Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by
Sega

For Daytona 2001, has anything improved upon previous versions, or is it just a name/date change? Previous I've only played a version in the arcade, plus one of Sega's attempts to port the franchise over to the PC - and that was not very much fun at all since it wasn't that well programmed. It's fun to crash into things like signs and cones, knocking them down the road and hitting them again next time you come round the track, as well as leaning into an opponent's car, ramming them against a wall and flipping them over, but it's just another driving game going round and round and round.

Graphics are fast and fair, being arcade perfect, but the Daytona series hasn't progressed much from when it first began so is looking a little dated now. The sound FX consist largely of a roar of your engine, a roar of the same from the other 19 cars as they zoom past and leave you on the starting line, plus the hitting of objects, or a wall, as you make your way from A to er..., well, back round to A again! It's also very difficult to control the car. A tap on the analogue joystick can often send you lurching across the road, giving it worse handling than that if even control by the D-pad was possible - and I like to sometimes use the D-pad for a driving game - making it all too easy for your car to spin round the wrong way or head off the track. Also, you don't feel like you're travelling along at anything like 300kph when hitting top speed.

There is one major restriction with this release. NO online play, which is surely the logical step for such an old franchise?! The US version allows you to play online from wherever you are, while for the Japanese release, online play is available, but at a cost. They have to pay 300 yen (or $3) per month for the service and according to IGN.com, you can play the Japanese version online from the USA, but you'll need an isao.net account and a Japanese Dreamcast with a copy of Dream Passport 3! If Sega had really wanted to have "up to 6 billion players" online, they should have insisted on every online game to be accessed via whichever ISP (Internet Service Provider) you choose. I use Freeserve Unlimited and that is who my Dreamcast dials when I fancy a game of Phantasy Star Online, but if you were to use the original Dreamkey settings, you'd be paying through the nose to BT via the Dreamarena setup. Frequently, I ended up in 20th position again - and that's where this game deserves to be.

GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ORIGINALITY ENJOYMENT
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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001.