Daytona USA

"A classic Saturn racer"

Seriously, does such a classic Saturn game like Daytona USA really needs any introduction? I doubt there's a single Saturn owner who doesn't have Dayotna on the shelf next to Sega Rally or Virtua Fighter 2. Daytona USA is one of many arcade-ports for Saturn and even if it's a little disappointing in terms of quality of the conversion, the main factor, gameplay, remained untouched.

You can define Daytona USA with one word: (c)arcade! It's just drift after drift through the whole tracks. Although there are only 3 of them they are really well designed with many various objects surrounding the tracks including the statue of Jeffry from VF, huge rock with Sonic image and a lot more. Tracks are named simple: beginner, advanced and expert. While the beginner track is just a typical oval, the other two are more challenging with some tricky corners that are begging to cut them with power slide. The gameplay is fast paced and gives a lot of fun but it'll take some time to master those drifts and achieve some decent times.

You have a choice to race against other cars or against the clock in time lap mode. As for the first mode it may be sometimes annoying when the other cars push you against the walls or block you, but it's the only way to unlock new cars. Also you have a slightly higher top speed than when racing in time lap mode. There're also mirror versions of the tracks and you can always race them by taking the wrong way. Or choose endurance mode for a half-hour long race. Daytona really offers a lot of great time even if it seems to be quite the opposite at first.

Time to say something about Daytona's A/V. The visuals are average with a visible pop-up and mediocre frame rate. As I mentioned the tracks design is great but on the other hand the objects doesn't look that impressive. The arcade version looks a lot better, it's obvious that Saturn couldn't handle such graphics but still Daytona should have a better presentation. When it comes to music... well I like it but someone could say the it sucks, it just depends. My opinion is that the songs fit the game pretty good with some memorable lyrics like "Daaytooooooooooona!! Let's go away!" and others. There's also a hidden "Karaoke mode" so you can listen to them in instrumental versions (and sing by yourself if you really want to).

Daytona USA is just a must have for every Saturn owner. Even if you don't like racing games, you probably have one (or maybe more than one) copy of Daytona USA already and if you don't- buy it now for even less than 3 pounds. It's just a perfect title for both short, 15 minutes long sessions in front of Saturn and long, hours-lasting marathons of lap time tweaking. Pure arcade.

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Gameplay 9/10 Nice arcade driving model, with a big emphasis on drifting, gives a lot of fun.

Graphics 6/10 Could've been better, but you'll get used to them shortly.

Music 7/10 Some quite good rock tunes.

Replayability 7/10 Three courses sound like a demo version today but it's enough to master the game with pleasure for a long time.

Originality 5/10 It has its own style but it's just one among many many other racing games.

Overall 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/10/09

Game Release: Daytona USA (EU, 1995)