Before the digital age the only game demos available to the masses came on discs. These were regularly packaged in with video game magazines or included with a new console. They didn’t make up for the lack of a pack-in title but demos were still exciting. Today I’m here to talk about a special case. After the release of their heavily advertised NiGHTs Into Dreams Sega released a demo for it. It wasn’t just any demo however. This disc reads off of the internal clock of the system. This simple mechanic alters the demo in numerous ways. It’s still just a playable short of the first two stages of NiGHTs into Dreams, but this mechanic makes some big changes.
As Christmas approaches the landscape becomes covered in snow and festive decorations. As you play various bonuses are unlocked, and there’s a surprising amount of unique content here (even including a Sonic in a very interesting new gameplay mode). Christmas NiGHTs is no mere demo disc. It’s a great tribute to what made Sega so unique. Today we’re going to take a look at this very special release.
The main game, NiGHTs into Dreams is about two children whom are both enduring suffering nightmares. You play as either character as they are assisted by a magical flying jester named NiGHTs within their dreams. It is here that they fight to defeat an evil wizard and his army of dream creatures through fantastical levels. Christmas NiGHTs doesn’t have a story of its own and thus the premise is the same. There’s almost no story exposition here but that’s fair given what this package actually is. It’s a demo of NiGHTs Into Dreams, but with a changing Christmas theme and tons of unlockable content.
Like in the main game you begin by selecting a character (either Claris or Elliot) and they both feature one stage. Gameplay begins under the control of the child whom you selected and your first goal is to free NiGHTs. From here you take control of the title character and gameplay is for the most part limited to two dimensions. You can fly up, down, left and right, and you proceed by collecting magical orbs and returning them to special shrines to release Ideya crystals. The environments themselves are rendered entirely in 3D. As Claris and Elliot you can explore the environments freely, but NiGHTs is limited to a single plane. These linear paths make use of 3D space in some really neat ways.
There are four of these Ideya crystals to collect, and only when you collect a new one does the active path NiGHTs travels on changes. The catch is that a timer continually counts down. When it reaches zero you regain control of either Claris or Elliot and must start over. You can start NiGHTs sequence over again. It sounds easy enough, but in order to do so you must navigate through 3D space to the beginning of the level. All the while your character is being chased down by an evil clock enemy. If he catches you then it’s Game Over and you must restart the stage from the very beginning.
Now for what’s different here. As I mentioned earlier the two characters share the same stage, and there’s no real difference between them. The first change is that Spring Valley was previously exclusive to Claris. In this version both characters can play in this stage. That’s hardly significant, but it is worth noting. As I mentioned earlier the game changes dynamically in accordance with the Sega Saturn’s internal clock. Throughout most of the real-world year Christmas NiGHTs functions as a simple demo for Nights into Dreams. You can play the same level as the two characters, but rather than playing for a high score or to progress you’re instead playing to unlock ‘presents.’ This is bonus content included on the disc and consists primarily of promotional materials for the game. These are chosen based on a card flipping memorization game, and this continues until you’ve unlocked all of them.
Fortunately some of these presents are really interesting. You’ll unlock a karaoke version of the main theme Dream Dreams, and a time attack mode, but by far the best one is a mode wherein you can play as Sonic the Hedgehog. The game design doesn’t really change except in that you cannot transform into NiGHTs, and it is more than a little awkward to play like this. Still, it’s a nice homage and a really cool bonus that’s worth it for hardcore Sega fans.
What’s really cool is the fact that when you play this game near the holiday season the scenery changes to reflect it. As Christmas approaches NiGHTs is kicked into full holly jolly gear. His costume changes to red with white puff balls on his hat, the music changes into a special rendition of Jingle Bells, and the items change to reflect the holiday season. It’s a very festive affair. There really aren’t too many games out there (let alone a mere demo) that go to this length. It’s not just limited to Christmas either; the graphics change on New Years Eve and even Halloween as well. Loading up the game on April Fools day changes NiGHTs into Reala who is his nemesis in the main story.
Sonic Team put more work into this demo than any other developer has before in a mere demo disc. That’s why this is one of the few preview discs that’s still worth owning outside of collection purposes. If you’re feeling festive during the off-season you can even change the time and date on the internal clock of the Sega Saturn manually. This means you don’t necessarily have to wait for Christmas to enjoy all that this demo has to offer.
The graphic engine hasn’t been upgraded in any significant way. This still looks like NiGHTs into Dreams, and it runs the same no matter which season you play it in. I really love the art style, and the attention to detail in the various themes is impressive. Even the end of level boss wears a Santa hat during the holiday seasons which is a comical but nice touch. The backgrounds tend to be a little pixelated, and there’s a bit of slowdown, but as far as the Sega Saturn goes it’s one of the best looking 3D titles.
The soundtrack too has been handled with extreme care. NiGHTs has a very specific style in terms of music, and the composer was able to retain this even with the Christmas remixes. It’s absolutely wonderful, and even feels like a natural extension of the original in this regard. It’s quite impressive that Sega put so much effort into re-arranging classic mainstream music for what ultimately amounts to a mere demo disc.
Christmas NiGHTs in no way is a proper replacement for the original. It is after all just one stage playable by the two characters. I’ve never before seen so much work put into a demo disc. Christmas NiGHTs really goes to show how much Sega appreciated their fans. No other company has ever released such an unusual or fantastic tribute. At this time NiGHTs was a new franchise and the fact that they ran with it is cool in my book. It’s a perfect companion to the original, and shows that even when down on their luck Sega still cared a great deal about their fans. This belongs in every hardcore Sega fan’s collection, but only if they also have the original.
