Well how is this for a lovely surprise? NiGHTS Into Dreams, the original game on the Saturn was released on this day 16 years ago and to celebrate Sega has revealed a re-release of the game for Xbox live Arcade, Playstation Network and Steam! The announcement trailer is below!
For those not in the know, back in 2008 there was a remake of NiGHTS for the Playstation 2. It included the game with updated graphics as well as the option to play the game with the original Saturn graphics, and even included the Christmas NiGHTS special content! Sadly this remake, which was released in a lovely box set with an art book, was only released in Japan so we never got to play it without importing.
Until now that is! This appears to be more or less that in HD with added trophies/achievements and online leaderboards. There is no sign of Christmas NiGHTS being included or if it will be additional DLC afterwards yet. The game is one of the most unique from the Sega Saturn and one of Sonic Teams true masterpieces, including an atmosphere, characters and music quite unlike anything else and addictive score attack arcade style gameplay.
There was also a sequel on the Wii, but while it was ok it didn't really hold a candle to the first one due to pointless gameplay changes, unintentionally creepy/funny cut scenes and filler levels that were not all that much fun.
Can we except more Saturn ports from Sega in the future? While this one had a PS2 remake to work from, games like Panzer Dragoon Saga would be a lot more difficult due to Sega over the years somehow losing the source code, but never say never! If a bunch of fans of NiGHTS can campain for a re-release and eventually get it, I don't see why not, though I reckon Shenmue and Skies of Arcadia will be next on their list of much requested ports. Sega are in financial trouble as of late and have even shut all but one of their European headquarters, so download ports like this should hopefully gets their profits back up.
I was just about to post about that, you beat me to it! xD
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how NiGHTS seemed to be forgotten for so long and then, with just a few years in between, we get an enhanced port on the PS2, a sequel on the Wii, and now another HD port. And that's great!
I bought on PS3, :D
ReplyDeleteAlways wanted to play, since the Saturn release, but I never could cause the Saturn is inaccesible to me.
Great game, but sometime hard to know what to do.