This is one of those games that throws you in without a proper tutorial, and as such it can be very frustrating to play if you don't know what you're doing. There's no other game like NiGHTS, so throw out everything you think you know about it before going in. Gameplay context from flight sims, Sonic games, and even this game's sequel, the Wii's Journey of Dreams, won't help you here.
You'll start each level as either Elliot or Claris with NiGHTS in a gazebo right in front of you. Go ahead and touch NiGHTS right away, exploring as the kids is a waste of time. This will start the level proper and cause a timer to appear at the top of the screen.
There are four laps (called Mares) per level, each with their own ranking. You cannot go to the next Mare until you've freed that Mare's Ideya, which are stuck in the large, clear, circular containers that can be broken for 20 blue orbs each. This is your primary objective for the start of each Mare. You'll get a bigger time bonus the faster you free each Ideya, so getting 20 orbs should be your absolute priority. Everything in each Mare resets whenever you do a full lap, so don't worry if you don't have enough right away.
After you've gotten that Mare's Ideya, if you fly back into the gazebo you started the level in, you will progress to the next Mare. Do not do this right away. While there is a time bonus for freeing an Ideya, there isn't one for completing a Mare, so by ending a Mare early you're essentially throwing away free points. Most of the time you should till have a decent amount of time left over after freeing an Ideya, so make sure you fly over the gazebo instead and keep doing laps to get more points. You should have a good feel for the Mare's layout by now, so do everything you can to fly through as many loops, orbs, and stars as you can, as quickly as you can. Just make sure to make it back to the gazebo before time runs out. Cut it as close as you can, even go back halfway through a lap if you need to, but never let that number reach 0.
When the time runs out, you'll turn back into Elliot/Claris, all of the blue orbs you've collected will scatter, and you'll lose all your points from that Mare. While you can walk around and pick up the blue orbs to salvage a few points, this is all but guaranteed to get you an F-rank for the Mare. NiGHTS is waiting for you back at the gazebo, and the timer has been replaced by a Crazy Taxi arrow to help you get there. Getting back to NiGHTS will start the next Mare. Just don't take too long, or else a floating alarm clock will start following you around. If it reaches you, it's game over.
Your overall score is averaged from all four Mares at the end of each level, but you're not done yet. There's a boss at the end of each level. They're all pretty straightforward for the most part, but you have to beat them as fast as you can. The faster you beat the boss, the better score multiplier it'll give you, and trust me, you're going to want them for an A-rank. Even if you got all A's in the main level, if you take too long to beat the boss it could lower your rank to a B. Conversely, if you don't do too well on the level but beat the boss in record time, it could help raise your rank. Either way, try not to take damage during the fight, as it'll take five seconds off the timer and stun NiGHTS for a second. Running out of time during a boss also gets you a game over and you'll need to start the whole level over again.
That all may sound like a lot, but trust me, it'll make more sense once you actually start playing the game. The flow state you get from NiGHTS is unlike anything else I've ever played, so once you understand what you need to do, it plays like a dream.
Deck Playable