Daytona USA 2001

Daytona USA 2001

Developer(s) Amusement Vision/Genki
Publisher(s) Sega/Hasbro Interactive
Platform(s) Dreamcast
Release date(s)
  • JP December 21, 2000
  • NA March 12, 2001
  • EU May 11, 2001
Genre(s) Racing game
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer

Daytona USA 2001, known in the United States simply 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 which was released on the Sega Saturn and PC. Three new tracks were also specially designed for this game ('Rin Rin Rink', 'Circuit Pixie' and 'Mermaid Lake'), and all of the tracks are playable normally, in reverse, mirrored, or in reverse-mirrored mode.

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. 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.

This version tends to be 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 was designed with analog controls in mind and therefore doesn't play as easily on a joypad as the Sega Saturn versions which used a standard d-pad.

Contents

Courses

Daytona USA 2001 retains all tracks from the original Daytona USA and Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition, all of them represented by names given in the Championship Circuit Edition:

The game also adds three new and exclusive circuits:

Available cars

There are four cars available from the beginning of the game. Unlike in the previous games, but like Shutokō Battle series which also developed by Genki, six of the ten cars resemble Japanese tuner cars. The first four are numbered 41, despite being from different racing teams:

There are also six unlockable cars:

Soundtrack

The Daytona USA 2001 soundtrack is a mix of remixed and original music:

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 (strangely enough) Pounding Pavement. Race to the Bass, and the Daytona USA Medley do not appear either. The new songs are not given names ingame, 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.

Notes

External links