Daytona USA on the SEGA Saturn – You’ve Been Lied To!

Daytona USA is arguably the most important racing game ever made, introducing a level of visual fidelity and fluidity beyond anything in the arcade scene at that time.

SEGA’s Model 2 arcade board set a new standard for arcade visuals, spawning titles like Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop 1 & 2, SEGA Rally, SEGA Touring Car, Last Bronx, Fighting Vipers, and Virtual On … all of which, and more, would make their way to SEGA’s 32-bit system as Model 2 ports became a hallmark of the Saturn library.

However, of all the ports there’s one which in my opinion has become something of a guilty pleasure for many … and that’s Daytona USA.

I want to talk about why the original Saturn port of Daytona USA is so damn good and why so many Saturn fans, from back in the day and newcomers to the platform, love this game so much. I also want to address today’s narrative, that Daytona on the Saturn was poorly received back in the day.

You see, there’s a long-standing and accepted narrative in the community that Daytona USA on Saturn was review-bombed back in the day when it launched, that reviewers slammed the pop-in, called the game terrible, and said it was unplayable.

In 1995 at 16 years old I didn’t care about pop-in, I didn’t care about frame rates. I’d come from a Commodore Amiga and 3D was exciting and new on the Saturn. Previous home attempts at any form of 3D had moved slowly and lacked detail but Daytona USA on the Saturn was another level.

So let’s cut to the chase. The fact is that Daytona USA on the Saturn reviewed well. Very well.

Computer and Video Games – 96%.
Digitiser, one of the Saturn’s harshest critics – 90%
Mean Machine SEGA – 96%.
Maximum – Five stars.
SEGA Power – 87%
Official SEGA magazine, which would go on to become SEGA Saturn magazine – 94%
Edge – 8 out of 10 … and that’s just some of the reviews.

What I want to do is focus on two reviews in particular because firstly they’re not SEGA affiliated and secondly one is historically hard to please (Edge) and the other was one of Saturn’s harshest critics in the UK back in the day as the generation wore on (Digitiser).

Let’s start with Digitiser, something our friends out-with the UK will be unfamiliar with.
Running on the Teletext system, which was like the internet before the internet accessed via your television remote, it was home to all kinds of information: news, horoscopes, sports results, holiday bookings and yes … on-screen videogame magazines and reviews.

Let’s remind ourselves of the narrative spun today: Daytona USA on the Saturn was slammed for its bad graphics, for it’s pop-in, and for being inferior to Ridge Racer.

Let’s take a look at what Digitiser had to say in its Saturn launch special on July 12th 1995:

“Daytona USA isn’t perfect but what did you expect? The silky smooth lines of a £4,000 coin-op on a £400 console? The polygon clipping isn’t anywhere near as bad as some mags have made out. It’s plainly an impressive-looking game. Very Impressive. Having said that it isn’t fullscreen which is a bit of a shame.”

So, just to address that final point there. The PAL version has major PAL optimisation to match the speed of the NTSC version but sadly the aspect ratio isn’t optimized resulting in the large letterbox borders.

Let’s get back to Digitiser.

“The three courses offer the fastest and most complete racing environments yet seen in the home and the gameplay is next to faultless in every aspect. We feel Daytona may prove a better investment than PlayStation’s graphically superior Ridge Racer and ultimately a lot more fun”.

The summary is where one key line stands out above all others. The one thing that myself, Dan “The Mega Driver”, Saturn Dave, and even John Linneman have touched on, is that this is the arcade version, which comes down to the gameplay, the handling, and the power sliding.

Let’s move on to Edge.

They address the pop-in on Saturn stating that it’s evidence of a rush job rather than a lack of power, noting that even the arcade version has pop-in, albeit much further in the horizon. This is due to the lack of video memory on the first iteration of the Model 2 board.

The review goes on to say that while it looks like Ridge Racer has established an unassailable lead over Daytona, that’s without taking into account the most important criteria: gameplay. And it’s here where Edge absolutely nails it!

“Devotees of the coin-op will be reassured to learn that Daytona on Saturn has retained almost all of the features that made the original an arguably more substantial experience than Ridge Racer. Power slides, collisions, maniacally swerving competitors and sophisticated artificial intelligence all help to compensate for any initial disappointment in the graphics.”

And there it is! Right there, the very argument that fans of the original Saturn version have banged the drum about for years. The game has its flaws visually due to a rushed job on the port but the arcade gameplay and its handling, the very soul of Daytona USA, has come to the Saturn intact.

Edge go on to comment on the AI of the rival cars, something that was greatly reduced in Championship Circuit Edition and even Daytona 2001 on the Dreamcast.

Edge say, “Instead of getting in your way by accident rather than design, rival cars intelligently block your path with violent swerving manoeuvres. This gives the game added depth, especially as cars jostle for position amongst themselves. The excitement is enhanced by the fact there are up to 40 cars on the track at once. Surprisingly, despite the high number of vehicles there’s little slowdown. It’s an impressive endorsement of the machine that the action maintains a decent pace.”

All of the reviews carry a similar trend. That the gameplay is key, the arcade handling is there, and that the game is incredibly playable. And that’s why we love it. That’s why we defend it when voice after voice call Daytona USA on Saturn a sh*t racing game that’s worse than Ridge Racer.

Now given the gulf between SEGA’s Model 2 and Namco’s System 22, Daytona running on the Saturn is a far greater technical achievement than Ridge Racer running on PlayStation. And while Ridge Racer is perceived to be arcade-perfect on PlayStation, it also runs at half the frame rate of the arcade original.

I want to stress that this article and video are in no way intended to be a slant on Ridge Racer. I love that series, I’ve got a lot of fun memories of it, with both Rage Racer and Ridge Racer Type 4 being two of the best racing games I’ve ever played.

Sadly, Daytona USA on Saturn has fallen victim to the common trend in retro gaming of narratives being passed on aided by misinformation, a misrepresentation of the era, and the toxicity of negative video titles for clicks. It feels like it’s more fun and even acceptable to be negative about a game these days, with those who dare to say they enjoy a game being talked down because it isn’t the “popular” opinion.

We want to champion Daytona on Saturn for what it is. An ambitious, beautifully flawed, but incredibly playable version of one of SEGA’s most iconic and historically important titles. And while there are far better ways to play Daytona USA today, be that via emulation or the Xbox 360 or PS3 ports, it’s time to stop the narrative that Daytona USA launched on Saturn, got hammered by reviews, wasn’t worth playing, and that Ridge Racer trounced it.

When you have Daytona USA running on Saturn, when that pad is in your hand and you’re nailing corner after corner, holding a power slide until that very last second before spinning out, jostling with that rival AI …. it feels incredible, even at 20 frames per second. And no amount of pop-in can spoil that feeling.