SimonM7

@ ZeldaFreak Brits/europeans didn't think this was shit. It's like you're 10 years old and simply "heard of the olden days!". NiGHTS recieved global acclaim, and CVG especially (which was a good mag back then) praised it to absolute bits. The quality of the gameplay especially was emphasised, and anyone who's actually gotten lost, absorbed, addicted to the score system would outright laugh at the claim that it was "meh" in that regard. With every hyped game there's a natural backlash of haters. Sure, disagree with its great reputation based on your opinion that short but 'score/rank' based = shallow and shit, but that doesn't affect the quality of the game in the slightest. While your definition of a game and what makes a game is frightening, it does explain why you'd find little to like in this. It's extremely suggestive, surreal and sometimes even abstract in its presentation - but if it's superficial content you're after it's in there. You just need to use your noggin'. In fact, to most people NiGHTS is Sega's Mario 64.

I agree with all of your points, Pedro, except the game not bein graphic-centric. I mean sure that wasn't why it was so loved, but it was a huge part of it. Not having a saturn it might not have been as obvious, but at that time, there were barely any proper 3D saturn games to speak of in a "free roaming" environment. When that came out - or specifically when you selected a stage and the camera came spinning down around Claire/Elliot - jaws dropped. It was absolutely and utterly beautiful at the time, and details like "Soft Museum" having these bouncy surfaces that deform when you walk/fly into them still stand out today. So yeah, to amplify all of the great points you make I wanna add that at the time, the game was a gobsmackingly beautiful bit of software, too.

The single player game in Banana Blitz was great I thought too.

Well, while I think it'll most likely stay on the Wii, the whole unthinkable port argument pretty much relies on how they use the Wiimote. Secret Rings doesn't do anything the sixaxis couldn't do, and if this never employs pointing controls then it'd work fine on the PS3 too. That said, I still think it unlikely. It's a niche game for a special fanbase, and the development costs (or lack thereof) on the Wii is a perfect fit for the limited appeal of NiGHTS.

I'd totally buy TRA with intuitive Wii controls, even if they're bolted on. They OWN Hitman.

This is made by an external team, overseen by Nintendo and Sonic Team (which as it happens also includes the Athlete Kings chaps these days!) Suffice to say, any guesses as to its multiplayer numbers based on Smooth Moves are rather meaningless. Traditionally though, with multitaps and whatnot, olympic games made by anyone with half a brain has plenty of players. Athlete Kings did anyhoo. In fact, bring that series back, Sega!

lol, yeah that'd be endearing alright.

Sonic's speed advantage recognized for the win! Hopefully they'll solve it in an endearing and charmful way, not just paint it over with total disregard.

@ Flameboy Well, have you played Amped or the Tony Hawk games any? Those games let you string tricks together to achieve huge scores, and as you built them up, you'd feel increasingly nervous and excited at the same time. Beyond the dreamy exterior (worthy of at least.. 3 more paragraphs so I won't bother) immediately noticable with NiGHTS, that's what made it special. It employed a link/score system like that of THPS to a whole different genre, essentially creating something even broader and perhaps even more addictive. In recent times the only game to come close to its mind boggling mixture of presentation, style and addictive gameplay (at least in my opinion) is Lumines, and it'll be interesting for me personally to see if it manages to surpass that game. I rate the original NiGHTS and Lumines (the first) both easily as two of the best games ever, and both reside firmly in my top 3. I guess the short answer to your question whether I think it's good is a pretty solid yes.

It was made by Sonic Team, but flameboy refers to what team WITHIN Sonic Team made it. With that he refers to staff previously working under the name United Game Artists, but those merged with Sonic Team and dropped that name. So now they ARE Sonic Team, which makes his comment inaccurate, but what he MEANS is still valid I suppose. The UGA staff that made Secret Rings - WHILE CALLED SONIC TEAM ALONG WITH THE REST - were not involved with Sonic Heroes nor Shadow The Hedgehog. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Team It's not down to interpretation, it's fact.

Swimming!? Now it's even more bizarre to have Sonic in it! Sega made F-Zero GX, what is your point?

That doesn't make it more true though. A lot of reviewers commented on Rush being good because it was back in Sonic Team's hands, and that a lot farther from the truth than any misconceptions regarding Secret Rings/STH. Dimps - A completely external team from Sega made Rush and the Advance games. UGA merged with Sonic Team, they don't "exist" anymore apart from being an internal team. Likewise, Overworks and Wow Entertainment merged to form Sega WOW, which is now just part of "Sega". Perhaps you wanna separate the Overworks people from the rest too, but that doesn't really make it a separate company. I think it's a different matter when they still carry their own name like Bungie does (despite being part of Microsoft Game Studios now) but when the name is lost and they're merged proper with another developer it's just confusing to refer to them as anything but Sonic Team. Effectively, saying "nooo, I don't want Sonic Team to make this and that game!" includes the former members of UGA. I do get what you mean, of course (should be plain to see) but I still insist that comments directed at "Sonic Team" without further specification applies to the UGA part of that team aswell.

Fact remains; saying this game is handled by Sonic Team doesn't even imply it's NOT handled by the former UGA team. They're refered to as Sonic Team now.

You missed Athlete Kings? What a shame. That game was absolutely brilliant.

Argh! So much confusion surrounds Sonic Team. YES, Secret Rings was made by Sonic Team! Apparently this is handed off to an american team (why would it have been with Prope anyway? makes NO sense and I'm still sceptical to this whole thing) and therefore it's safe to assume it's being handled by former Sonic Team USA, currently Sega Studios USA indeed responsible for tripe like Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog. Secret Rings was put together by the consistently great former United Game Artists team, responsible for Rez, Space Channel, Feel the Magic/Project Rubber Rats or whatever they called it here, and Sonic Riders. Unless they're speeded back to Sega HQ to work on a new Sonic game I'd rather see them handle NiGHTS. Or simply hand it off to a brand new, hungry team with fresh ideas like Nintendo did with Metroid. I think that could work out better than either. Sega Rally REVO could be an indication of Sega classics surviving similar transistions. We'll see. Anyway, I still don't fully believe all of this. Partly because it's still surrounding April 1st in some way and we still haven't seen completely official looking artwork. To be honest, I could make the cover to Gamereactor. I'm waiting for actual screenshots.

Well if this truly is an elaborate april fools conspiracy it's admirable in its own right for that fact alone.

How are the 2 player conditions in this game? Is it possible for a second player to add stats or somehow choose a maxed out character to play against you? Do stats even play into this iteration? The reason I ask is because SSX3 was totally broken when it came to playing with friends, as you'd give anyone a right ripping with your snazzed up career character.

But IS it NiGHTS? I mean why would they respond to it at all if people "had it figured out"? Why would they respond if people "thought it was an april fools joke but isn't"? None of it makes sense. I'll believe it when I see... I dunno.. real screenshots.

I just read this entire page of your comments in one go, That Guy, and I gotta say that's the most convincing review I've.. um.. experienced? Definitely getting this now.

Teenage turtles ninja mutants!

It had pretty good reviews too, for some unfathomable reason.

Somebody seriously has to look over the rules for april fools though. You can't fucking.. say "I've got something for you and you'll go bleeding nuts about it! But I won't tell you what it is until april 1st!" Then on april 1st go... "HA, GOT YOU!" Then again I suppose you can say happy birthday in advance...

Yeah, there's that undeniable logic.. but then there's also the whole.. advertising an aprils fools joke? Really? Should be considered crime against humanity.

Based on that there image alone I'm utterly confident it's NiGHTS, but when the other pic play into things it suddenly super isn't. I think both images hint at a vastly different artl style which makes me believe they're either unrelated - ie. different games - or one or both is an april fools joke.

Wha..!? But the reason I came's because I was told there'd be pudding!