Video Game / Daytona USA

♫ DAY-TO-NAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Let's Go Away! ♫

"GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES"

— Track Announcer

Daytona USA is a successful 3D Driving Game series created by Toshihiro Nagoshi and Sega's AM2 department and initially released in arcades in 1994. The first game, probably the most well-known of the franchise, found great popularity in the arcades, for its simple yet realistic controls (the arcade cabinets were fairly unique in that they were among the few to actually have a clutch pedal for gear shifting), NASCAR-like stock cars, and up to eight multiplayer arcade cabinets. The original stands as the most successful arcade game in Sega's history.

Games in the series

• Daytona USA (1993/1994/1995): The game that started it all. Was ported to the Sega Saturn as a launch title. Was also ported to the PC, but that version was based on the Saturn version.
• Indy 500 (1995): A sister game with Indy Cars. Uses the same physics as Daytona USA.
• Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition (1996): Made as an apology for the original game's Saturn port, and was developed by the same team that brought Sega Rally Championship to the Saturn. Added in a few new courses alongside the originals, retuned the handling to be more Sega Rally-ish, and included a new, remixed soundtrack.
• Scud Race (1996): The spiritual sequel to Daytona USA, with exotic cars that competed in the BPR/FIA GT Championship (Porsche 911, Ferrari F40, Dodge Viper and McLaren F1) instead of NASCAR-like stock cars. Was released in North America as Sega Super GT. First racer to use Sega's Model 3 board, and it shows.
• Scud Race Plus (1997): A Japan-only Expansion Pack for Scud Race with a Toy Story-ish "Super Beginner" oval course.
• Daytona USA Circuit Edition (1997): The Japanese version of Daytona USA CCE, with some improvements to the handling mechanics.
• Daytona USA Deluxe (1997): The Windows PC version of Daytona USA CCE, which added the ability to race courses at different times of the day, and had a course unique to this version.
• Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition Netlink (1997): Same as Daytona USA CCE, but with online play and several improvements made to the Japanese Circuit Edition release. The rarest Saturn game ever made, even rarer than Panzer Dragoon Saga!
• Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge (1998): The true sequel to the original. Uses a powered-up Model 3 board and a refined Scud Race/Sega Super GT handling mechanic while introducing a drafting mechanic known as the "slingshot", corresponding to similar techniques used in actual NASCAR races. Also included the car from the original Daytona USA (the Hornet Classic) as a Secret Character, an addition that went unnoticed for over two decades. Totally awesome.
• Daytona USA 2: Power Edition (1999): An Expansion Pack to Daytona USA 2. Added in a Challenge^* Mix in the original Japanese version course linking the three courses together in one continuous lap, and once again reintroduced the Hornet as a playable character, this time as part of the game's starting lineup and with the exact same handling characteristics it had in the original. Also changed the Beginner track from an oversized biodome to a more traditional NASCAR-style track.
• NASCAR Arcade (2000): A fully licensed successor to both Daytona USA games, utilizing the actual NASCAR sublicense with permissions from Electronic Arts (the owner of the NASCAR license for video games at the time). The game featured real-life NASCAR racers and their cars (those who competed in the 1999 Winston Cup Series), with three real tracks available, namely Talladega Superspeedway, Richmond International Raceway, and Watkins Glen International, plus the "Team SEGA" hidden round track^* labeled and name-called in-game as "SEGA Motor Speedway" similar to Nardo Ring. The physics were redone to even more realistic levels to prevent players from powersliding and instead focus more on slipstreaming. The soundtrack was performed by Crush 40, which is their only non-Sonic soundtrack to date.
• Daytona USA 2001 (2001): A revised edition for the Sega Dreamcast. The game also included the courses from Daytona USA CCE, with three new ones, improved graphics, remixed music, and online play. Development duties were handled by Genki, the same developer of Tokyo Xtreme Racer games.
• Sega Racing Classic (2010): The original Daytona USA ported to the Ringwide board, but without the Daytona license. Aside from being true widescreen and increasing the draw distance, it looks and plays identical to the original game.
• Daytona USA (2011): A port for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, featuring the graphical updates from Sega Racing Classic, both the original music and a new arranged version of the soundtrack, plus online multiplayer, challenge trials, a "Survival" mode (drive as far as you can, earning time bonuses for drifting), and a karaoke mode (drive through one loop of the music, with the lyrics appearing on the screen). The Xbox 360 version is backwards compatible with the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X|S.
• Daytona Championship USA (2017): Originally advertised as the second real sequel to Daytona USA, featuring three new tracks as well as remastered versions of the three tracks from the first game. The game is actually yet another Updated Re-release of the original game with modern graphics and features with six courses — the original three alongside re-skinned and mirrored versions of them (one of which is a recreation of the real-life Daytona International Speedway). Also included are a 47" LED HD screen and embedded camera for each cabinet, a display that "broadcasts" multiplayer races, and a new Championship mode aimed at experts.

Related games

• Fighters Megamix (1996): A crossover fighting game featuring characters from Virtua Fighter, Fighting Vipers, and a few other Sega series. The Hornet car appears as a playable fighter (no, really), and Three-Seven Speedway appears as its home stage.
• Samba de Amigo (1999/2000): A Latino-themed Rhythm Game developed by Sonic Team. "Let's Go Away", among songs from other Sega games, is a part of the setlist.
• OutRun 2 (2003/2004): Another racing game developed by Sega AM2. Exclusive to the Xbox port, the Challenge course from Power Edition and the tracks from Scud Race appear as unlockable bonus tracks.
• Ridge Racer Vita (2011): The Hornet appears in this game as a downloadable car.
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012): Sega's answer to Mario Kart. In this game, one of the racers is a giant Dreamcast VMU named Ages. When Ages has to drive a car, it transforms into the Hornet.
• Like a Dragon^* Formerly known as Yakuza outside of Japan: One of Sega's most popular series, also produced by Toshihiro Nagoshi.
  • Yakuza 5 (2012): The fifth entry features a taxi racing mini-game that shares similar controls and drifting mechanics. The Saturn version of "Let's Go Away" can be also purchased as music to listen to when driving.
  • Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020): The Saturn version of "Let's Go Away" is a reward from the Dragon Kart minigame. Once purchased, it can be listened to on the stereo at the Survive Bar.
  • Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (2023): Daytona USA 2: Power Edition (under the title "Sega Racing Classic 2") appears as one of the playable arcade games in the game. Notable for being the first ever home port of the game, twenty-five years after it released.
• Sonic Mania (2017): A love letter to Sonic's 16-bit days. In Studiopolis Zone, there are news vans decked out like the Hornet car in Act 1, and the lottery machines in Act 2 feature the Gallop logo. Takenobu Mitsuyoshi also voices the announcer in the game's Time Attack and Competition modes.

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ROOOOO-LLING TROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPES!!:

• All There in the Manual:
  • The names of USA 2's drivers are in-game, but aren't too obvious to spot. Thanks to the game's official soundtrack, their names are clearly heard: Johnny, Noel, Mitch, and Tom Brown.
  • The courses are only referred to by difficulty level in the arcades, but they have official names. Three-Seven Speedway, Dinosaur Canyon, and Seaside Street Galaxy are the courses from the first game; Astro Waterfall Speedway,^note replaced by SEGA International Speedway in Power Edition Joypolis 2020 Amusement Park, and Virtua City are the courses from the sequel.
• All the Worlds Are a Stage: The Updated Re-release of Daytona USA 2, Power Edition, adds a new "Challenge" course that combines the original three circuits into a point-to-point race (with some minor alterations to track layouts and starting positions to help the courses better flow into one another). Specifically, the order goes Advanced > Expert > Beginner, ending with a single-lap sprint to the finish on the SEGA International Speedway that sees racers entering the track from the pit lane.
• Announcer Chatter: A recurring feature courtesy of the crew chief, which even extends to spin-offs like Scud Race and NASCAR Arcade. While several lines are generally the same between installments, alternating between moral support ("You can take 'em!", "Seven laps to go! Hang in there!", etc.) and critiques of the player's driving mixed in with other warnings ("Try to go easy on the car!", "You're slipping and sliding!", "You're burning up the tires!", etc.), he's especially chatty in the sequel and a lot more bombastic in his declarations. ^{Such as...} "Watch that red line on the tach!", "Hey, somebody's drafting you!", "You're lookin' good!", "You're running a good race!", "You're in the final stretch!", and so on. Championship USA's crew chief is far more restrained by comparison, though he'll also inject some commentary of his own, including variants of his predecessors lines.
• Anti-Frustration Features:
  • In Championship USA, if the player chooses manual transmission and doesn't change gears, the game will repeatedly tell them to do it. If they don't, the car will switch to automatic transmission for the remainder of the race. Not only handy for newcomers, but great if the actual gear shifter is malfunctioning.
  • In USA 2, your car can take enough damage to the point where the hood becomes unlatched. When this happens, the hood will bounce around. However, if you're playing in first-person view, the hood will remain stationary so that it won't block your view.
• Arcade-Perfect Port: The 2011 release of Daytona USA is the first port of the original game that didn't compromise anything from the arcade original.
• Artistic License – Cars:
  • Downshifting in Daytona USA is the easiest way to get the car to go into a slide, but doing so in a real car would grenade the engine. You would never see a professional drifter downshift from 4th to 1st to coax the car sideways.
  • Ask any stock car driver, be it a local street stock racer or a professional Cup driver, and all of them will tell you that sliding consistently is a very bad thing unless you're on dirt. Doing so heats up the tires and causes excessive tire wear, making it difficult to handle on long stints and increases the risk of a tire blowout. That was the reason NASCAR Arcade disallowed sliding.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The bonus viewpoints. They might give an interesting view of the action, but the basic third person view and the first-person viewpoint will be your mainstays, the latter for those who feel most at home with their view in the driver's seat like in a real race car.
• Balance, Power, Skill, Gimmick: The four cars in Daytona USA 2: Power Edition, with the Scorpio being the balance, Phantom being the power, J.C. Eagle being the skill, and Hornet being the gimmick.
• Bladder of Steel: The games allow you to change how many laps in a given race, from the default of 8 (Beginner) / 4 (Advanced) / 2 (Expert) all the way up to, in Daytona USA 2, 500 (Beginner) / 223 (Advanced) / 87 (Expert).^note The reason for the odd numbers is that the length is actually 500 miles.
• Bowdlerise:
  • SCUD Race was renamed to Sega Super GT in the US. "SCUD" in Japan stands for "Sports Car Ultimate Drive", but in the USA it stands for a Soviet cruise missile.
  • Three-Seven Speedway has all references to gambling removed in Championship USA (the iconic slot machine just being replaced with a generic digital billboard), reducing the course's name to an Artifact Title.
  • The OST for the original Daytona USA includes a track called "Bitchin'," but in the in-game sound test it was renamed to "Raggin'."
  • Rusty Wallace's car has all references to Miller removed in NASCAR Arcade, likely because it would be advertising alcohol to minors. Oddly, though, the bumper of his car still reads "Great taste".
• Call-Back: The spotter in 2 on the Advanced course references the first game's spotter with "There's a crash coming out of turn three, watch yourself!"
• Canon Discontinuity: For some reason, 2001 doesn’t feature any of the tracks from 2.
• The Cameo:
  • Sonic appears on the cliff overlooking the third turn on Three-Seven Speedway.
  • Also, there's a statue of Virtua Fighter's Jeffry McWild in the Expert course. He's replaced with Akira in Championship USA.
  • Sonic and Tails appear on a billboard in Scud Race.
• Color-Coded Multiplayer: When playing linked games of USA or USA 2 in the arcade, each car is given a different paint job to help sort out each player.
• The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: If you're playing Endurance or Grand Prix mode in 2, you have to deal with a draining fuel supply and tire erosion. However, the computer cars do not have to, so they never have to make pit stops.
• Cool Car: SCUD Race has you driving supercars.
• Cosmetic Award: Played straight and subverted with "Saturn Mode" on the Saturn port, where you unlock new Hornet cars with different paint jobs.
  • The Red and Blue Hornets are just a Palette Swap of the normal Hornet.
  • The Black and Orange Hornet cars are very sturdy, and won't slow down after crashing into a wall.
  • The Green and Pink Hornets perform well off-road, but will instantly crash if they hit a wall.
  • Finally, the Cyan and Yellow Hornet cars have a high top speed, but have bad control.
• Creator Thumbprint: As a Genki game, 2001 has cars that roughly resemble Japanese tuner cars from Tokyo Xtreme Racer games, though in real life, only Toyota actually entered NASCAR in 2000, after a 1982 brief cameo with their Celica.
• Critical Annoyance: Survival Mode in Daytona USA for XBLA and PSN. If you are any good at Daytona USA then you will just hear "TIME EXTENSION!" "TIME EXTENSION!" every couple of seconds due to the ways you earn time.
• Darker and Edgier:
  • Daytona USA 2's soundtrack compared to the rest of the series. The soundtrack has a more aggressive rock theme to it, and the vocals are provided by the same person who sang the English Burning Rangers theme, Dennis St. James.
  "This is the race for an ace of aces
  No open grid for rookies
  Meter revs up to the limit
  Beginner's luck means nothing here
  No pain no gain"
  • Also, 2 itself has a gameplay mode that gives much longer courses than the first game, which, along with realistic car damage, full-course cautions, and the need to repair one's car in the pits, bring the game significantly closer to dangerous, arduous real life stock car racing.
• Determinator: Every car and driver. These cars can take serious damage, but that won't stop them from running in the race.
• Difficult, but Awesome: The drifting mechanic. Unlike most arcade racing games, the simulated physics implemented in the series means that you must execute the proper skills and timing in order to swoosh around the turns like Keiichi Tsuchiya. It can be a pain in an ass because you must perform powerslides precisely and not crash, but if done correctly, you might as well feel like you're the next Drift King/Queen, beating the race and reaching first place.
• Difficulty by Region: The lead cars are purposely programmed to be unfair opponents in the Japanese arcade version. They were toned down slightly for outside releases.
• Easier Than Easy:
  • The titular Indy 500 course in Indy 500. A rectangular oval track with the only real challenge being slipstreaming.
  • SCUD Race Plus's Super Beginner course. It's set in a giant house, with your opponents being various toys.
  • Circuit Pixie from 2001 is an standard oval track with no real challenge. Similar to the Indy 500 example above, it's for racing purists or beginners.
• Easter Egg:
  • "Congratulations! You just lost your sponsors!" ^note In case you don't know where to find this, in either Daytona USA, CCE, or 2001, start up a race on Dinosaur Canyon (Advanced) then spin your car around. Drive towards the back of the pit lane and you'll see another road leading up to a tunnel. Drive into the tunnel and be greeted by your "surprise".
  • Players can make the Jeffry statue in Seaside Street Galaxy do a spin by pressing the start button. If you drive in reverse, the statue will be standing on its hands.
  • The slot machine in Three-Seven Speedway can be stopped with the start button. If you get 777, you earn bonus time.
  • In the original game and its Saturn and HD remakes, if you hold down a specific VR button on the "Gentlemen, start your engines" screen, then you can play different music on the course. The red button gives you the Beginner course theme, "The King of Speed"; the blue button is the Advanced course theme, "Let's Go Away"; the yellow button is the Expert course theme, "Sky High"; and the green button is a secret song known as "Pounding Pavement". On the Saturn version, these buttons are A, X, Y, and Z respectively.
  • In the Saturn port of the original, it is possible to, once certain conditions are met (or a cheat code is entered), to race as a horse in place of the cars.
  • Entering certain initials on the Name Entry screen will play a short jingle based on another Sega title or one of the game's own songs. These initials are usually the initials of the game or song (S.H for Space Harrier, F.Z for Fantasy Zone, KOS for The King of Speed, and so on). The arcade version has twenty-eight, and the Saturn port adds an additional forty-six.
  • In USA 2's Beginner course, the player can press the start button and make the bulletin board say different things. Messages include "Error!", "Hello!", "Sega", and "Go to Hell".
  • Similar effects can be toggled with the start button in the other two courses. Pressing it during the third and fourth laps of the Advanced course while entering the "Space Haneda" attraction will cause UFOs to attack the course, while holding it at the port area of the Expert course will cause propellers inside the shed to continuously spin until the button is released.
  • In the second game and its ports/re-releases (including Sega Racing Classic 2 in Like a Dragon Gaiden), holding the the start button during the "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines" screen allows players to switch the track vocals between the default Dennis St. James and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi.
  • Holding the A (360) / X (PS3) button while starting up the 2011 version will play the iconic "Sega!" choir.
• Easy-Mode Mockery: The "Beginner" car in Battle on the Edge has a bright color scheme and cutesy bunnies painted on the hood, which makes it not exactly the coolest car to drive. Power Edition would rectify this by changing the bunnies into a much cooler-looking eagle.
• Epic Fail: Slam into something hard enough and your car does a pretty spectacular flipout. "Are you alright?".
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Sega Racing Classic is an old Sega racing game!
• Expansion Pack: Daytona USA CCE, SCUD Race Plus, Daytona USA 2: Power Edition.
• Forgotten Theme Tune Lyrics: The title track in the attract screen and Advanced course is swapped out in Sega Racing Classic for an instrumental version, due to not having the Daytona license.
• Fragile Speedster: The Javelin car in 2001 is the fastest car in the series, but is almost impossible to keep under control. As such, it's prone to crashing a lot.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • The first game's crew chief will sometimes tell you there's a crash coming out of Turn 3 when there actually hasn't been a crash there. He may even say this in Time Lap mode, where you're the only car on the track. This continues into Championship USA, where the spotter makes almost the exact same remark on both Beginner courses (Daytona International Speedway and Three-Seven Speedway).
  • In Scud Race, the crew chief will sometimes warn you that the engine's getting hotter or it's about to overheat. But engine temperature has no impact on the game at all.
• Grandfather Clause: Downshifting to first gear while driving any of the new cars in USA 2 will result with an immediate spin out. But the Hornet Classic is still allowed to perform the 4-1-4 drift since it uses the physics from the first game.
• Guest Fighter: The Hornet car has appeared in other games, including numerous Crossover titles.
  • Both versions of Daytona USA 2 (Battle on the Edge and Power Edition) feature the "Classic" incarnation of the Hornet. In the original, it is accessible only by inputting a secret code during the course selection screen and can have its stats modified via the view buttons and the steering wheel. It also is rendered with the same Model 2 graphics seen in the first game. In Power Edition, the Hornet is instead accessible right from the start, this time sporting an updated design in line with the other playable cars (redesigned body and wheels along with a slightly different bonnet). The ability to adjust its performance was removed, but the Hornet now handles the same and goes as fast as its original incarnation, including the perk of being the only car you can do "4-1-4" shifter powersliding with (other cars will spin out if attempted on them).
  • Hornet appears alongside its AM2 brethren in Fighters Megamix. Its default throw move is grabbing the opponent and spinning the wheel in their face, but its moveset is limited unless you destroy your armor.
  • The Hornet also appears as DLC in Ridge Racer for the PlayStation Vita.
  • It also shows up in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed as the default form of the hidden character AGES, complete with the crew chief.
• Hard Mode Perks:
  • Manual transmission cars get a slightly higher top speed than their automatic transmission counterparts. They also have access to an additional drifting method (downshifting instead of braking).
  • "Hard level" cars are incredibly fast, but hard to control. Master them, and good lap times are a breeze.
• Homage: Entering certain three-letter initials in the original will play a short ditty from a past Sega game, but entering silly initials like "ASS" or "SEX" will actually cause the game to change it to one of the homage initials.
• In Name Only: Despite the "Daytona" in its name, the actual Daytona International Speedway doesn't appear in the original game or its sequel (with the Beginner course merely being based on it). When it finally shows up in Championship USA, it's as a retexture of Three-Seven Speedway rather than its actual layout.
• Irony: In USA 2, Player #7's car has a green paint job. Green is often thought to be an unlucky color in racing, so mixing it with Lucky Seven can be seen as ironic.
• It's a Wonderful Failure:
  • In the original game, when you finish a multiplayer race, a short cutscene is played where your driver stops their car in front of the camera in a badass way. And the lower your position is, the worse they'll mess it up.
  • In Daytona USA 2: PE, on ending a multiplayer race, you are shown a cutscene of your driver and pit crew reacting to your result. The cutscene gets more depressing the lower your final position is: from getting a sympathetic pat on the driver's shoulder, to being violently pushed onto the car and falling over, to banging on the floor in despair.
• Jack of All Stats: The Scorpio Plasma Batteries car in 2, which has a balance of speed and handling. Hornet takes this role outside the arcade games.
• Lethal Joke Character: A horse, a Secret Character that can be selected in the Sega Saturn version of the first game. Lethal because it doesn't take pit stops, which allows it to just run through them. This is particularly helpful on the Beginner track (if you're in the mood to be a big fat cheater) as the pit lane doesn't run parallel to the main track like it does on other courses.
• Level in Reverse:
  • The player can turn around, then complete laps and even full races by driving in the reverse direction (all the other racers will still be driving forwards, which means avoiding them as they drive towards you will be necessary). There is a "REVERSE" warning that flashes in the middle of the screen, but it moves into the corner after several seconds.
  • Pressing on the brake pedal while selecting a car in USA 2 will load the track in reverse. 2001 also allows racing the course in reverse, as well as racing the mirrored version in reverse.
• Lighter and Softer: Championship USA returns to the lighter style of the first game.
• Marathon Level:
  • The higher lap settings, Endurance and Grand Prix mode.
  • The "Challenge" course in Power Edition, a nine-mile epic race that links all three tracks together.
• Market-Based Title:
  • SCUD Race ("SCUD" meaning "Sport Car Ultimate Drive" in this context) was renamed to SEGA Super GT for foreign markets, to avoid referencing Soviet Scud missiles.
  • Championship Circuit Edition was updated and released as Circuit Edition in Japan. The PC version was titled Daytona USA Deluxe which includes an additional course and the ability to play each track at different times of the day.
  • Daytona USA 2001 was simply named Daytona USA in North America.
• Multiple Endings:
  • Finish 3rd or better in a non-multiplayer race in the original, and you get a special "Victory Lane" cutscene.
  • Upon ending a multiplayer race in Daytona USA, your car is shown attempting to do an about-turn, ending with a skid-stop, on the track. Only the winner does it flawlessly; other racers will fail to some degree, with their failure increasing in severity the lower down in rank they are.
• The Mountains of Illinois: There are no mountains in the entire state of Florida and a large portion of Daytona Beach (the part with an actual beach, though not the speedway) has water on three sides, but the game prominently features them in skybox.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Expert course in USA 2 has roadsigns that mention Las Segas, Holy Canyon, and Central City^note presumably where Seaside Street Galaxy is located, the locations of the tracks from the first game. Forest Island is also on a sign, which is where the Beginner course in Battle on the Edge is located.
  • In Power Edition, an airplane with a banner that reads "Battle on the Edge" flies around the Sega International Speedway.
  • In Daytona Championship USA's cabinets, the yellow stamp next to VR buttons reads "Changing views since 1993," pointing out the release year of the first Daytona USA.
• Nintendo Hard:
  • One of the more difficult arcade racing games. Many players have difficulty with the third turn of the beginner courses, and the strict time limit ensures that only sufficiently skilled players will finish.
  • To add some more difficulty, the A.I. racers in Power Edition are much more aggressive than Battle on the Edge. Then there's the Harder Than Hard Challenge level.
  • The Saturn version has an optional "Maniac Mode", which makes the opponent cars far more aggressive.
  • Drifting. See Difficult, but Awesome above.
  • NASCAR Arcade plays more differently from the other games in the Daytona USA series. Powersliding and drifting are not allowed due to change in physics, and time extensions in this game are not done with checkpoints. Instead, you have to drive like normal to reach target positions to get more time. It's easy to slipstream past the tail end of opponents, but as you progress further you'll encounter smarter opponents. If you crash or otherwise lose speed, completing the race will easily become impossible. This is already hard on the two oval-shaped courses, but apply this mechanic to a technical course, Watkins Glen, and the race easily propels into That One Course territory, even with only 15 opponents instead of 30. Ironically enough, this means that the hidden Sega Motor Speedway track is actually easier than the course preceding it, on account of being another oval and therefore far more straightforward.
• No Communities Were Harmed:
  • The first game's Beginner track, Three-Seven Speedway, is based off of Pocono Raceway with some alterations.
  • The second game's Expert course, Virtua City, is set in an analogue of the Big Apple known as New Joke City. The Chrysler Building can be briefly seen in the distance, either at the very start of the race/final lap or while zooming through the metropolitan areas in the Challenge course variation, with a "Great Central Station" featuring as the race returns to the city for the end of the lap. ^note The train station is also viewable during the Challenge course, but only from the side for a few moments as the transition between the Advanced and Expert courses drops off racers at the end of the latter and has them merge onto the street that'd give players a frontal view of the landmark.
• Non-Indicative Name: In a weird way, the series has always been a case of this. None of the "speedway" tracks (Three-Seven Speedway in the original games and Astro Waterfall/Sega International Speedway in 2 and Power Edition), despite the physical similarity to Daytona International Speedway, are the eponymous track and there are no other NASCAR or Daytona speedway references in any of the games, all of them taking place in fictional locales. It wasn't until Daytona Championship USA in 2017 that anything to do with Daytona itself appeared in a Daytona USA game (though, ironically, Three-Seven Speedway was in turn reduced to an Artifact Title; see Bowdlerise above). Other than that, the only time "Daytona" is mentioned at all is in the song "Let's Go Away".
• Noob Bridge: The third and final turn of the Beginner course in all games is a sharp turn that mandates powersliding through it to complete without losing a lot of speed. Unfortunately, new players of the original are not likely aware of how to powerslide and usually end up eating wall; the end result is that an overwhelming majority of players run out of time before finishing the required laps because they slam into the wall every time. Daytona USA 2 alleviates this a little by showing a powersliding tutorial during the Attract Mode, as well as providing a "Beginner" car that can negotiate most corners without drifting as long as the driver keeps their speed in check.
• Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: The third game was originally called Daytona 3 Championship USA. The number was dropped later on due to fan complaints.
• Palette Swap:
  • The opponent cars, but to be fair it is based on NASCAR.
  • Manual transmission cars have a different paint job than their automatic counterparts.
  • The different "Hornets" you can unlock in Daytona USA's Sega Saturn port are this. And there's eight. (They do have different stats, though.)
  • The Sega International Speedway is just the Astro Waterfall Speedway with a different environment. The Daytona International Speedway in Championship USA is also just a re-skinned Three-Seven Speedway.
• Product Displacement: Both Sega Racing Classic games are re-releases of Daytona USA 1 and 2 without the Daytona branding. 1 also removes the lyrics in the song "Let's Go Away" due to Takenobu Mitsuyoshi prominently singing "DAYTONAAAAAAA!" in it, while 2 also gets rid of the Dodge Viper pace car in the Attract Mode and replaces it with a Palette Swap of the game's usual stock car model.
• Product Placement:
  • Some versions of the first game have advertisements for the Sega Saturn in the Attract Mode. There's also a giant Sega Saturn ad in Scud Race's Beginner (Day) course.
  • Much like real NASCAR, there’s advertisements from sponsors all around the track. But they aren’t for real products, just fictional ones.
  • In Scud Race, JAL airplanes appear in the Beginner (Night) course.
  • The cars in Scud Race have sponsorships from real companies. Namely, Michelin tires, BMW, and Gulf oil.
• Production Throwback: The Advanced course's basic shape borrows heavily from the Beginner course for Virtua Racing, a previous racing game by AM2.
• Punny Name:
  • Three-Seven Speedway is located in a city named Las Segas, which is a pretty obvious pun of Las Vegas.
  • The Expert course in 2 is set in New Joke City, which at first doesn't seem like a good pun of New York City. "Joke" and "York" rhyme when spoken in Japanese, which led to the pun getting Lost in Translation.
• Purposely Overpowered: The Daytona car in Deluxe, which had maxed stats. You can take it for a spin if you get first place on every track.
• Recycled Soundtrack: The only new song in Championship USA is a new arrangement of "Let's Go Away" and a shortened attract version. The remaining songs are taken directly from the original arcade game, the Saturn port, Circuit Edition, and 2001, while an unused track from Daytona USA 2 is used for the track and car select screens.
• Rerelease Soundtrack: Sega Racing Classic has a new remixed soundtrack, but all references to Daytona have been removed due to legal issues.
• Retraux:
  • Sega Racing Classic takes the "Classic" portion of the title literally. Aside from an improved draw distance and a true 16:9 widescreen resolution, it looks exactly like the original Daytona USA.
  • The PlayStation 3 port of the game comes with an 8-bit XMB theme.
  • The Hornet Classic in USA 2 has a retro Model 2 look.
• Rubber-Band A.I.: A staple "feature" of most arcade racing games, of course.
• Ruins for Ruins' Sake: The medium course in Scud Race is set inside some ancient ruins.
• Same Language Dub: Battle on the Edge has two variations of its soundtrack; one is sung by Japanese-born Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, while the other by American-born Dennis St. James. Both are sung in English and have identical lyrics. It's speculated that Mitsuyoshi's Engrish-y performance would have been a source of mockery, so he was replaced with a more natural English sounding vocalist outside of Japan.
• Scenery Porn: Multiple courses, such as the nature-themed Beginner course in the original Daytona USA 2. It was sadly replaced with a generic NASCAR-style course in Power Edition, presumably to allow for a more natural transition between courses during the Challenge course. The Beginner theme still remained "musical porn", though.
• Secret Character:
  • A horse in the Saturn games. See Lethal Joke Character. In the original game, there are four horses, two for each transmission. White horses are manual, brown ones are automatic and there are versions that race by themselves and versions that race with a baby colt behind them. CCE also has two horses (brown and white again) that can be "driven" in either transmission.
  • Several cars in 2001 are hidden, like the Unicorn and Javelin. See a few of them being viewed here. Deluxe also had a special car called "Daytona", shaped like the original Hornet.
  • In addition to the standard four cars available, the Super Beginner course in Scud Race Plus allows the player to choose between a cat, a tank with a head (that can shoot shells), a bus filled with the developers, and a rocket car by holding down the Start button while selecting a normal car.
  • The Hornet Classic is playable in Battle on the Edge, but can only be driven by inputting a secret combination at the track selection screen. Unlike Power Edition (where it's instead part of the default roster), it doesn't drive exactly like the first game. Interestingly, this car was thought to have been dummied out because its unlock method wasn't discovered until December 2020, over 20 years after the game first released.
  • In NASCAR Arcade, highlighting Kyle Petty and then shifting to a particular gear will allow you to play as either Richard or Adam Petty. Likewise, doing the same thing with Dale Earnhardt will allow you to play as Dale Jr.
• Shout-Out:
  • The lyrics for "Skyscraper Sequence" in the second game features an unexpected one.
    Streets filled with lights / Like a star gate from an old sci-fi movie
  • The stage itself (Virtua City) is likely named for the Virtua series of games developed by Sega AM2 throughout the 90s (Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Cop, Virtua Striker), seemingly reinforced by the post-race replay/staff roll arrangement of "Skyscraper Sequence" being a piano piece reminiscent of the staff roll music from VF1.
  • According to the developers, Lakeside Castle from Championship USA is based on the Lakeside course from Sega Rally 3.
• Shown Their Work: The Hornet Classic in Daytona USA 2: Power Edition controls exactly like and has the same red-blue AT/red-yellow MT paintjob as the Hornet in the original game. It even has the same rolling start on the Beginner course, right down to the camera angles. It's also the sole exception to the game penalizing you for attempting to shifter-drift with a spinout.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: Keeping in the spirit of the first game, Mitsuyoshi versions of 2's soundtrack exist, and all three can even be raced to. Now try racing seriously with him singing in such a goofy way.
• Stalked by the Bell: In the original game, the timer starts beeping when it counts down to 5 and beeps faster when it counts down to 3. In both versions of Daytona USA 2, the timer turns orange and starts beeping when it counts down to 9, then turns red and beeps faster when it counts down to 5. All these are also accompanied by a notification from your crew chief.
  *beep-beep-beep-beep* *beep-beep-beep-beep* *BEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBE-* *engine revs down*
• Updated Re-release:
  • Sega Racing Classic to the original Daytona. See it here in all of its glory.
  • Power Edition was this to Battle on the Edge as well.
  • Championship USA is this to the original game, running on modern and sharper graphics, but the inner workings of the code are actually based around a Model 2 emulator, hence why the physics, gameplay, and A.I. are identical to the original. Perhaps this is the reason that the extra courses are simply mirrored and re-textured versions of the originals.
• Variable Mix: Mirrored courses in 2001 play a different version of the course's music.
• Video Game Remake: Half of Championship USA is essentially a remake of the first game, as the three courses from the original are remade.
• What the Hell, Player?: In the Advanced course in the original Daytona USA, there's a branching path that requires you to turn around at the starting line to find it. Drive to the end of this path and you'll see a message that reads "Congratulations! You just lost your sponsors!" Doing so in the HD ports nets an achievement.
• You All Look Familiar:
  • The purple #00 and #99 cars in the original.
  • One of the A.I. cars in Championship USA (specifically, the #15 car) has almost the exact same scheme as Clint Bowyer's actual #15 5-Hour Energy Chevrolet during his one-season stint at HScott Motorsports.

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