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Daytona USA 2001

Daytona USA 2001
Japanese cover art
Developer(s)Amusement Vision
Genki
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Yoshinari Sunazuka
Kenji Ōta
Producer(s)Toshihiro Nagoshi
Composer(s)Keiichi Sugiyama
Naofumi Hataya
Tatsuyuki Maeda
Junko Shiratsu
Hideaki Kobayashi
Hirofumi Murasaki
Platform(s)Dreamcast
Release
  • JP: December 21, 2000
  • NA: March 13, 2001[1]
  • EU: May 11, 2001
  • AU: July 13, 2002
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Daytona USA 2001, known in North America as Daytona USA, is a racing arcade game developed by Sega and Genki for the Dreamcast. It is a complete revamp of Daytona USA (1994), featuring every course from the original game and Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition (1996), as well as three new tracks. Daytona USA 2001 also introduced a Championship mode, where the player must place above a certain point in the overall rankings to progress, culminating in the King of Daytona Cup.

The game's graphics were significantly updated from previous home installments of Daytona USA, more resembling that 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. The Dreamcast's online servers for both Alien Front Online and Daytona USA 2001 were taken down permanently by mistake as a result of the developers hard-coding the IP-address to the servers in the game and Sega giving away a network block that belonged to AT&T.[2]

Online services for the game were unofficially restored by fans through private servers in 2023.[3]

Gameplay

Daytona USA 2001 retains three tracks from Daytona USA and two from Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition, while adding three new and exclusive circuits.[4] All of them can be played in four variants: mirror, mirror reverse, reverse and normal.[5] Several game modes are available: single race, championship, time trial and 2 players with split screen.[6] Only four cars can be used at the start, with the possibility of unlocking more as the progress is made.[4]

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 Pounding Pavement. Race to the Bass and the Daytona USA Medley do not appear either. The new songs are not given names in-game, 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.

Reception

The game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[7] Randy Nelson of NextGen said, "It's definitely not very deep, but for sheer arcade thrills, Daytona USA dutifully delivers."[18] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 31 out of 40.[12] Dan Electro of GamePro called it "an admirably wide rear-view mirror of Sega's series, and it shows why the Daytona games still conjure up fond memories for arcade racing fans. If you ever loved Daytona USA, this one is worth picking up."[20][b]

Notes

  1. ^ Three critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game each a score of 9/10.
  2. ^ GamePro gave the game 4.5/5 for graphics, two 3.5/5 scores for sound and fun factor, and 4/5 for control.

References

  1. ^ Chau, Anthony (March 13, 2001). "Daytona USA 2001 [sic] Rolls Out To Stores". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  2. ^ "Resources". DCserv.org. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  3. ^ Yarwood, Jack (July 17, 2023). "Daytona USA For The Dreamcast Is Now Back Online, Thanks To Fans". Time Extension. Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on July 17, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Daguinot, Jean-Charles (December 23, 2000). "Daytona USA 2001, un moteur qui toussote". Gamekult (in French). TF1 Group. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Bramwell, Tom (April 19, 2001). "Daytona [USA] 2001". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on July 10, 2001. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  6. ^ Morel, Benoit "pilou" (May 4, 2001). "Test : Daytona USA 2001". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Daytona USA (DC)". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on October 11, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  8. ^ Thompson, Jon. "Daytona USA (DC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  9. ^ Edge staff (February 2001). "Daytona USA 2001 [JP Import]" (PDF). Edge. No. 94. Future Publishing. pp. 84–85. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  10. ^ Sewart, Greg; Hager, Dean; Dudlak, Jonathan (May 2001). "Daytona USA (DC)" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 142. Ziff Davis. p. 103. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 8, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  11. ^ Steinberg, Scott (June 1, 2001). "Daytona USA (DC)". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on July 11, 2004. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  12. ^ a b "ドリームキャスト - DAYTONA USA 2001". Famitsu. Vol. 915. June 30, 2006. p. 52. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  13. ^ "Daytona USA (DC)". Game Informer. No. 96. FuncoLand. April 2001.
  14. ^ G-Wok (March 2001). "Daytona USA Review (DC)". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  15. ^ Provo, Frank (March 13, 2001). "Daytona USA Review (DC)". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on November 19, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  16. ^ Vash T. Stampede (March 26, 2001). "Daytona USA". PlanetDreamcast. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  17. ^ Chau, Anthony (March 14, 2001). "Daytona USA 2001 [sic]". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  18. ^ a b Nelson, Randy (May 2001). "Daytona USA (DC)". NextGen. No. 77. Imagine Media. p. 78. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  19. ^ Boyce, Ryan (March 14, 2001). "Daytona USA (DC)". Maxim. MaximNet, Inc. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  20. ^ Dan Elektro (May 2001). "Daytona USA (DC)" (PDF). GamePro. No. 152. IDG. p. 76. Archived from the original on January 13, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2023.