Every artist can have but one masterpiece, and while Sonic Team's signature creation is their namesake icon Sonic the Hedgehog, their most legendary and well-respected work has nothing to do with the blue mascot who put their name up in lights. NiGHTS into Dreams.., Sonic Team's second original creation, charmed gamers worldwide when it debuted in 1996, a profound accomplishment in an era when 3D was usurping 2D as the videogame standard and Super Mario 64 was leading the industry around by the nose.

   The story begins as far back as 1992, shortly after the completion of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. After working with Sega Technical Institute in the US, Yuji Naka was headed back home to Japan for some vacation time. As the plane was taking off, Naka was struck with an idea for a game that would effectively capture the sensation of flight. Unfortunately, it would be four years before console technology would be ready to accommodate that vision. The bright idea finally found its footing on the Sega Saturn, one of the first home systems with significant 3D capabilities.

   With the new 32-bit hardware at its disposal, Sonic Team got right down to business and began developing Naka's idea. Takashi Iizuka and Naoto Ohshima, the game's lead directors, began tossing around ideas for the character model and overall theme of the game. The original concept featured a small bird too weak to fly, but who would gain the ability as he grew and strengthened. This premise was nixed for fear that it would draw direct comparisons to Sonic, and it was decided that a more human-esque character was needed. They came up with several other ideas also destined for the trash bin, including an Indiana Jones wannabe and a military-themed character. Once a dream theme was decided upon, the Team hit the books and studied various texts on psychology, most notably the writings of Carl Gustav Jung. Ohshima dipped into the proverbial collective unconscious and came up with the game's main character, NiGHTS. From that point, everything fell into place.

   While not their most commercially successful title, NiGHTS is widely considered to be Sonic Team's greatest achievement. It defined the group's penchant for innovation and creative design, a valuable hallmark in an industry that continues to be dominated by sequels and rehashes. True to the creative spirit in which NiGHTS was forged, Naka has openly expressed that he has no interest in carrying the series on, despite the overwhelming demand for a sequel. Regardless, the title remains one of the most well-known and oft-referenced examples of creativity in videogames, and homages to NiGHTS and his dream world can be found in every Sonic Team game since.

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