Daytona USA 2001

Daytona USA 2001, known in North America as Daytona USA, is a racing arcade game developed by Sega and Genki which is a complete revamp of Daytona USA for release on the Dreamcast platform. This version features every single course from the original Daytona USA game and the Championship Circuit Edition. Three new tracks were specially designed for Daytona USA 2001, and all of the tracks are playable normally, in reverse, mirrored, or in reverse-mirrored mode.

Daytona USA 2001
Japanese Dreamcast cover art
Developer(s)Amusement Vision
Genki
Publisher(s)Sega
Hasbro Interactive (Japan and North America)
Infogrames (Europe)
Platform(s)Dreamcast
Release
  • JP: December 21, 2000
  • NA: March 12, 2001
  • EU: May 11, 2001
  • AU: July 13, 2002
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

The game's graphics were significantly updated from previous home installments of Daytona USA, more resembling the likes of Daytona USA 2. It was also playable online, allowing for competition between up to four players and uploading/downloading of best times and ghost car information, although the online options were removed from the PAL version. The Dreamcast's online servers for both Alien Front Online and Daytona USA 2001 were taken down permanently by mistake as a result of the developers hard-coding the IP-address to the servers in the game and Sega giving away a network block that belonged to AT&T.[1] Another addition to Daytona USA 2001 was the Championship mode, where the player must place above a certain point in the overall rankings to progress, culminating in the King of Daytona Cup.

Daytona USA 2001 was criticized for poor controls. The analog stick's default setting is extremely sensitive, but that can be corrected in the options screen (except in the Japanese version). However, the game still does not handle exactly like the original arcade version of Daytona USA even when using a racing wheel. The physics, handling, and control are different from the arcade version. Though it is likely that the game has its game mechanics derived from Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2, and was designed with analog controls in mind and therefore does not play as easily on a joypad as the Sega Saturn versions which used a standard d-pad.

Gameplay

Daytona USA 2001 retains three tracks from Daytona USA and two from Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition, while adding three new and exclusive circuits.[2] All of them can be played in four variants: mirror, mirror reverse, reverse and straight up.[3] Several game modes are available: single race, championship, time trial and 2 players with split screen.[4] Only four cars can be used at the start, with the possibility of unlocking more as the progress is made.[2]

The courses taken from Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition do not have their original themes; instead, new songs are used in place of Funk Fair, The Noisy Roars of Wilderness, and Pounding Pavement. Race to the Bass and the Daytona USA Medley do not appear either. The new songs are not given names in-game, and with the lack of an official soundtrack CD; it is assumed they are named after their respective courses.

In addition to the above themes, Daytona USA 2001 also features different remixed music for the mirror and mirror-reversed versions of the courses. Theme music from the original Daytona USA arcade machine is selected at random and used as title screen music - these songs can be found in the Sound Test from track 48 onwards.

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic86/100[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame[6]
Edge8/10[7]
EGM9/10[8]
Eurogamer7/10[3]
Famitsu34/40[9]
Game Informer7/10[10]
GamePro[11]
GameRevolutionB−[12]
GameSpot8.6/10[13]
GameSpy7.5/10[14]
IGN9.3/10[15]
Next Generation[16]
Maxim8/10[17]

Randy Nelson reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for Next Generation, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "It's definitely not very deep, but for sheer arcade thrills, Daytona USA dutifully delivers."[16]

The game was met with positive reception upon release, as it holds a score 86 out of 100 on Metacritic.[5] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 31 out of 40.[9]

References
  1. dcserv.org. "Resources". www.dcserv.org. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  2. Dagdag (December 23, 2000). "DAYTONA USA 2001, UN MOTEUR QUI TOUSSOTE". fr:Gamekult. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  3. Bramwell, Tom (April 19, 2001). "Daytona 2001". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  4. Morel, Benoit (May 4, 2001). "Test : Daytona USA 2001". Jeuxvideo.com. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  5. "Daytona USA for Dreamcast Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  6. Thompson, Jon. "Daytona USA (DC) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  7. Edge staff (February 2001). "Daytona USA 2001". Edge (94).
  8. "Daytona USA (DC)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 2001.
  9. "ドリームキャスト - DAYTONA USA 2001". Famitsu. 915: 52. June 30, 2006.
  10. "Daytona USA (DC)". Game Informer. 2001.
  11. Dan Elektro (March 22, 2001). "Daytona USA Review for Dreamcast on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 14, 2005. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  12. G-Wok (March 2001). "Daytona USA Review (DC)". Game Revolution. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  13. Provo, Frank (March 13, 2001). "Daytona USA Review (DC)". GameSpot. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  14. Vash T. Stampede (March 26, 2001). "Daytona USA". PlanetDreamcast. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  15. Chau, Anthony (March 14, 2001). "Daytona USA 2001". IGN. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  16. Nelson, Randy (May 2001). "Finals". Next Generation. Vol. 4 no. 5. Imagine Media. p. 78.
  17. Boyce, Ryan (March 14, 2001). "Daytona USA (DC)". Maxim. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
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