We recently checked in with Sega at the Leipzig Games Convention and got a second glance at NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. First, we saw the presenter choose between a sleeping boy and a sleeping girl for his character. Once he chose the boy, the game switched to a cutscene of the lad playing soccer with his dad, and busting all manner of fancy moves. Then, the scene turned grey, Dad got into a car, and our hero was left alone and scared, crying in the center of an entire, evil soccer team with red, glowing eyes. But instead of wetting the bed and hitting the meds, you do the right thing and enter the dreamworld of Nightopia as a fancy-dancy NiGHT in order to battle the Nightmaren forces.
Upon entering the world of Nightopia, you're still in your normal, human form, and you're faced with a hub full of dream doors. Our presenter entered one, and found himself in a verdant green zone full of bright rings, hills, waterfalls, and a huge, golden orb floating on a chain like a metal balloon. He climbed the chain, entered the orb, and--TA-DA--, turned into the flamboyant harlequin that NiGHTS fans know and love. From there, he spotted a bird with keys he needed to catch. So off he flew, loop-de-looping in midair and dashing after the troublesome toucan.
Contrary to normal notions of flight, you can't go just anywhere in NiGHTS; you're actually flying on a 2D plane that bends around the level on a set course. You can move up, down, back and forth, but not to your left or right. It's like if you took a side-scrolling shooter and wrapped it around a big, crazy shape--in this case, a floating mountain racecourse. In his pursuit of the bird, our presenter darted through rings and hit speed boosts to bring himself into range, then leapt on the beast's back and stole its keys. From there, he had to fly to the end of the racecourse and deposit his plunder for a grade.
But that was not the end of the birds or their keys, because another appeared and had to be caught along a slightly different course that led through crystal-cave waterfalls and rosebushes. Once our presenter caught up to that bird, he had to catch another, at which point he had enough keys to beat the current stage and unlock the next. After dispatching the flock, we were shown the game's first boss fight: a game of topsy-turvy pinball against a fat, evil clown. If you've read our first preview, you already know how this battle unfolds. You must knock the ball-shaped clown upward through an obstacle course and into a crystal at the top, killing him.
Victorious, our presenter ended his session to great applause. We only got a brief taste of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, but it was nice and sweet. We can't wait to tell you more about this game when it ships in the fourth quarter of this year.