Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams

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Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega CS3 (Sonic Team)
Supporting companies: Compozila, Sega Digital Media (audio, visual materials)
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (18 tracks)
Peripherals supported: 3D Control Pad
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1996-11-22 ¥1,5001,500 610-6431 US 1996-12-12 81067 UK 1996-12 MK81067-50 UK (SSM cover disc) 1997-11-12 £4.504.50 MK81067-50 LT 1996 PL 1997 AU 199x

Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams (クリスマスナイツ 冬季限定版) is a one level Christmas-themed "demo" of NiGHTS into Dreams. It was originally released in November 1996 for the Sega Saturn.

Gameplay

The full set of (Christmas) presents.

If not played over the winter months, Christmas NiGHTS defaults to "NiGHTS: Limited Edition" and essentially acts as a no-frills demo. Between November and January it is "Winter NiGHTS" and during December, "Christmas NiGHTS".

Due to its freebie nature, Christmas NiGHTS is a much smaller game than NiGHTS into Dreams - there is only one level (Spring Valley - almost identical to the level seen in regular NiGHTS, complete with boss, Gillwing) however unlike the original it is playable as Elliot as well as Claris. When playing as Elliot the stage (and boss fight) is mirrored.

Christmas NiGHTS is Christmas-themed, and so its graphics and music have been replaced with winter-esque versions of the original stage (but only in winter). For example, Ideya Captures are now giant floating Christmas trees, and NiGHTS wears red attire rather than purple. Gameplay is otherwise identical to the base game, including the A-Life system altered by defeating enemies.

On New Year's Day, there is a change of title screen and the children wear different outfits, and on April Fools' Day, users can play as Reala instead of NiGHTS. Reala can be played at any point after the latter event is seen.

Presents

There are 25 unlockable "(Christmas) Presents" in Christmas NiGHTS. Most are achieved by beating the stage and playing a quick tile-matching game, though others (such as the last one, "Christmas NiGHTS") are unlocked depending on date.

	Karaoke
	A rolling demo of typical Christmas NiGHTS gameplay, overlayed with lyrics to "Dreams Dreams", which plays in the background.
	NiGHTS Museum
	Several presents are art galleries, all titled "NiGHTS Museum", where players can view artwork from the regular game.
	Link Attack
	A short stage, endless stage where the objective is to get the highest number of links. This mode is always played with the Christmas aesthetic, save for NiGHTS itself who dress in the regular purple if played outside the winter months.
	Time Attack
	Another short, endless stage where the game times how long it takes for you to "get every item".
	NiGHTS Goods
	A short slideshow demonstrating official NiGHTS merchandise.
	Videos
	Two trailers of the standard NiGHTS into Dreams can be unlocked, ths first being from the '96 Tokyo Toy Show (where the game first debuted) and the second a "summer special" trailer.
	Melody Box
	Nightopian Collection
	Sonic the Hedgehog into Dreams
	The most famous of Chistmas NiGHTS's presents, allowing you to play as Sonic the Hedgehog. Here the player is restricted to travelling on foot, similarly to Claris and Elliot in the main game, though Sonic is slightly faster and will not be pursued by an Alarm Egg. This is a time attack mode, so Sonic can't be hurt by enemies or obstacles. Instead of tackling the level's original boss, Gillwig, Sonic is put against an inflatable balloon version of Dr. Eggman (in a Santa Claus outfit) in a battle similar to Puffy from the "full" game. The boss music is a mash-up of both Puffy's original theme, "She Had Long Ears", and "Final Fever", the final boss battle music from the Japanese version of Sonic CD. This qualifies as Sonic's first "true" 3D outing on the Sega Saturn - Sonic Jam, Sonic R and the Saturn version of Sonic 3D were all released in 1997.

Clock features

The visuals of Christmas NiGHTS change slightly depending on the time indicated by the Saturn's (or PlayStation 2's) internal clock.

The period between November and February is the most "active" part of the year, which scenery changing almost at an hourly rate. Note that foreground objects only seem to change when you're close to the hour, otherwise the game will default to snow.

Time	Background	Falling objects in foreground
00:00	Moon	Hearts
01:00	Moon	Snow
06:00	Northern Lights	Snow
07:00	Sun	Snow
08:00	Sun	Moons
10:00	Sun	Snow
12:00	Rainbow	Purple gems
13:00	Sun	Snow
15:00	Sun	Candy
16:00	Sun	Snow
18:00	Moon	Sparkles
19:00	Moon	Snow
21:00	Moon	Stars
22:00	Moon	Snow

History

Release

Christmas NiGHTS was not sold in the same way as most Sega Saturn games. 50,000 copies were distributed by Sega Europe as part of special console bundles, or with the purchase of two select Saturn titles, and also as a gift with the first 200 subscriptions to UK's Sega Saturn Magazine during the month of December. According to the then editor of Sega Saturn Magazine, Richard Leadbetter, despite being a free disc Sega Europe still had to pay royalties to Sega of Japan, which is why they initially decided against giving it away as a straight cover disc. However, it would eventually become a cover disc in the December 1997 issue of Sega Saturn Magazine.

In Japan, it was part of a Christmas-themed Sega Saturn console bundle and not sold separately, however it was packaged in a plastic jewel case like the majority of the Japanese Saturn library. In fact, the Japanese Christmas NiGHTS clearly states "only this winter" on the box, and has always been treated as a limited edition of the game.

In North America the game was distributed with the January 1997 editions of Ultra Game Players and Next Generation magazines (with a combined circulation of roughly 100,000 from 15,000 retail outlets), as well as being made available for free rental at Blockbuster Video locations in America. Later the game was given away with the purchase of select Saturn games such as Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition. These versions were distributed in a cardboard slip case to cut costs, much like many early Saturn bundles.

Legacy

Christmas NiGHTS was also included in the PlayStation 2 version of NiGHTS into Dreams. The Saturn disc can also be accessed via a Windows PC for extra content, similar to other Sonic Team games.

Production credits

Main article: Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams/Production credits.

Magazine articles

Main article: Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Saturn UK newspaper print advert

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 78 GameFan (US) NTSC-U 95 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 89

	87
Based on 3 reviews

Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams

Saturn, JP
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, US
Cover
Disc

Saturn, EU
Cover
Disc

Technical information

Main article: Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	644,972,496		CD-ROM (EU)	MK81067-50 V1.000
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	644,513,856	1996-10-29	CD-ROM (JP)	610-6431 V1.004
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	644,527,968		CD-ROM (US)	81067 V1.001

Track list

1. Data track

2. Data track

3. <JINGLE> Acrobat Time (0:12)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya

4. <JINGLE> Time Up (0:12)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya

5. <JINGLE> Pia Over (0:13)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya

6. <JINGLE> Mare Over (0:16)
Composed by: Fumie Kumatani

7. Dream Bells (2:11)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki

8. The Dragon Gave a Loud Scream : In Holy Night (2:05)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya

9. The Dragon Gave a Loud Scream (2:08)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya

10. Rolling Eggman (2:05)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya

11. Message From Nightopia (Christmas NiGHTS) (1:52)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki

12. Dreams Dreams : In Silent Memory (1:29)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki

13. Welcome to Christmas NiGHTS (1:02)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya

14. Winter Sleep (0:57)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki

15. New Year's '9TH' (0:57)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya

16. NiGHTS (0:50)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki

17. Gate of Your Dream (1:28)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki

18. Dreams, Dreams (5:17)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
Vocals: Dana Calitri & Curtis King Jr.

19. Dreams, Dreams: Karaoke Version (5:15)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki

20. Dreams, Dreams: A Cappella Version (4:25)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
Vocals: Issa Clemon, Gabriel Morris & Marlon Saunders

► Running time: 32:54

Extra content

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This disc needs to be checked for a copyrights text file.

Save data

The game makes use of the Saturn's internal battery back-up as well as the Saturn Backup Memory cartridge to save progress and unlockable content. In addition, you can link save data of Christmas NiGHTS with the retail version of NiGHTS into Dreams and see in-depth information of save data from the retail version.

Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams Save Data

Name	Comment	File Size
NIGHTS_XMAS	NiGHTS dat	55

NiGHTS into Dreams Save Data

Name	Comment	File Size
NIGHTS___##	Score data	30
NIGHTS___##	A-life	197

External links

• Sega of America webpage: Saturn
• Sega of Japan website (Japanese): Saturn