Arcade mode mimics the arcade to a tee, offering three tracks representing beginner, advanced, and expert difficulty.

Considering its flaws makes it that much more disappointing.Īt the very least it matches the arcade in terms of content and then some. Maybe it wouldn’t be so harsh if this were not meant to be flagship title for the Saturn’s. To be fair the arcade game had its share of pop-in but nowhere near this bad. It is disconcerting to approach a turn and see a mountain magically appear. Daytona has it on full display as nearly a third of the track is drawn in front of you at all times. Most games used either fog or clever track design to hide it. This was an issue throughout that entire generation and the Saturn version of Daytona is one of the worst in that respect. The worst aspect of the graphics aside from the framerate is the draw distance. It is impressive that they managed to include all forty cars on the initial track but the sacrifices to do so were not worth it. When plenty of cars are on screen it dips lower than that. In the arcade it was a smooth 60 but on console it rarely goes above twenty. The Saturn had to make many concessions to fit on the system. Daytona might as well have come from another planet in comparison with its texture mapping and filtered textures.

Virtua Racing shocked gamers with its smooth gameplay thanks to its flat shaded polygons. It can’t be stated enough just how insane Daytona was at release. The gameplay is still there but damn, Daytona deserves better. Namco did a spectacular job porting Ridge Racer to Sony’s new console which made Sega’s effort embarrassing. It is hard not to compare it to the PlayStation version of Ridge Racer. Rushed for the system’s launch Daytona USA suffers from heavy graphical flaws that affect the gameplay as well. The Saturn version of Daytona USA, although it captures most of what made the arcade game great, is a disappointment. With the Saturn on the horizon arcade ports were inevitable and many hoped for a perfect port. Alongside Virtua Fighter Daytona USA was a one-two punch that put Sega ahead of nearly everyone in terms of 3d graphics.

It wasn’t the first 3d racing game in arcades but it was the most impressive. With its slick texture mapped graphics and 60 fps it was like nothing we had seen before, at home or in the arcade. Developer: Sega AM2 Publisher: Sega Released: 1995 Genre: Racingĭaytona USA in the arcades was a revolutionary title for a number of reasons.

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