History VideoGame / NightsIntoDreams

I found someone who really cares\\
\\
In the nights, dream delight\\
I want to see you smile again\\
In the nights, dream delight\\
You are the one I've waited for.''

[[caption-width-right:350: ''In the nights, dream delight\\
I want to see you standing there'']]
->''"The part I feel most proud of is that we succeeded in affecting people without using words."''
-->-- '''Yuji Naka'''

A unique game developed by Creator/{{Sega}}'s Creator/SonicTeam for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn in 1996, ''[=NiGHTS=] into Dreams...'' is the system's KillerApp and one of Sonic Team's more noteworthy attempts at breaking away from the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series.

Developed by Creator/SonicTeam for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn in 1996, ''[=NiGHTS=] into Dreams...'' is Creator/{{Sega}}'s most iconic game series that feature neither an [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog anthropomorphic, blue hedgehog]] nor a [[VideoGame/{{Yakuza}} Japanese mafioso with a dragon tattoo]].

%%* RubberyWorld: Soft Museum.

%%* TricksterArchetype: [=NiGHTS=], of course.

** The track "Gate of Your Dream", which plays during the character select screen, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCGAa79_CD0 samples clips from the film]] ''Film/HomeAlone''.

%%* ChasingYourTail: Most of the bosses, and all of the flight stages.

%%* ProtagonistTitle

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Invoked whenever anyone thinks [=NiGHTS=] has a gender at all.

* GenreRoulette: Of the musical variety, sometimes going hand in hand with NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly. Musical styles used in the series often range from Pop-R&B ("Dreams Dreams"), Rock, ("E-LE-KI Sparkle") Orchestral, ("Fragmented [=NiGHTS=]" and "Know Thyself!"), NewJackSwing ("The Mantle", "Dreams Dreams: Sweet Mix In Holy Night"), {{Reggae}} ("Al-Di-Da: Peppermint Version"), Trip-Hop, Downtempo, and J-Pop.

* AllThereInTheManual: The Japanese manuals give much more backstory than the US versions. There's also an official storybook that gives more information on the relationship between [=NiGHTS=] and Reala.

* DreamsVsNightmares: Zig-zagged. Wizeman the Wicked is the leader and creator of the Nightmaren, an evil race of nightmare creatures, and he wants to take over the world. However, [=NiGHTS=], the protagonist, is a Nightmaren himself, who turned against Wizeman, showing that the Nightmaren aren't all bad. However, the good dream creatures, the Nightopians, aren't really active at all in fighting Wizeman, leaving [=NiGHTS=] and the human children they team up with to do most of the work. Basically, this would be Nightmare vs. Nightmares, except [=NiGHTS=] is fighting on behalf of the good dreams.

After the initial game's success, a spinoff titled ''Christmas [=NiGHTS=]'' was developed, featuring an extensive HolidayMode remix of the game's first levels. A [[ComicBook/NiGHTSIntoDreams six-issue miniseries]] by Creator/ArchieComics was published in 1998, and "The World of ''[=NiGHTS=] into Dreams...''" made an appearance in the ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite Worlds Unite]]'' crossover event, also by Archie. [=NiGHTS=] became a featured character in other Sega games, particularly crossovers with Sonic, and became somewhat infamous for having more appearances in other games than their own series.

[[http://www.nightsintodreams.com/ NiGHTSintoDreams.com]] is a dedicated fansite that has been consistently updated with any relevant ''[=NiGHTS=]'' news since ''1999''. It features an extensive archive of just about everything [=NiGHTS=]-related that you can think of, including interviews with Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka.

* AmbiguousGender: [=NiGHTS=], and fanfic writers take full advantage of this.

* DreamsVsNightmares: Zig-zagged. Wizeman the Wicked is the leader and creator of the Nightmaren, an evil race of nightmare creatures, and he wants to take over the world. However, [=NiGHTS=], the protagonist, is a Nightmaren themself, who turned against Wizeman, showing that the Nightmaren aren't all bad. However, the good dream creatures, the Nightopians, aren't really active at all in fighting Wizeman, leaving [=NiGHTS=] and the human children they team up with to do most of the work. Basically, this would be Nightmare vs. Nightmares, except [=NiGHTS=] is fighting on behalf of the good dreams.

* MagicalClown: This trope is strongly prevalent due to most of the characters being dream creatures. For example, we have [=NiGHTS=] [[AmbiguousGender him/herself]], a magical jester who was born from nightmares, but made a HeelFaceTurn and uses his/her powers to fight other nightmares. There's also Reala, [=NiGHTS=]' EvilTwin, who stayed on the dark side. Some of the bosses fall into this category as well: for example, Jackle, a clown-like DeathDealer, and Puffy, an opera singer who resembles a clown due to her big red lips and colorful costume. The sequel gives us Donbalon, a ball-like clown.

* NoBiologicalSex: [=NiGHTS=], being a nightmare, is genderless. Its voice and appearance are appropriately androgynous.

* PeterPanParody: The titular [=NiGHTS=] bears many resemblances to Peter Pan, most notably being defined by their ability to fly and the freedom it embodies. In ''[=NiGHTS=]: Journey into Dreams'', this is much more prominent, being a carefree TricksterArchetype with the voice of a young boy (according to WordOfGod anyway) and the ClockTower iconic to the game resembling the Elizabeth Tower to accent it.

* ClownSpecies: Nightmarens are a race of beings created by the [[GodOfEvil God of Nightmare]] Wizeman the Wicked to serve him and gather ideya from dreamers unfortunate enough to stumble across them. Third-Level Nightmarens are the least humanoid, resembling monstrous parodies of animals and cartoonish little men. Second-Level Nightmarens are similar to Third-Level Nightmarens but are much larger, acting as {{Boss Battle}}s, their appearance ranging from animal-like (Claws, Gillwing, Girania, Chamelan, Cerebrus, and Queen Bella) to a more exaggerated toy and/or human-esque form (Jackle, Donbalon, and Bomamba), all with a clown-like, ArtNouveau design to them. First-Level Nightmarens are both the most powerful as well as the most humanoid, their appearances the most unambiguously [[TheJester Jester]]-like ([=NiGHTS=] and Reala).

* AllEncompassingMantle: Jackle. Only it kind of... encompasses empty space. He also keeps his cards in there.

* ClownSpecies: Nightmarens are a race of beings created by the [[GodOfEvil God of Nightmare]] Wizeman the Wicked to serve him and gather ideya from dreamers unfortunate enough to stumble across them. Third-Level Nightmarens are the least humanoid, resembling monstrous parodies of animals and cartoonish little men. Second-Level Nightmarens are similar to Third-Level Nightmarens but are much larger, acting as {{Boss Battle}}s, their appearance ranging from animal-like (Claws, Gillwing, Girania, Chamelan, Cerebrus and Queen Bella) to a more exaggerated toy and/or human-esq form (Jackle, Donbalon and Bomamba), all with a clown-like, ArtNouveau design to them. First-Level Nightmarens are both the most powerful as well as the most humanoid, their appearances the most unambiguously [[TheJester Jester]]-like ([=NiGHTS=] and Reala).

* EasyLevelsHardBosses: Claris has levels that are easy to score a lot of points in, but more difficult, time-wasting bosses compares to Elliot.

* PassThroughTheRings: You do this to refill your dash gauge, with combos adding time on the clock -- and on top of that, it's the point of a few levels.

* PeterPanParody: The titular [=NiGHTS=] bears many resemblances to Peter Pan, most notably being defined by their ability to fly and the freedom it embodies. In ''[=NiGHTS=]: Journey into Dreams'', this is much more prominent, being a carefree TricksterArchetype with the voice of young boy (according to WordOfGod anyway) and the ClockTower iconic to the game resembling the Elizabeth Tower to accent it.

* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: [[spoiler:Wizeman]] pulls this in the first ending of ''Journey of Dreams'', although [[spoiler:it's subverted in the true ending.]]
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: How [=NiGHTS=] is characterized in ''Journey of Dreams''.

* ExcusePlot: All the backstory about NiGHTS, Nightopia, the Ideya, and Wizeman is mostly pushed aside during actual gameplay, which is about flying around colourful worlds and racking up tons of points. However, this might be a subversion considering how much said plot factors into the gameplay itself and the symbolism of whats going on. Most notably, the four Ideyas correspond to different aspects of the human psyche. The White Ideya represents purity, for instance, while the Blue Ideya represents intelligence as another example. The one Ideya the Nightmarens fail to steal at the beginning of each stage, the Red Ideya, embodies courage and is ultimately what allows the children to dualize with NiGHTS. It's also the major issue haunting both kids in the real world, as Elliot struggles with bullying and standing up for himself while Claris is trying to work up the nerve to perform in an important recital. [[spoiler: The final level sees the kids use the Red Ideya to fly without dualizing with NiGHTS, symbolizing them overcoming their fears.]]

* KidHero: Claris, Elliot, Will and Helen are all kids, but their unique Ideyas make them [=NiGHTS=]' only hope to stop Wizeman.

* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Nightmaren are child-terrorising, soul/ideya stealing servants of an evil diety in the clash between good and evil. [=NiGHTS=]'s, Reala's and Jackle's jester hats are reminiscent of demonic horns too.

* TimedMission: All of the levels are on a strict timer. If it reaches zero, the fusion is cancelled and the kid must make it back to [=NiGHTS=] while avoiding a clock-like enemy. Touching this guy results in a Game Over. Of course, in boss battles (and the final level), the timer running out equals instant failure.

** [=NiGHTS=] literally plays tennis with Reala in ''VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Tennis'', but that's more of an example of GoKartingWithBowser.

* ''ComicBook/NiGHTSIntoDreams'' (Creator/ArchieComics, 1998)

* BadDreams: What the visitors in both games are trying to overcome.

The main objective of each level is to collect enough Blue Chips in order to recover objects known as Ideya from Wizeman's minions, the Nightmaren. Claris and Elliot can only walk on the ground and are constantly chased by an Alarm Egg, which will [[CrashingDreams wake them up]] and end the game if it catches up to them. [=NiGHTS=] is able to [[FusionDance dualize]] with one of the children; doing so will allow [=NiGHTS=] to leave the prison temporarily. [=NiGHTS=] can fly, perform complex aerial acrobatics, and drill through the air very quickly. After all the Ideya in a level has been recovered, [=NiGHTS=] will be teleported to a boss fight, and good rankings in all stages are needed to access the final boss and ending.

The main objective of each level is to collect enough "Blue Chips" in order to recover objects known as "Ideya" from Wizeman's minions: the Nightmaren. The controls are separated into two distinct styles: the children and [=NiGHTS=]. Claris and Elliot can only walk on the ground and are constantly chased by an "Alarm Egg", which will [[CrashingDreams wake them up]] and end the game if it catches up to them. [=NiGHTS=] is able to "[[FusionDance dualize]]" with one of the children, doing so will allow [=NiGHTS=] to leave the prison temporarily. [=NiGHTS=] can fly, perform complex aerial acrobatics, and drill through the air very quickly. After all the Ideya in a level has been recovered, [=NiGHTS=] will be teleported to a boss fight, and good rankings in all stages are needed to access the final boss and ending.

After the initial game's success, a spinoff titled ''Christmas [=NiGHTS=]'' was developed, featuring an extensive HolidayMode remix of the first game's levels. A [[ComicBook/NiGHTSIntoDreams six-issue miniseries]] by Creator/ArchieComics was published in 1998, and "The World of ''[=NiGHTS=] into Dreams...''" made an appearance in the ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite Worlds Unite]]'' crossover event, also by Archie. [=NiGHTS=] became a featured character in other Sega games, particularly crossovers with Sonic, and became somewhat infamous for having more appearances in other games than their own series.

* LastNoteNightmare: All of the boss fight music gradually gets more frantic and ends with the losing sound effect and dark reprise of 'Dreams Dreams.'

* EasyLevelsHardBosses: Claris has levels that are easy to score a lot of points in, but more difficult, time-wasting bosses compares to Eilliot.

* CatsAreMean: The first game has Clawz, a boss that looks lie a demonic feline. Bomamba, to an extent, since the cats are her weapons [[spoiler:and her weakness]].

%%* CultSoundtrack