When you thought joyful and uplifting vocals wouldn't work in a racing game, Sega's Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (arguably the Scatman John of video game music) would be glad to prove you wrong. The love shown in the music he composed for the series is almost infectious. Of course, more composers would lend their talents to the series as it went on.
Daytona USA
The arcade game that started it all, and even included a Karaoke mode in the Saturn and HD ports. Understandably so.- Let's start with the song of the Beginner Course, "The King of Speed"
. The Saturn and PC versions, the Dreamcast version, and the HD version. - Normally expert courses come with tense and hard-hitting music, but here, we get the exact opposite with the calm and relaxing "Sky High". And for your listening pleasure, the Saturn and PC versions, the Dreamcast version (along with a mirror variant), and the HD version.
- Sing along now! DaaaaaaayyyyyyyyTOOOOOOONAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!. Also available in Saturn and PC flavors, Dreamcast, and the HD version. The Dreamcast also sported a mirror version.
- Mention must be made of the alternative stage music, the very Virtua Fighter-sounding "Pounding Pavement." (Arcade version here.) If you thought a song comprised almost entirely of scatting and the words "Oh yeah!" wouldn't be amazing, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is here to prove otherwise. It was strangely absent in 2001, but came back in full force in the HD version, which brings back the feel of the arcade.
Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition / Deluxe
Sega learned the world wasn't ready for Mitsuyoshi's uplifting vocals, and decided to have his songs remixed by some of its awesome composers who fans of Sonic The Hedgehog would soon become very familiar with.- The game features Eric Martin of Mr. Big (the band that performed the ending song of the Hellsing TV series), who provides the vocals for two songs: "Sons of Angels" which is heard in the game's opening, and "The American Dream", which is heard during replays.
- Although Mitsuyoshi's vocals are absent in this game, the Japanese version changes this by featuring a medley of the three main course themes as an extra song. It's every bit as heavenly as it sounds.
- Richard Jacques remixes "The King of Speed", which sounds very similar to his work on the Saturn version of Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island.
- "Let's Go Away" gets a rocktastic instrumental version courtesy of one Jun Senoue.
- The new songs for the new courses: "Funk Fair", composed by Richard Jaqcues, and "The Noisy Roars of Wilderness" by Kenichi Tokoi. Strangely, which course they're heard in differs by region.
- Richard Jacques provides some beats with "Race to the Bass".
- Jun Senoue brings us an awesome rock version of "Pounding Pavement", which he intended to be the BGM for the Desert City course. It shows.
Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge
The long-awaited sequel was no slouch either. Sung by Dennis St. James, known best to Sega fans for singing the English songs on Burning Rangers, he provides the perfect vocals for a harder and edgier soundtrack composed by Mitsuyoshi and Fumio Ito. The band Winger actually contributed to the soundtrack with individual members performing certain instruments for each track.- The opening track, "Battle on the Edge", immediately lets you know the soundtrack is Darker and Edgier. Mitsuyoshi gets in on it, too.
- The Beginner Course has the welcoming "Sling Shot". Mitsuyoshi version.
- The hard rocking song of the Advanced Course, "I Can Do it". Mitsuyoshi version.
- Finally, the unusual but catchy song of the Expert Course, "Skyscraper Sequence", and Mitsuyoshi's version.
Daytona USA 2001
This remaster of the original Daytona brings back the original arcade songs (excluding "Pounding Pavement") and remixes them with Mitsuyoshi's vocals intact, while introducing some new instrumental songs for the new courses and the Circuit Edition tracks. Each track has two versions, depending if you're racing on the normal track or the mirrored version. Many songs were also reused for Championship USA.- Desert City returns from Circuit Edition, and gets a new original song with "Desert Grit", a rocking instrumental tune. Mirrored version.
- National Park Speedway also returns with a new song, "Holiday in the Park", which makes heavy use of electronic instruments for a song that's both relaxing and energetic. The Mirrored version has a slightly harder beat.
- Circuit Pixie, an oval track new to the series, gets "Speed Friend", a fun song fitting the easy difficulty of the course that can be raced without worries. The Mirrored version has an altered beat, making it a bit more intense. The original tune gets reused for the Metro City track in Championship USA.
- "Greatfall in the Sky", which accompanies the scenic Rin Rin Rink with a relaxing tune, topped with a nice saxophone. The Mirrored version has less sax and more guitar. The original version gets reused in Championship USA for the Lakeside Castle track.
- The last of the new courses, Mermaid Lake, gets the calm and upbeat "Don't Look Back" as you race through this figure-8-shaped course. The Mirrored version has a more noticeable beat.
- "Winning Run", played at the end of Championship mode, is an exuberant little tune that sounds like an anime ending theme mixed with a funky 70's beat. It is reused in Championship USA as the Name Entry theme.
Daytona Championship USA
- The game features two new renditions of "Let's Go Away": A short version that serves as the attract music theme, and a long version that is heard in the Daytona International Speedway course. Despite the game's mixed reception, the song certainly keeps with the spirit of the original, and both versions use the extended lyrics not heard on previous arcade releases.
Other
- The original three lyrical songs received extended vocals on the Daytona USA B-Univ album (Sega's former band that used to play live versions of its popular songs, which included Mitsuyoshi).
- To commemorate the series' 15-year anniversary, a box set of the game's music was released, which included a Piano Version of "Let's Go Away" and "Pounding Pavement -Unplugged Ver.-".
- Takenobu Mitsuyoshi talks about the Karaoke Mode in the HD version of the game and plays it. As a bonus, he sings the -H. Version of "Let's Go Away". (Song starts at 5:20)
