Still a classic
Yeah, Daytona USA for the Dreamcast isn't exactly a new title, but it's still arcade racing at its uncomplicated best five years after its release. The visuals are terrific, for one; they blow away not only the pretty horrible Saturn conversion, but the arcade original as well. Gone are the jaggies and pop-up that plagued both the Saturn and, to a lesser but noticable extent, the arcade versions. Trackside details have been smoothed out and now have a much more fluid look. The cars are now smoother and far less boxy, and boast much more detail, including reflection mapping (though not in real-time) and damage modeling. You can even choose what color scheme you want for each car.
As for tracks, of course the three classics are present and accounted for: Three Seven Speedway, Dinosaur Canyon, and Seaside Street Galaxy. Let me tell you, it's quite a joy to see the classic Sonic rock and grandstands of Three Seven appear on the screen as they were intended too, and not just suddenly popping into view. Knowing that just three tracks, great as they may be, weren't going to cut it for this incarnation, Sega has added five more tracks for your powersliding pleasure: Desert City and (from CCE), and three newbies: RIn Rin RInk, Mermaid Lake, and Circuit Pixie. Circuit Pixie, a simple oval, is a complete waste of a track as far as I'm concerned; Daytona's fun lies in powersliding through successive turns at breakneck speeds, and this overly simple track doesn't allow for that at all. Just mash the gas and before long you'll be in first...yippy. The other four tracks have their strong points, and are generally fun and easy on the eyes, but don't quite measure up to the original three in terms of overall feel. You can race on them in mirrored, reversed, or reversed mirrored to spice things up a bit as well.
That brings me to its circuit mode. Although I appreciate the fact that Sega included one after not offering it in the Saturn version, they've gone about implementing it in an uninspired, completely half-assed fashion. Instead of offering the tracks in a different order each time, or throwing in mirrored or reversed tracks here and there, you get eight tracks in a preset order, then the same eight tracks in the same order, only reversed. That's it. Speed Devils showed a hell of a lot more creativity in their championship mode...why couldn't Sega have taken note and given the circuit mode a lot more longevity? It wouldn't have been too hard.
My other complaint involves the cars you unlock over time. Although Daytona will never be confused with a sim rooted in realism, too many of the unlockables are goofy oddities, and their appearance alone really kills any desire you might have to drive one of them, in spite of their strengths. With all of the attention that was given to improving the appearance of the normal cars, why even include these at all? How about including some more cars that actually look like they belong on the track? As for the most important aspect, gameplay...well, before you even think of starting a race, head to the controller config menu and turn the analog sensitivity ALL the way down. Trust me on this one. After that, well, Daytona purists won't like the controls at first, but after a few races it actually feels quite wonderful, and before you know it you'll be pulling off all of the old powerslides and maneuvers you remember from your heyday of sweating out seven other Daytona-freaks in some greasy arcade somewhere. And that's when the pure racing bliss that is Daytona USA truly kicks in in its own special, adrenaline-pumping way that so few other racers can even touch, even now. Despite its limited championship mode and some weak unlockables, this title, with its still-stunning visuals and excellent gameplay, remains a must-have classic. DAY-TON-AAAAAAAAAAAA...yes!