up here alone

NiGHTS: Into Dreams hit store shelves in 1997, quickly becoming a cult classic title for the now-obsolete Sega Saturn. A decade later, its sequel is a deeply flawed, counter-intuitive, fan-servicing retread designed by people who appear to hate gamers. How else to explain the infuriatingly vague in-game instructions which don’t actually illuminate how to DO anything you’re supposed to? Or the game’s complete willful ignorance of the medium’s adoption of checkpoint systems designed so that one DOESN’T have to replay 15 minutes of the same level umpteen times to get back to the same ten seconds that keep killing one’s character? Or the unreasonably combative control schemes, regardless of which of the FOUR provided control methods one chooses? It’s a shame, because the game does have dreamy, ethereal atmosphere to burn, and a delightful soundtrack. This game could’ve been a real charmer, for reasons beyond purest nostalgia. Ah, but one can only dream.