Cheerful Jester = Evil Minion? I don't think so.

I have a Sega Saturn. I got it last year and it came with a few games, one of which was Tomb Raider. I accidentally fell over a ledge in that game and was almost mauled by a bear, but that's beside the point. The games that came with my Saturn weren't really all the important. There was one reason that I wanted a Sega Saturn: NiGHTS into Dreams.

Just as Nintendo has Kirby and Namco has Klonoa, NiGHTS is Sega's own dream-related character. NiGHTS into Dreams takes place in a dream world separated into two sections or whatever they're called: Nightopia and Nightmare. Guess which one's good and which one's bad? In Nightmare resides an evil baddie called Wizeman who creates Nightmaren to do his bidding, which consists of stealing orbs called Ideya from children during their dreams. Anyone, Wizeman made two jester-like first class Nightmaren named NiGHTS and Reala. Reala was loyal to Wizeman, as good henchman are. NiGHTS was more free-willed, but how is this surprising? I mean just look at him! He's way too happy looking to be evil!


How is that even remotely threatening?"

Anyway, Wizeman didn't like NiGHTS being a bad minion, so he locked the purple jester up in a cage (Ideya Palace) where NiGHTS idly bounced around with no hope of escape. At least, he had no hope until two kids showed up in Nightopia. Eliot or Claris, depending on who you play as, show up and promptly get four of their five Ideya stolen from them (it happens each level), with only the rare Red Ideya of Courage remaining with them. Each kid can walk up to the Ideya capture and "dualize" with NiGHTS, which allows the Nightmaren to escape his prison and fly around to gather back the Ideya.

This video shows a typical NiGHTS into Dreams level, and even though it seems overly simplistic, it's actually pretty fun. You need to collect enough of the blue chips (forgot their name) in order to break the Ideya capture and well... get the Ideya. You need to get three or four Ideya each level, I can't remember which. After each level comes a boss fight, which sometimes confuses me because I have trouble understanding what to do. I mean, I'm still not sure how to beat Jackle.

A year or two ago Sega finally released a NiGHTS sequel. NiGHTS Journey of Dreams (I acutually played it before the first one) offers a bit more level variety, and healthier dose of plot. It's actually pretty similar to the first game: Will and Helen help NiGHTS round up their Ideya and defeat Wizeman. Reala makes a few more appearances in this game, mainly to force loyalty to Wizeman upon/fight NiGHTS. It doesn't really work.

NJD features a little garden thing called My Dream, where the player can raise small fairy creatures called Nightopians. Honestly, I don't really understand it. Sometimes it's happy, other times the trees are cut down.

Anyway, that's the blog post. There wasn't much noteworthy there, but it works. See ya next time. Happy gaming.