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Seriously, does such a
classic Saturn game like Daytona USA really need any
introduction? I doubt there's a single Saturn owner who
doesn't have Daytona 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:
©Arcade!
It's just drift after drift through the whole tracks.
Although there're only 3 of them there're really well
designed with many various objects surrounding the
tracks including the statue of Jeffrey from VF, huge
rock with Sonic image and a lot more.
Track names are 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 powerslide.
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, the first mode may sometimes
be 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 are also mirror
versions of the tracks allowing you to race on them in
reverse, or choose endurance mode for a half-hour long
race!
Daytona really offers a lot
of great time consuming gaming 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 framerate.
As I mentioned the track
design is great but on the other hand the objects
doesn't look that impressive. The arcade version looks a
lot better and it's obvious that Saturn couldn't handle
such graphics but still Daytona should have had 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 well 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 a couple of quid.
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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