The Sega Saturn is my favorite console ever, the library is packed with games I hold in high regard, when it comes to memories and quality. One of the things that was considered a detriment to its lack of success in the United States was the lack of a true Sonic the Hedgehog game. In recent years, one of the creators of Sonic, Yuji Naka-sempai's reputation has been curb stomped...mostly by himself...and is behind bars at the time of this writing. At the peak of his tenure, he always had a drive to create wondrous, charming characters and universes, to challenge how platform gaming could be approached. The success of the aforementioned Sonic franchise is testament to that. During the mid-90's Naka and staff aimed to recreate that magic with the Sega Saturn exclusive, NiGHTs Into Dreams.

NiGHTS Into Dreams was produced by Sonic Team and launched on the Saturn in 1996. The story being Wizeman the Wicked aims to rebel against the dream world, Nightopia, by harvesting the energy humans attain while sleeping, called "ideya", using it to destroy and rule with his Nightmarens.

Two human children, Elliot and Claris, both who have endured a lack of confidence and anxiety in their daily events (Elliot wishing to excel in sports and Claris hoping to ace her auditions in a musical), are approached by a Nightopian and are told they have a rare "Ideya of Courage". With the eponymous NiGHTS imprisoned, it's up to Claris and Elliot to free him, using his power through dualization to fend off the Nightmarens and Wizeman's strongest minions.

A course game based on agile flight, NiGHTS into Dreams is certainly a different kind of "platformer", as NiGHTS soars through obstacles, collecting Ideyas within the time limit. There are four laps total per stage, and 20 blue orbs must be gathered to break each seal. Failure to do so will inhibit your ability to destroy the Ideya Capture. Gather all four, and it triggers the boss fight. It sounds complicated, but it's fairly self-explanitory once you get going. There's some irony that this feels more like a speedy race to the finish than the blurring pace of the Sonic series.

The gameplay in NiGHTS is rather fluid and responsive. The floaty jester is very easy to control, while providing enough variables to keep things interesting with the physics. Flying in Paraloop attacks, twists, and performing a Drill Dash (which provides a speed burst, as well as defeating enemies), is all made easier with Sega's manufacturing of the 3D Control Pad, which was packaged with copies of Nights (I still have mine, of course). The 3D Pad precedes the Nintendo 64, and while technically not a stick, the thumb pad is the first mainstream controller to accommodate full range analog play. NiGHTS can be played on a standard, but this controller fits in the hand so well, and can be used with any other Saturn game, it really became the main device for me. The boss fights can be a little strange, as the camera changes perspective. Reala, Wizeman's second in command, is actually quite the scrub. Just Paraloop him several times, he's quite easy.

A lot of NiGHTs Into Dreams in-game environment is rendered in real time, with just a static background, so when questions arise about the Saturn's ability to handle polygon-heavy games, it's more than capable. PlayStation games looked cleaner and sported smoother textures, but the Saturn was a complex machine with very different infrastructure. Color choice and patterns give the game a very vibrant look, but it does little to mask the character models' very grainy and choppy detail. Once again, this was still the dark ages of 3D graphics.

NiGHTS into Dreams is a very whimsical and adorable video game. Its soothing, gentle soundtrack serves as such a stark contrast to the more high-energy Sonic the Hedgehog, I remember welcoming the change of pace. It doesn't demand a great deal from the player, and the overall tone of the game and series remains fairly light. Yuji Naka's characters and games are mostly seemingly cut from the same philosophy; encouraging and uplifting stories for the youth to indulge in with video games (Burning Rangers aside). Even Balan Wonderworld, a game that's slightly more painful than standing in front of a barreling 18-wheeler, is rather delightful in its message of believing in yourself.

Western gamers and those kids who grew up with the bouncy Nintendo characters demanded games with more edge to them, but even this left an impression on a portion of the generation. While it does play well, controls being one of the highest praises towards it, it is rather thin on content, compared to other games that were coming out around this time. That being said, it's still a standout Saturn title.