Air Nights

Journey of Dreams features four different control options: the Wii remote as a standalone controller, the Wii remote in combination with the Nunchuk, the Classic Controller, and the GameCube controller. If the Wii remote is used by itself, Nights' flight is controlled by pointing it at the screen. Additionally, the game offers two multiplayer modes: "Battle Mode" and "Speed Mode", the latter of which is playable only online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. "Battle Mode" allows two local players to battle each other by using a splitscreen, and "Speed Mode" revolves around players competing in races against online opponents.

Nights: Journey of Dreams is split into seven levels. The levels are distributed equally between the two children characters: three are unique to Will, three to Helen, and both share a final boss stage. Gameplay is centred around controlling Nights' flight along a predetermined route through each level, resembling that of a 2D platformer or a racing game. In each level, players initially control Will or Helen but will later on assume control of Nights.

Every night, all human dreams are played out in Nightopia and Nightmare, the two parts of the dream world. In Nightopia, distinct aspects of dreamers' personalities are represented by luminous coloured spheres known as "Ideya". The evil ruler of Nightmare, Wizeman the Wicked, is stealing this dream energy from sleeping visitors to gather power and take control of Nightopia and eventually the real world. To achieve this, he creates "Nightmaren"—jester-like beings who can fly—including Donbalon, Girania, Chamelan, Bomamba, Cerberus and Queen Bella, and many other weaker Nightmaren.

He also creates two "Level One" Nightmaren: Nights and Reala. Nights rebels against Wizeman's plans, and is imprisoned inside an Ideya palace, a gazebo-like container for dreamers' Ideya.

A sequel to Nights into Dreams with the working title Air Nights was originally outlined for the Sega Saturn and subsequently developed for the Dreamcast with motion control being a central element of gameplay. In an August 1999 interview, Yuji Naka confirmed that a sequel was in development, but by December 2000 the project had been cancelled. Naka expressed reluctance to develop a sequel after the Dreamcast's discontinuation, but later noted in 2003 that he would be interested in using the licence of Nights into Dreams to reinforce Sega's identity as a video game developer. Around the same time, Nights into Dreams designer Takashi Iizuka said "as long as I'm with Sega, I will create Nights again" in an interview concerning Sonic Heroes.

Discussion concerning a new game in the series had increased in frequency by 2006. rev, which included an unspecified Nights title. Before the development of Journey of Dreams, Naka confirmed in retrospective interviews that he had intended to base the next Nights game around a unique motion controller.

Nights: Journey of Dreams received mixed to positive reviews. As of February 2017 it holds an aggregate score of 69% at Metacritic, based on an average of 47 reviews.

Many critics praised the game's colourful visuals and special effects. Chris Scullion from the Official Nintendo Magazine thought the game design had all the speed and charm of the original, and enjoyed its "lush" atmosphere and landscapes. Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot also appreciated the game's artistic design, visual "dreaminess" and elegance, and Gerald Villoria of GameSpy liked the game's colourful and vibrant levels. Nintendo Life's Anthony Dickens praised the general visual style of the game, noting that its boss battles in particular "ooze" with bright and exotic colours.

In 2010, Iizuka expressed his interest in making a third Nights game if Sega were to commission one.