I can remember being 13 years old going to my local arcade and playing Daytona USA and then 2 years later it was ported to the Dreamcast. It was just as awesome then as it was in the arcade. Unfortunately, I can’t say it aged well.
The recent release of Daytona USA to the XBLA was a huge announcement and something that hard core Sega fans have wanted for a long time. Like many of the games re-released on todays digital platforms, most of the hype and excitement are nostalgia and when you get your hands on the game you realize that your excitement is short lived.
The game has a few modes to choose from. The initial screen gives you the option of “Arcade” and “Extras”. Arcade mode is the basic three track set up that will most be remembered. The track options are “Beginner”, “Advanced”, and “Expert”. Each track is different and gets more complex as you move through difficulty. The odd thing is that the game difficulty on harder levels has nothing to do with the difficulty of the track. The car controls are horrific and did not age well over the past 16 years.
You have absolutely no sense of speed or control of the car you drive. On the harder courses the amount of hair pin turns and hidden curves mixed with the lack of solid game controls makes for a race that loses its fun quickly. You also have the Extras option to choose from. Here you’ll find modes like “Survival” and Karaoke”. These are basically the same tracks with new gimmicky objectives. An example would be while playing Karaoke mode, the primary objective would be to continue to drive the selected course until the song that’s playing is completed. Not exactly a rolled up ball of racing fun.
The games soundtrack is a less than clever mix of classic arcade rifs and exaggerated car sounds. Even in the Karaoke mode the music is just as simple as you can possibly imagine it to be. The graphics are very mid 90’s as well. The game looks very primitive. It feels like it moves fast all the time and most instances you have no idea what is coming due to the lack of a proper map. No matter what game mode you choose you’re always limited to the three tracks that are stock on the game. After doing the arcade mode the other game modes seem stale and boring due to the repetitiveness of the environments. Yes, all these things sound so bad, but when you take into consideration the game is getting ready to peak at 20 years old, you either have to take this game for what it is; A nice piece of Sega history being re-introduced to a new audience. Or you classify it as a failure due to the lack of innovation and so on that new games of this type has.
The game has the normal 200 GS to be unlocked and you’ll find that due to lack of content, the achievements can be fully unlocked in around 30 minutes or so. This also means that the game replay value is next to nothing. After you have played this game for over an hour you get the feeling that you may have gained all you can from it. Even though this game is a classic and still fun at it’s core, with today’s asking prices for games, 800 MS points is way over the top to ask for this game. While it’s a nice addition to the XBLA, this game would barely demand 400 points much less 800. This game is by far a deal of the week purchase and if it ever makes it there be sure to pick it up. Otherwise, unless you’re a fan of old school Sega, I would say this game is a pass.
