NiGHTS into Dreams: Pedestrian Challenge

If you’re playing NiGHTS Into Dreams correctly, you won’t do much walking around as Elliot or Claris: it’s a short distance from the beginning of each stage to the Ideya Palace where NiGHTS is, and if you don’t run out the clock, you’ll be flying the rest of the time.

Pre-release coverage of NiGHTS suggest that the Elliot / Claris gameplay might have been more substantial during development — some videos show the Ideya Palaces in other locations, so maybe you had to hunt for them?

What would NiGHTS be like with more platforming? Saturn ROM hacker bbayles decided to make the dream real. Introducing NiGHTS Into Dreams: Pedestrian Challenge, a mod that makes NiGHTS into a 3D platformer.

In Pedestrian Challenge, you need all five Ideya to free NiGHTS from the Ideya Palace. At the start of each Dream, approach the Ideya Palace to stash the red Ideya. You’ll be knocked back from the Ideya Palace once you touch it. Now the first mare begins! Collect 20 blue chips on foot, then follow the arrow to the Ideya Capture. Once you’ve obtained the Ideya, proceed back to the Ideya Palace. Repeat the process for the rest of the mares. Once you’ve finished all of them, you’ll fight the Nightmaren boss as NiGHTS like usual.

Elliot and Claris have a few advantages in this mod relative to the normal game: They bounce off hazards (like the purple void) rather than being knocked down. Also, they’re much faster, and get up to speed more quickly. The Alarm Egg has also been disabled.