SEGA's HD update of the Saturn classic NiGHTS into dreams... was highly anticipated before release, but when it finally dropped on PSN and XBLA at the end of October, the remake didn't quite live up to expectations. The primary complaint amongst gamers, and one that was echoed in our review of the XBLA version, was the lack of true analog controls. While the original Saturn version had it, the PSN and XBLA versions were limited to an eight-way control input.

Based on an update posted to the official SEGA blog this morning, it appears that SEGA heard the complaints loud and clear. Today, the company issued a patch that updates the control scheme to support 24-way input.

From the SEGA blog:

Attention NiGHTS into dreams… fans! We've released a patch for the game on XBLA and PSN with two very important updates. First, we've adjusted the controls to allow analog input in 24 directions, which will give you greater control. Second, we've changed the drill-dash speed so it aligns with the Saturn version of the game.

Make sure you get the update, and keep enjoying the game!

Though we only had time to run through a single area of the game, there was a noticeable difference in post-patch play. Movement was indeed smoother and our resulting post-patch scores were quite a bit higher than they ever were when playing with the pre-patch version of the game. If you own a copy of NiGHTS into dreams… on PSN or XBLA, it's worth a second look with the patch in place.