If you watch a carnival through a kaleidoscope, it might look like “NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams.”

The chaotically vibrant look of this sequel to the Sega Saturn's 1995 “NiGHTS into Dreams...” is the most immediate sign of the genuine inspiration Sega poured into its project. This inspiration bolsters a game otherwise bogged down by lukewarm game play.

From the nighttime London-esque landscape we peer into the bedrooms of two slumbering 12-year-olds, whose anxious dreams about their parents spirit the children into the world of Nightopia. There they meet Owl, a stately guide to this world of dreams, and NiGHTS, the jester-like protagonist with whom the children merge to soar through Nightopia's lively locales.

Together, NiGHTS and the children must stop Wizeman the Wicked, who wishes to conquer Nightopia with his flying flunkies, the Nightmaren. From the Dream Gate home world, players must turn back Wizeman's invasion one level at a time.

The majority of these levels take the form of time attack flights through rings that restore turbo charge while the player pursues the Nightmaren. NiGHTS can also circle in the air with a sparkly jet stream to form a portal of sorts, which can rescue Nightopians or vanquish foes.

For players new to “NiGHTS,” these levels may at first prove disorienting. The purple protagonist can only be controlled along the horizontal and vertical dimensions while she zigzags in the third dimension along a predetermined path. Though unusual and unintuitive, the dynamic sinks in eventually.

Boss battles require NiGHTS to careen into bouncy behemoths and send them up colorful and ornate structures topographically shaped like a pinball game. The action mixes the physics of pinball with the positioning strategy of goaltending for a fun challenge. Like other levels in the game, however, the objective is not readily made clear and the confusion may result in a re-try or two.

NiGHTS takes other forms, such as that of a raft on which the children must coast down a river and bypass boulders while saving stranded Nightopians. The assortment of game play styles freshens the action, but the depth of the predominant air race levels is unmatched. Even those levels amount to little more than stylized racing, so the story of NiGHTS and the children is short. But the game's life span is significantly extended by multiplayer and online modes, where players can race each other.

“NiGHTS” allows players to use one of four control schemes (Wiimote, Wiimote and nunchuk, classic controller or GameCube controller). Guiding NiGHTS with only the Wiimote's point sensor is awkward, but the nunchuk permits a more natural sense of control. The range of usable inputs in “NiGHTS” also means next to no motion-sensitive controls.

The visual splendor and enchanting music of “NiGHTS” polishes an otherwise shallow package.

Each level is saturated with lights and colors, namely the darkened landscapes of the boss battles, which are highlighted by neon glass platforms that shatter when you send your foes spiraling into them. The soft chanting of the Dream Gate soundtrack song sets a wondrous and spiritual mood fitting for a dream world.

“NiGHTS” also benefits from its heartwarming Peter Pan-like story, which, along with the harmless game play, sends the title squarely into children's territory.

These qualities of “NiGHTS” speak to tremendous work on the part of the game's design team, and the details are almost compelling enough to distract the player from the shortage of appealing game play.

Staff writer David Wilcox reviews video games for The Citizen. He can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net

If you play

Game: “NiGHTS Journey of Dreams”

Score: 64 out of 100

Parental rating: E for everyone

Publisher: Sega

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Price: $49.99

Features: 1-2 player

Life span: Five hours

The final boss: The dazzling visual design of “NiGHTS'” vivifies the decent aerial race game play, but not enough to entirely mask the game's deficiency where it counts.