Yuji Naka Plans to 'Discuss' NiGHTS, Burning Rangers Sequels Soon

[Dreadknux]

Sonic Team has certainly been coy about the cult success of its non-Sonic IP, such as SEGA Saturn classics NiGHTS into Dreams and Burning Rangers. But if a new interview with Famitsu is anything to go by, it seems like studio head Yuji Naka is keen to explore the potential to create some sequels.

Naka-san was asked about NiGHTS in particular by Famitsu because the Saturn game had recently ranked in the top ten of SEGA's best ever games, following a reader survey. There's clearly some interest in a sequel, and the producer has certainly openly talked about the possibility (and even prototypes for sequels) in the past. So will there be a sequel?

"Whenever I meet players or attend game shows, inevitably this question comes up," Naka-san laughs. "I'm glad everyone has fond memories of NiGHTS, but in some ways, that makes a sequel that much harder for us.,, the NiGHTS world exists in memories and imagination, and creating a sequel might destroy our original vision.

"Taking the players' expectations into consideration makes it even harder to create a sequel," he added, before mentioning another Sonic Team title unprompted. "The same could be said for Burning Rangers."

You'd think that would knock any chance of a sequel on the head, but... Naka-san? "I wouldn't say that," he noted, with a grin. "We plan to discuss the possibility of sequels [internally] again soon, when we can focus our attention on them." He then discussed that a NiGHTS sequel had already been prototyped before - the Air NiGHTS concept, which we previously reported on.

'So there's still a possibility for sequels to NiGHTS or Burning Rangers?' Famitsu asked. "Absolutely," Naka replied. "We may decide to develop a new game entirely that will serve as a sequel to NiGHTS or Burning Rangers," he added, before making one little caveat with regards to Phantasy Star Online.

"I think expansion versions or updates are more appropriate for a game like PSO. That's why we created Version 2. To create a real sequel would require two or three years [of development time] and we don't have that kind of time. So even if we don't release a 'real' sequel, we'll keep releasing expansion versions."

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