I can remember the day in June of 1995 when I walked into
a Toys'R'Us store looking for my nephew's birthday gift; I
heard the "Rolling Start" theme of the arcade hit "Daytona
USA" from a distant monitor in the videogame section.
Expecting to see a videotape demo of the games available
for the September 1995 "Saturnday" unveiling of Sega's
machine, I headed toward the monitor and small crowd
gathered around it. And there is was, the Sega Saturn in
all its splendor available at $499 w. "Virtua Fighter"
thrown in. "Lying sons of bitches!," I thought back then,
"they sprung it on us early."
Any thought of purchasing the unit, however, vanished like
liquor at a Kennedy clan gathering when I had a chance to
play the demo unit running "Daytona USA". The gaming press
had been hinting months before of the close proximity
between the arcade version of the game and the Saturn's.
DieHard GameFan went as far as saying that it would be
"arcade exact". Sorry, but they call them "video"games
because the visuals have to form a perfect union between
the audio and the gameplay elements of the whole. The tunes
were rocking, the gameplay was rolling, but the choppy
20-frames-per-second low-res graphics were drowning.
The above anecdote is important because it proves just how
negative a public-relations fiasco the rushing of Saturn
(and the first version of "Daytona") was with some hardcore
gamers. I didn't purchase a Saturn until May of 1996, when
the good software started showing true 32-bit power and the
price points became more affordable. But I'm sure that had
an arcade-exact version of the "Daytona USA" had been
available back in June of 1995, my little nephew would have
not received a birthday gift. And I would have ended up
with a Saturn (and an overcharged VISA) in my college dorm.
So, a year-and-a-half after the storm and with (slightly)
greener pastures in their competition for gamer's heart,
Sega has released the "remix" of "Daytona" that Saturn
followers knew was coming since "V.F.Remix" graced their
T.V. sets as a taste of the "V.F.2" miracle in the making.
"Daytona Championship Circuit Edition" was released last
November, and was part of the "Free Game" promotion that
Sega ran until last April 15th. I bought it, sampled
thoroughly for 9 days, then returned it before the ten-day
guarantee at my local "E.B." ran out! It wasn't a terrible
game in the least, but it just wasn't the game I wanted to
pay for in order to get back a free copy of "Sega Rally"
(for the record, "Tomb Raider" and "Fighting Vipers" were
the games I bought...read the reviews!).
So, why didn't "Daytona CCE" make my library?
GRAPHICS / VISUALS: B+
I'm sorry, but "Sega Rally" and the "Ridge Racer" series
have considerably upped the status in 32-bit racing. If
"CCE" were the pinnacle of graphical resolution on Saturn,
then we would have to hide our faces in shame of our
PSX/N64-owning friends. The frame-rate is a smooth 30 per
second (which is becoming the minimum for racing games on
32-bit), the resolution is higher than the first game, and
the usual array of rainbow-like colors Sega games are known
for is in full swing. The details on the tracks are now
visible (you can actually read the letters on the roulette
in the beginner's track), and the 2 new tracks are a nice
addition to the legendary 3 we know from the arcade
(although the yellowness of the Desert track makes my eyes
water). The two-player mode (a split-screen with missing
background detail) is a step down visually from "Sega
Rally". Too bad the pop-up hasn't been diminished enough
either!
I'm no math or computer genius (that's why I went into
Broadcasting :), but with a whole year to work on the
3D routines of the Saturn, Sega has little excuse for not
diminishing even more the amount of suddenly-appearing
terrain on display here. Yes, there are more cars than in
"Rally"! Yes, there are more competitors with A.I. routines
that suck-up processing power. But in the end I don't care
about those things, because as a consumer I'm entitled to
have my expectations fulfilled for $50. And I want "CCE" to
be closer visually to the arcade because the potential for
such a port is there! Shame that the severe pop-up prevents
me from enjoying "Daytona" at home, since the rest of the
package (audio, control, etc.) are A's all across.
AUDIO / MUSIC: A-
I loved the original's cheesy lyric-filled garage-band
tunes (it reminds me of Japan's fondness for mixing
America's popular culture with their own), but the new
one's are not as bad as others would have you believe. It's
a little more ambitious and arrogant than the original's,
and therefore loses the charm. An option for both should be
available, since this is CD technology we're talking about.
The ambient sounds of the race are straight out of the
original (which in turn seemed to have been sampled from
the Tom Cruise flick "Days Of Thunder"), with messages from
the pit crew and screeching tires coming through loud and
clear (except for the muffled voice samples, which resemble
those from the bosses of the "Virtua Cop" series). Even the
sound of the engines when placed in the dashboard view are
perfect, but I could see why those who prefer this
perspective and don't want to hear that noise could be
driven wacko. Thank God they can play from the other three
perspectives without losing control (unlike "Need For
Speed"), because...
GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: A-
..the control and balance of your car's performance
(particularly with the analog controller) is second only to
"Sega Rally" in the smooth learning curve department. I
missed the option for the arcade feel and balance of the
Hornet car from the first Saturn version; this meant
re-learning the driving techniques of the new set of
available cars. Some of them are O.K., a couple are
outstanding and some stink! It took me a whole day just to
get the new techniques and admit that it frustrated me to
no end until patience reared its ugly head.
As for the fun...well, I tried to have it with the driving
feel truly butchered by (again) those popping visuals! I
want the feel of rushing at hundreds of miles per hour with
a two-ton machine at my disposal, ready to wipeout your
sorry hood for getting in my way. But the 1,000-pound
elephant sitting in my living-room (that would be the
pop-up) just can't be ignored. That's why I couldn't get
into the first "WipeOut" game, or the first "Ridge Racer".
Give me the whole picture, Sega, or don't expect my cash!
OVERALL: B
If you can ignore the graphical flaw that has plagued all
three versions of "Daytona" (including the all-mighty Model
2 arcade version), then enjoy it thoroughly. I gave it a
chance and passed, but keep renting every few weeks just
for the 2 new tracks that I can't play at the arcade. I'm a
huge fan of this game, and that is why I can't pay Sega
money for it. It would encourage them to keep selling us
games that feature minimized pop-up, and by not buying
"CCE" I'm telling them "try harder, Saturn can do better".
With all of the above behind, though, I eagerly await the
Net-Link version of "Daytona" to correct the problem and
optimize the game's code with that of the improved Japanese
version. Here's what we should be looking forward and
nothing less:
-pop-up either completely eliminated or severely reduced
(anything less is unacceptable by this gamer's standard);
-more courses, more color, more resolution, more, more...;
-options for the small details that nitpickers find to be
toggled on/off (engine sound in cockpit view, control
configuration from the first game, old/new musical tunes,
etc.);
-Net-Link compatible four-player contests with 2 players
per Saturn (yes!);
-the track-editor promised to us for the American release
and dumped in the rush to make Christmas;
-the Sailor Moon vehicle that came from absolutely nowhere
in the T.V. series into American toy retailers (hey, a guy
can dream since the Sega/Bandai merger :)
"Daytona CCE" deserves your cash if (a) you can find it
cheap, (b) don't care about the pop-up and (c) couldn't
give a bunny's behind about competing on a Net Link network
this summer. A weekend rental will be this game's
destination until the pop-up-free version shows up.
