The prodigal returns... (Daytona USA 2001 (DC))

Member Name: dreamerz

Product:	Daytona USA 2001 (DC)
Date:	22/05/01 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Its Daytona, only better!!

Disadvantages: No online mode, Perhaps a little dated

Ah, memories. I can still remember the thrill of my first play on Dayatona, sat in the oversized driving seat, tearing around the oval circuit at breakneck speed. For me it will always be the definitive driving game, spinning around corners at ridiculous angles, the cheeziness of the 80s rawk soundtrack the delight of beating my best mate, the sheer exhilaration of it all.

Sadly whilst its counterpart of time Ridge Racer survived the transition to 32 bit console pretty much unscaved, Daytona did not fare too well. The Saturn version, was not to put too fine a point on it, awful. A juddery, jerky mess with some of the worst pop up ever seen in a driving game. How my heart was broken.

But wait, seven years later my old friend is back, in a souped up revamp on a more powerful piece of hardware then the original Model 2 architecture. I’ve been engaged in a game an ongoing game of hide and seek with my local games shop as the release date has slipped, and then slipped again, but finely the game has made its official debut. So it was with great trepidation that I removed the cellophane and popped the GD Rom into my Dreamcast. Was I about to undergo another great disappointment?

The answer, I am glad to report is clear no. Daytona USA 2001, is if anything superior to the original. The graphics have been spruced up for the 128 bit incarnation, there are more courses, hidden cars and of course online play. Except that is if like me you live in the UK, where for reasons best know to themselves, Sega have decided to remove the online race function from the European edition. With the Dreamcast already playing dead man walking, Sega have decided they can not justify the expense of dedicated European servers for the game (the same fate has also befallen Unreal Tournament). The fact that we could use the American or Japanese servers, seems to have escaped Mr Sega Europe so we have to make do with uploading our best times to the websi
te. Not quite the same you might agree.

Oh well, no matter. Its Dayatona I thought to myself. And so it is. In addition to the classic three arcade courses there are five new ones, all excellent designs, a particular favourite of mine is the rollercoaster-esque National Park Speedway. The same four cars: Hornet, Grasshopper, Falcon and Lightning make a welcome return and the player is rewarded with an additional three on completing the tournament mode. The originals gloriously cheezy music also makes a welcome return in a suitably sheek CD sampled form which sounds great (well kind of) when played through speakers. Apart from the spangly new graphics and spruced up sound one odd new addition is the hint of political correctness in the introduction. The overblown American commentator now pronounces ‘Ladies’ and Gentlemen start your engines. Sure its brought the game into the 21st century but it does kind of jar with the childhood memories. This is but a small gripe however.

I read with horror, the reviews which detailed that the import copy of the game was almost unplayable with a standard pad. Thankfully this appears to have been sorted out with the European version. The default control setting are perhaps a little too twitchy for comfort, but a quick mess with the options screen soon has them trained and within a few plays I was executing perfect 45 degree slides around corners. Ah bliss.

That said, with the removal of online play there is the sneaking suspicion that Daytona is a little dated these days. Although the graphics have been tarted up tremendously the underlying physics model remains the same, the cars still don’t roll realistically. However, if this had been messed with no doubt I would be crying a chorus of disapproval. The game is just as much fun to play now as it was seven years ago, and the two player mode is terrific if you recruit a fellow Daytona nutter (such as my flat mate *tee hee*)
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In one player, the Championship mode offers a tough challenge to all but the best drivers, although disappointingly there is little in the way of extras, such as Crazy Taxi’s Crazy Box mode. This really is just a straight arcade conversion, and with the removal of online play, it does seem a little threadbare.

So to conclude, if you have been raised on modern racers such Gran Tourismo or Metropolis Street Racer, Daytona may well seem nothing special. Certainly in one player mode it lacks the lasting appeal of both those titles. To a grizzled arcade veteran such as myself however, Daytona USA 2001 is nothing short of a dream come true. Sure there’s little in the way of extras and the handling is incredibly unrealistic, but who cares? Its terrific fun to play even now. If you were a fan back then, you just have to get this. If you are too young to remember, give it a try and see how we used to get our racing thrills.

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