The eight-machine layout made doing tournaments a breeze and it wasn’t uncommon for the game to cost $1 per play at the time either, making its barrier of entry higher than most games, but also leaving players with a variety of memories throughout every play session.Įvery moment of the game was designed to grab the player’s attention with bright graphics for the menus, narration for everything to keep you in tune with what was going on, and a bold soundtrack with bombastic tunes as well as goofy vocals that remain stuck in players’ heads over 25 years later. There were single and dual-cabinet versions, but larger arcades could host eight cabinets side-by-side, effectively taking up a whole wall of an arcade and truly making the game stand out. Instead of having to worry about a restrictive license, they could just keep a lower-tier license to give the project credibility right away and not worry about the license impeding the game.ĭaytona USA was legendary for its multitude of arcade cabinet options during its heyday. They could just take the usage of the core sport of stock car racing and keep its most iconic track, effectively getting the best value for the dollar possible. By licensing the Daytona name and not NASCAR, the rights were less expensive and they weren’t tied down to nailing down certain sponsors or anything like that. Virtua Racing used F1 vehicles while Daytona went for stock cars and did so in a brilliant way. Presented like a next-generation version of Virtua Racing just a few years after its release, it’s astounding how much of a visual leap was made in two years.ĭaytona USA feels like a final draft version of Virtua Racing, with both offering up three tracks labeled beginner, medium and expert, as well a healthy sea of rivals alongside a silky-smooth framerate. Games like Virtua Racing showcased polygonal graphics in a way that showed a polygonal game could play as smoothly as a sprite-based one and was a direct descendant to one of Sega’s most-enduring games: Daytona USA. The ’90s were a time of change and in the early ’90s no major company gave the impression of living in the moment quite like Sega. Beyond delivering great experiences, they also strove to drive technology forward in ways that even to this day showed off the benefits of a dedicated machine versus a home console experience. With a legacy that began with Yu Suzuki’s classic Outrun and continued with other super scaler games like Hang-On, the company stakes its flag in arcade racing to an unmatched degree. Sega’s arcade racers were the stuff of legend in their time - and that legend has only grown as decades pass and many games pay homage to them. You’ll see both good and bad souls unearthed every month as we search through the more… forgotten…parts of history. Inside, we’ll be digging up games that have long been without a pulse.
Watch your step, for you’ve just entered the Graveyard.
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