Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition

Review by: Frank Provo

Bottom Line: 8 Difficulty: Adjustable, but not easy.

Daytona USA exists as possibly the best racing game ever created. Though the Saturn port of the original Daytona left much to be desired, it kept intact the familiar gameplay and excitement that one finds travelling at 200mph in an arcade machine. Saturn Daytona certainly wasn't a masterpiece, but it was loved--and that's what ultimately matters.

Now Sega has released a sequel (or upgrade if you wish to call it that) to their popular Daytona USA game. Enter Daytona Championship Circuit Edition. Gamers wanted more tracks, more cars, and a 2-player simultaneous mode. Well people, you got it. Daytona: CCE further improves upon the old Daytona framework by increasing the framerate and eliminating the worst instances of pop-up. On paper, all of these improvements seem to make a masterpiece even better.

Unfortunately, something is rotten in Denmark. Yes, there are now 8 cars to choose from, and indeed they all control & act differently from one another. On the other hand, none of the cars controls remotely like any of the cars from the original Daytona (except maybe that piece of crap rated all D's). Those who were fans of the original Daytona control will have an entirely new game to learn. Those who hated the control of Daytona USA will probably find much to love in CCE. Braking has been made much more realistic, skids are not God's gift to racing, and powerslides require an insane amount of reflex, control and awareness. If I had to compare Daytona: CCE's control to something, I'd say it was a mixture between Sega Rally and the old Daytona. It's certainly not bad, but it's going to take a great many people a long time to get used to. I admit though, Sega is asking a lot from die hard Daytona fans.

Then again, as I said, there are now 8 cars to control, so at least the lack of options has been resolved. The familiar time attack and mirror modes are still present as well. When you further take into account that the game runs at a solid 30fps (except with huge packs of cars), and that pop-up has been minimized or controlled, the liberties that Sega/AM2 took with the control may be forgivable.

Graphically, if you buy Daytona: CCE, you will see a great deal of background movement, detail, and quirky incidentals. This game definitely looks a great deal more like the arcade Daytona than Saturn Daytona USA did, in that most choppiness, dropout, and cutbacks have been removed. There is a bit more pop-up and loss of detail in the 2-player mode though, but nothing approaching the magnitude of Sega Rally or the old 32X Virtua Racing Deluxe. All in all, CCE looks pretty darn good, even if it's not as sharp in places compared to Daytona USA.

Graphics and control aren't the only things altered in Daytona: CCE. Sega also deemed it right to totally revamp the sound this time around as well, which is a very welcome change. Gone is that nutty sing-along voice that was present in Daytona USA. Replacing him are very well done, remixed versions of the arcade music, which do a great job of replicating what one feels inside the cockpit of a multiplayer Daytona arcade machine. The bass is a bit lacking in spots, but overall the music has been improved. There's even a nifty-spiffy title song with vocals as well, but whether one likes it depends on their taste. If you dig the Baywatch theme-song, you'll probably love it (It is kinda snappy).

Sound effects have met with a similar overhaul. Engine sounds now resemble their arcade counterparts. Crashes, skids, and general car noises have been refined and improved as well. In addition, the backseat driver of a pit boss now sounds as if he is broadcasting over an intercom, further adding to the realism. He also utters a greater variety of pithy statements too... though once he warns you about the tires a few times you'll ponder strangling him. All in all, little can be said negatively about the sound effects. They're all well done, very realistic, and quite varied. Admittedly, Sega did remove the announcer who says "Please select a racecourse", "Manual or Automatic transmission", and reads off your initials at the name entry screen, but that's not a detriment moreso than it's removing something that wasn't broken.

Owners of the original Daytona may wish to try this title before buying it. Those who don't own the first Daytona, or who hated the "friendly" control will probably eat this game up. Though it may be a sequel containing three out of five familiar levels, make no mistake this is a brand new game. As such, you'll have a lot of learning ahead of you. If it's any consolation, at least you can bludgeon a friend in the handy-dandy splitscreen mode. *grin*

Ratings

Graphics: 8

+ MUCH MUCH MUCH less pop-up than the original Daytona.
+ Background detail and framerate are all noticably improved.
+ The backgrounds all animate uniquely. ie. The train in the desert.
- Cars and scenery seem a bit blurrier than the original Daytona.
- The framerate drops visibly when you're in a pack of around 5 cars.

Sound: 9

+ The new music does sound pretty good, and is minus the singing.
+ Car noises are much closer to how arcade Daytona sounds.
+ The pit boss now speaks over an intercom. Realistic backseat driving.
+ You can change the music for each track, and adjust the volume level.
- They removed a lot of incidental speech from the original Daytona menus.

Gameplay/Control: 7 (less if you love the original Daytona controls)

+ Each car has its own handling characteristics.
+ Unlike the original Daytona, crashes are no longer divinely inevitable.
+ Powerslides are done more realistically. Brakes actually matter now.
+ Crashes, spinouts, and skids are much more realistic.
+ The arcade racer and analog pad are supported very very well!
- They changed car mechanics/physics entirely from the previous Daytona.
- The arcade feel and initial thrill value have been replaced by learning.

Replay Value/Fun Factor: 8

+ Finally, a 2 player mode in Daytona. Yay!
+ 2 new tracks to race, in addition to the 3 old ones.
+ If you think you've beaten it all, hold X+Y+Z to choose mirror mode.
+ Time attacks, ghost cars, and variable difficulty--Endless challenge.
+ 8 cars, 2 hidden vehicles... umm, what more do you want? A school bus?
- Control is way different from the old Daytona. It doesn't play like Daytona.
- If you have the original Daytona, you've played most of this before.

Overall: 8 (a bit less if you love how the old Daytona plays)