Yep- the ANVIS-6s were actually pretty good. Overwater LLL, away from the boat, was basically IMC like unaided flying. But except for when it was very, very dark like that, being able to see the natural horizon right in front of your eyeballs was a great improvement.
The SH-60 cockpit lighting kit was another story. Somehow nobody could figure out how to order blue, NVG-compatible, bulbs for the primary instrument backlighting so we had to put up with a hodgepodge of secondary lighting (front lighting) that worked OK on most of the primary instruments, except for the radar altimeter (which you hardly ever need for night, overwater helicopter flying). Instead we shone the Grimes light (utility light) from over/behind the pilots' shoulders. Two big WTF problems with that Grimes light- the color filter sucked and it leaked a lot of near-IR light that the NVGs would pick up (so could see a reflection of your lap in the windshield), and the lights were visible to the naked eye several miles away, thus removing any element of surprise from using the NVGs. I suspect that the NAVAIR people who weren't smart enough to work on Penguin got assigned to the 60B NVG adaptation kit... or maybe it was vice-versa. Just thinking about the incompetence still makes me mad... this is just one reason why veterans drink.
On the bright side, we didn't need the TAS-6 anymore for reading hull names and vessel registry during night SSC. And the added SA that Gator mentioned, for everyone in your crew about anything visible topside, that was the whole point.
Behind the boat, I missed the SGSI (colored glideslope lights) on final but the tradeoff of being able to actually see mom was a no-brainer. Then there are the fond memories of daily life in the smallboy navy- the blackshoes trying to configure the ship for NVG helo ops by apparently throwing random light switches, months into deployment, with no logic or reason (the nav lights off, good, wait, why did you just turn on the mast head light?? Now you just turned the nav lights back on! Now the nav lights again are off except the stern light, that's the worst one!), the heater glow of Seaman Schmuckatelli/Ensign Schmuckatelli's Marlboro down in the smoke pit. You're not so sly, we can see you down there! Bonus points if it was the unofficial smoke pit/radiation deck up on the roof of the hangar. Hope you want to have only daughters, Schmuckatelli!