Like unexploded bombs, snakes and jailbait, some things are letter left untouched; a lesson nostalgic NiGHTS fans will wish the developers had heeded before resurrecting the hallowed series.
A motion-sensitive reworking of the 1996 Sega Saturn classic beloved of gaming geeks and graphic designers, Into Dreams carries across many of the elements that still give older players a warm glow, including ingenious art design, imaginative monsters, and nippy, flight-based gameplay that feels like Sonic The Hedgehog with wings and becomes ludicrously satisfying when you master the controls.
But while the Wiis gesture-based interface would seem like a perfect way to reinvent the game, the controls have been clumsily implemented, making the action unnecessarily frustrating and easier to handle using the traditional thumbstick. The sluggish on-foot platforming sections and a tedious selection of challenges that feel like padding to bulk out an otherwise brief adventure also do little to justify this update, and although the multiplayer races are fun, the Animal Crossing-style My Dream online mode is achingly dull and will only appeal to younger players with too much time on their hands.