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.
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) however unlike the original it is playable as Elliot as well as Claris. When playing as Elliot the stage 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 largely identical to the original game, including the A-Life system altered by defeating enemies.
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".
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.
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
Snow (though less of it)
19:00
Moon
Snow
21:00
Moon
Stars
22:00
Moon
Snow
The main part of the game is not unlocked until December, when Christmas NiGHTS mode is enabled. Here, the children wear Santa outfits, and defeating the boss (Gillwing) will lead to a credits screen.
On New Year's Day, there is a change of title screen, on Valentine's Day, hearts always fall, 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.
Unlockables
Christmas NiGHTS has many extra features unlocked by playing the game:
Link Attack
Music Box
Museum
Karaoke
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.
NiGHTS Goods
Nightopian Collection
Time Attack
Sonic the Hedgehog into Dreams
Perhaps the most notable extra is the ability to play Christmas NiGHTS as Sonic the Hedgehog. Under the "Sonic the Hedgehog into Dreams" mode, the player is restricted to traveling on foot, and instead of tackling the level's original boss, Gillwig, Sonic is put against an inflatable balloon version of Dr. Eggman 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.
Interestingly this qualifies as Sonic's first "true" 3D outing - Sonic Jam, Sonic R and the Saturn version of Sonic 3D were all released in 1997.
History
Release
Christmas NiGHTS was not sold in the same way as most Sega Saturn games. 50,000 copies were distributed by Sega Europe[6] as part of special console bundles[7][8], 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[9]. 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[10], which is why they initially decided against givng it away as a straight cover disc. However, It would become a cover disc a year later 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)[3], as well as being made available for free rental at Blockbuster Video locations in America[3]. 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.
8. The Dragon Gave a Loud Scream : In Holy Night (02:05)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya
9. The Dragon Gave a Loud Scream (02:08)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya
10. Rolling Eggman (02:05)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya
11. Message From Nightopia (Christmas NiGHTS) (01:52)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
12. Dreams Dreams : In Silent Memory (01:29)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
13. Welcome to Christmas NiGHTS (01:02)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya
14. Winter Sleep (00:57)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
15. New Year's '9TH' (00:57)
Composed by: Naofumi Hataya
16. NiGHTS (00:50)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
17. Gate of Your Dream (01:28)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
18. Dreams, Dreams (05:17)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
Vocals: Dana Calitri & Curtis King Jr.
19. Dreams, Dreams: Karaoke Version (05:15)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
20. Dreams, Dreams: A Cappella Version (04:25)
Composed by: Tomoko Sasaki
Vocals: Issa Clemon, Gabriel Morris & Marlon Saunders
► Running time: 32:54
Extra content
This game has extra content which can be viewed when accessing the disc on a PC.
Saturn (JP) Extra files
Folder / File
Type
Size
description
EXTRA
Folder
2,459,866
It contains 2 wallpaper images of truecolor and 256 colors each.
NITS_ABS.TXT
TXT (Abstract)
21
Default text.
NITS_BIB.TXT
TXT (Bibliographiced)
25
Default text.
NITS_CPY.TXT
TXT (Copyright)
33
Copyright
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.
_Saturn_JP_disc.jpg)
