Daytona USA (arcade game)

Daytona USA is a racing arcade game released by Sega in 1994. Daytona USA took the groundwork laid by Sega in their 1992 release Virtua Racing and built upon it, with the smoothest graphics yet seen in a racing game at the time. The game was also a huge leap forward in multiplayer, with the possibility of linking four twin cabinets, or eight deluxe cabinets, to create a massive eight player competition. Deluxe cabinets also contained a camera attached just above the coinslots pointing towards the drivers seat, which could be linked to a television to show the player's facial expressions on a separate screen. Daytona USA also features a critically acclaimed soundtrack, in addition to drift-friendly handling. These points make it accessible as well as incredibly fun to play - a modern point of comparison would be with OutRun 2.

Daytona USA is the single highest grossing arcade game ever made; no game since has come close to selling as many units or receiving as much income for arcade owners. ^*

Courses

There are three race courses in the arcade version of Daytona USA

Beginner - Three-Seven Speedway

Course Type: Speedway
Number of laps: 8 / 20 / 80 (Standard / Grand Prix / Endurance mode)
Number of Cars: 40
Skill Level: Beginner
Note: This course begins on a rolling start

A standard oval speedway track in layout (based loosely on the Daytona International Speedway and Pocono Raceway, where the hairpin turn comes from), but it is in a forest setting, with many large trees and the famous "Mount Sonic." There is also the overhead slot machine which can be played by pressing the Start button, getting 3 like symbols will give the player a time bonus.

Advanced - Dinosaur Canyon

Course type: Road course
Number of laps (Standard mode): 4
Number of Cars: 20
Skill Level: Advanced

This road course goes through a tough canyon terrain with many elevation changes. Notable features include the lit tunnel, the power generating windmills, and the words "SEGA-AM2" in the grass on the outside section of the penultimate turn.

Expert - Seaside Street Galaxy

Course type: Street circuit
Number of laps (Standard mode): 2
Number of Cars: 30
Skill Level: Expert

This winding street course goes across a bridge (twice) from an island to a city. This is one of the most difficult courses in all of Sega-AM2's racing games. The notable feature of this course is the statue of Jeffery from Virtua Fighter. One of the hardest enemies on this course is the #55 Evangeline Motor Oil car, located in first place. It will take a lot of skill to beat this enemy within two laps to cross the finish line first.

Home console versions

Sega Saturn & PC

Daytona USA

Daytona USA was ported to the Sega Saturn as a Western launch title in 1995 and to Microsoft Windows in 1996. The conversion had a somewhat slow frame rate (compared to the arcade version's 60fps), and used 'clipping' to render only the scenery nearest the player. This failed to impress many critics and casual gamers, who voiced preference for the Sony PlayStation's Ridge Racer port. Hindsight amongst the gaming community, however, places Daytona USA as the more playable game, with Ridge Racer being merely a technically-impressive arcade port.

Daytona USA is compatible with the Arcade Racer steering wheel: it is not, however, compatible with the 3D analogue control pad.

Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition

In 1997, the in-house team that oversaw the Saturn port of Sega Rally Championship remade the original Saturn version of Daytona USA with a new engine (a hacked version of the Sega Rally Championship engine). This version, entitled Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition, reduced the popup that was prevalent in the original Saturn version. A new selection of cars was playable, two new tracks (Desert City and National Park Speedway) were added, and a 2-player mode was playable. This version's soundtrack uses remixes of the original Daytona USA soundtrack for the courses that use them; Desert City and National Park Speedway have their own themes. There were also three new themes added that could be assigned to a track, entitled 'Funk Fair', 'The Noisy Roars of Wilderness', and 'Race to the Bass'.

Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition was later released on the PC platform as Daytona USA Deluxe. A Direct3D patch for this PC version was also later released.

Daytona USA: CCE was also separately released for the Saturn as a Netlink-compatible title, entitled Daytona USA: CCE Netlink Edition.

This version has been criticised by Daytona USA fans for its 'realistic' handling, as opposed to the loose, arcadey feel of the original Daytona USA. It is also the first version of Daytona USA to name the three tracks present in the original Daytona USA game (rather than using Beginner, Intermediate and Expert): 'Three Seven Speedway' (for the Beginner track), 'Dinosaur Canyon' (for the Intermediate track), and 'Seaside Street Galaxy' (for the Expert track).

Daytona USA: Championship is compatible with the Saturn's 3D analogue control pad, in addition to the Arcade Racer steering wheel and the Virtua Stick.

Daytona USA: Circuit Edition

After the release of Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition to the Western Saturn market, an updated version was later released in Japan as Daytona USA: Circuit Edition. This version has the soundtracks from both the original Daytona USA arcade game and the remixes from Championship Circuit Edition, in addition to the eight-minute-long 'Daytona Medley' of all three original track themes. It also retained the drifty handling of the original Daytona USA arcade game that was changed in Championship Circuit Edition, and added the ability to play at night or at dusk. Aside from these differences, it is identical to the Western Championship Circuit Edition.

Sega Dreamcast

Daytona USA 2001

In 2001, Daytona USA was given a complete revamp for release on the Sega Dreamcast platform. This version sports tracks from the original Daytona USA game and the Championship Circuit Edition. Three tracks were also specially designed for this game ('Rin Rin Rink', 'Circuit Pixie' and 'Mermaid Lake'). The game was given a gargantuan graphical update (by far outclassing the 1994 definition of 'arcade-perfect'). Daytona USA 2001 was also playable online.

Trivia

On the Beginner course there is a cameo of Sonic the Hedgehog just before you cross the finish line - the final bend in the track features Sonic engraved into the mountain to the right as you approach. Interestingly, in the arcade and Sega Saturn games he faces the left, but in the Sega Dreamcast version he faces the right.
Also on the Beginner course, mounted on the tunnel after the first bend is a slot machine. Pressing the X button (Sega Saturn) or the START button (arcade) as you approach it will cause one of the reels to stop spinning. If you get three 7 icons lined up, you will receive a time bonus. This can also be accomplished in the Sega Dreamcast version by using the gear change button - you can also stop the reels multiple times in one lap if you are quick enough; in the Saturn and arcade game, you can only hit the appropriate button once per lap.
On the Expert course there is a statue of Jeffry McWild from the Virtua Fighter series, located on the last curve before the straightaway, after passing through the tunnel near the beginning of the course. If you approach the statue, stop, and press either X (Sega Saturn) or START (arcade), you can make the statue move and stand on its head.
The racing team is named Hornet. Their colors consist of red and blue (automatic transmission), yellow, red, and black (manual transmission), all blue (automatic) and all red (manual). In the Sega Saturn version, Hornet has some extra colors: black (automatic), green (automatic), light blue (automatic), light yellow (automatic), pink (manual), peach (manual), and orange (manual). The extra cars can be accessed by placing first on both 777 Speedway and Dinosaur Canyon on Normal difficulty, or by pressing Down-Right on the D-pad, left trigger (L), right trigger (R), C, and Y buttons on the gamepad. In addition to the above, the Saturn version also has playable horses; they are obtained by winning all races on Normal; a second horse is unlocked by placing 1st on 777 Speedway on Endurance (80 laps as opposed to the usual 8), again on Normal. All these carry over to the PC version.
In the Sega Saturn version, the black and orange cars do not slow down on walls, but they will spin out on the grass. This is reversed for the green and pink Hornet cars, so in other words, they don't slow down on the grass, but they will crash and slow down on the walls. Lastly, the light blue and yellow cars are the fastest, but are very weak in the grip department.
In the Sega Saturn title, Fighters Megamix, one of the Hornet cars became one of the hidden fighters.
If you had a high score in this game, you can enter your initials as something like P.D, V.R, SMG, R.M, SHO, and more to hear short versions of classic Sega tunes from games such as Virtua Racing, Rad Mobile, Super Hang-On, Turbo Out Run, and more.

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