POSTED 17/11/11


DAYTONA USA

SEGA
Xbox 360/XBLA (also on PS3/PSN)

Daytona. The mere blurting of those three syllables conjures visions of NASCAR machines thundering round and round and round, occasionally spinning, hitting each other and going ‘BOOM!’ now. Either that or baby girls with cruel bogan parents...

TIME EXTENSION!!

When Daytona USA hit arcades WABAC in 1993, gamers’ jaws hit the ground. An astonishing 3D arcade racer that sucked more coins in its day than Paris Hilton has [omitted due to legal advice], it was the nazz of arcadiness. But that was 18 years ago, and technology goes by at an opposite rate than Madonna time when she’s appropriating jättestor-catchy ABBA loops.

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So, how does a remastered racer that’s actually hit the driving legal age fare in 2011? Well, it depends how you look at it. As a time shoom to when you could survive a day without a nanna nap, yeah it scores points. But dis Daytona USA handles like dat Daytona USA – akin to a hippo on a skidpan - and looks, well, garish. But it’s authentic.

TIME EXTENSION!!

Compared to current stuff like, say DiRT3 or Forza 4? Forgedaboudit. Daytona USA’s ALL about nostalgia. If you woke up one day right about now, rubbed your eyes, scratched your arse and thought to yourself, “Self, I need to buy a kick-bottom vehicular racing game” and bought this, the only bottom being kicked would be your own. As physically challenging as that may actually be to accomplish.

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Atop the whole three tracks (six if you’re prepared to count them backwards), there are challenges, time-based things and a curious karaoke mode, as well as online multiplayer reminiscent of the halcyon chain-of-arcade-machines thing. No local split-screen though. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

TIME EXTENSION!!

As a golden years flashback Daytona’s a demon, but subtract the nostalgia and it’s a brown Toyota Crown.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

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