Daytona USA for SEGA Dreamcast

Entry posted by Cafeman September 10, 2015

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Just like smelling the roses in the garden, it's nice to have time to Watch the Replay. After a race. I've always loved doing it , to soak in the graphics which , during a race, you can't. And also just to watch myself racing around the track , from the 3rd person vantage point. So right now I'm typing this while half-watching a Mermaid Lake replay where I came in 3rd place, using the Lightning Car with Medium-Soft tires. Today is 9/9/15 - the 16th anniversary of the USA Dreamcast console release, so I am playing DC tonight. Tonight's beverage is Samuel Adams Cream Stout.

As I view the replay, I see billboards with "Tide Table" and "Unique" and "Ken Ken 21" scribbled on them. What do they mean? I will never know! But I salute you, SEGA artists of 2000! I see RV's parked in the lot around the track. I see the frankly gorgeous Mermaid Lake's aqua blues and tints of green highlights. There is a blimp floating around with "Dreamcast" written on it too! After playing the Sega Saturn versions of Daytona USA, it was a real treat to play the DC version when 2001 rolled around, with its enhanced visual detail, performance, and (for the time) clarity. But the point I am thinking about is that, even after having played Daytona USA in the arcade and on Saturn and on Dreamcast for years, and after picking the car with the fastest speed and acceleration, I still could only come in 3rd place, and I fought for that. It makes me want to play another round. I hate when games have no challenge. You need to learn how to take the curves (the racing line), and maybe draft off other cars when you can, or you ain't gonna get 1st place.

Over the past week, I've reacquainted myself with this game. There is nothing more drenched with SEGA nostalgia than than playing Three Seven Speedway with the Hornet car and hearing that track's music. If you master the Sonic Mountain Curve without slowing down too much, even if you only do it once, it is a great great feeling. After coming in 1st place, I bumped up the # of cars from 20 to 30, and then to 40 cars per race. 40 cars on one looping oval track means you are constantly getting out of the way of the slower pack. You can change the # of cars on any of Daytona USA 2001's tracks, also you can race in reverse or mirrored. This is a game you can play for a night or for a week and be happy with it, put it away for a while until you get the itch again. That's my kind of game; I don't have the free time to unlock all the stuff and earn all the licenses in a game like Gran Turismo.

I snapped some pictures and even included my white lava lamp in 2 of them. The pictures are Dreamcast hooked up to a Panasonic 42" Plasma TV by the RCA cables. I used to love using S-video, but my TV doesn't support it, but it still looks quite good to me.