RadioSEGA Review: Daytona USA (XBLA)

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Gavvie
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RadioSEGA Review: Daytona USA (XBLA)

Post by Gavvie »

When SEGA teased Daytona USA for release on PSN and XBLA, part of me wondered whether they would be releasing a port of Daytona USA 2001, an arcade port or (whisper this) an entirely new game. Turns out it was a port of the original arcade game, but is it actually any good?

Well...yes and no. The game itself is exactly as good as the arcade game is, and handles a hell of a lot better than the Dreamcast title did. Whilst I wasn't able to test the game out with a steering wheel, the pad is actually quite capable. There are still instances where you need to know the exact braking points though, which is annoying. It distracts a little from the actual arcade experience.

In terms of content, Daytona USA has the original three courses, as well as the original four tracks in both Original and Arrange varieties (to be clear, the Arrange versions are the ones we play quite often here). In addition to the Arcade mode, there's also a Time Attack mode, which plays out as you'd expect, a Challenge mode for each track, which starts off quite easy and gets harder, and a bizarre Karaoke mode.

Yes, Karaoke. This mode sees you pick a course and a track, and off you go. You race indefinitely until the track finishes, and you sing along with the words on screen, or lack of words in the case of Pounding Pavement. Seriously, Pounding Pavement is pointless in this mode. In fact, aside from the solitary achivement you gain from this mode, there is no reason to play it more than once. You can even turn Auto-Drive on so you can focus on singing the song. Pointless.

There's also online multiplayer, supporting up to 8 players. The few races I participated in were relatively smooth, with no lag to report, although of course individual performance may vary. The option to turn rubber banding on or off is welcome, and there's always plenty of AI racers for you to barge into during the race. They don't affect position though, you are only racing against others in the lobby. Whilst being nothing more than moving obstacles, it helps to populate the courses and feel more like a full race, even with two in the lobby.

So far so good then? This is where the "No" bit comes in. If I was to finish the review here, I'd be slapping a 4 on it and recommending it highly. And whilst it's still a game most arcade racing fans should look at, the multiplayer lobby really lets the entire package down.

You read that right, a lobby. Why is this? Because of how archaic it is. After you've completed a race, you can either replay the race or...quit to the lobby and replay the race. You can't change courses without first closing the entire lobby and reopening a new one. For some, this might not be a problem, but if you're wanting an evening of racing fun with friends, this will start getting old very fast.

It's a real shame, as the rest of the game has been treated with a lot of care. The graphics have been given a new coat of paint to upscale them to HD standards, and the music is clearer than it ever was in the arcades. The extra modes add a little length, although not much because of how few courses there are. Karaoke mode is also a rather pointless inclusion, used only for the purposes of an extra tick box on the press release.

In the end, Daytona USA is still up there near the top when it comes to re-releases of SEGA's classic franchises, however a rather half baked multiplayer mode knocks this arcade favourite down from "must own" to "demo first".

3/5
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Post by Son Of A Bayonetta! »

Fantastic and thorough review :)

I will be buying it, despite the lobby problems.

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Post by Killer French Bread »

I haven't played it online yet, my gold account ran out. Sounds crap if you can't change courses. The best part of Outrun 2 was playing online and just chilling out round the 15 stage races. You didn't get that many quitters and it wasn't a game people played seriously, so it had a nice feel to it. Obviousy I was quite good and murked everyone up still though.
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Post by dab_dob »

Nice .. thank you
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