Developed By: SEGA AM2
Published By: SEGA
Date of Release: October 26, 2011
Price: $9.99
ROOOOOLLING STAAAAAAAAAAAAART!
Man, just hearing those opening lyrics brings me back to 1994 when Boomerangs, my local arcade, brought in this awesome new racing game. It had a pair of comfy bucket seats, twin steering wheels and pedals, and huge screens. It was Daytona USA, and its 3d polygon graphics were like nothing I had ever seen. I spent many hours of my youth pumping quarters into that game, challenging anyone who would come my way.
Daytona USA had it all: blazing speed, awesome sound, booming music, intense competition, and excellently tight controls to top it all off. There were tracks for beginners and experts alike, with no sign of cheapo artificial difficulty, with a little practice anybody could shine.
Sadly, nothing seems to last forever. Boomerangs went out of business in 2001, and good old fashioned arcade racing disappeared with it. A couple ports for the Saturn and Dreamcast came out, but they never seemed to capture the spirit of the title.
The year is 2011. SEGA begins an all out digital assault on modern consoles, starting with classics like Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5... Little did the world know that come October, they would drop the biggest bomb of all: Daytona USA.
Completely retooled from the ground up with remastered sounds, music and stunningly sharp HD graphics, Daytona USA has managed to capture the true feel of the arcade original, which is no small feat. The new graphics retain the original look and feel of the game, with sharp redrawn textures to replace their fuzzy arcade counterparts. On the sound front you can swap between an arranged soundtrack and the original arcade music at will. The gamepad controls are incredibly tight, and you can also connect a racing wheel for the true arcade experience.
One strange addition is karaoke mode, which lets you choose a song to listen to while you race, the lyrics will be shown onscreen so you can sing along as you drive. I'm not sure why they added this on, but this is SEGA we're talking about, famous for often quirky game features. Other additions are challenge mode which sees you accomplishing various objectives, a survival mode where you have to beat the clock, and online multiplayer. My online experiences were perfectly smooth and lag free.
All in all, Daytona USA is a wonderful port that recaptures the look and feel of the glory days of arcade racing perfectly. Anyone who is tired of the stark and sterile realism of modern racing sims should look into Daytona USA, and novice drivers can cut their teeth on this awesome gem. If you're into racing, than you can totally burn rubber on this track!
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