Woah, listen to that music eh. It s like a hymn from the early 90s. A

hymn from the church of arcade games, when men were men and games were games or something

like that, I don't know. Anyway, it's Daytona USA. Now, I think Daytona USA is the best racing

game this year. You're gonna think I'm just saying that to be an arse and get a rise out

of folk. How could I say that in a year that's had Forza 4, F1 2011, Dirt 3 and all these

other great racing games? Especially seeing as it's only got 1 car and 3 tracks. Oh my

god what an idiot I am. Well seeing as they three tracks are timeless, perfectly designed

classics, I think I'm in the right. Three 7 speedway is pretty much what my generation

grew up thinking a real NASCAR race looked like, with a giant slot machine and a picture

of Sonic carved into a cliff face. Dinosaur Canyon's breathless ascent makes way to perfectly

judged hairpins, asking you to tame your beast of a car and drift it like a pro. And Seaside

Street Galaxy? Well, conquering this marathon is like perfecting Le Mans in Gran Turismo,

trying not to get distracted by the giant statue of Jeffry McWild long enough to keep

your car in a control. And that car, what a car. Why would you ever need anything else?

Daytona USA's blue Hornet, or yellow if you're a prick and play on manual like I do, is

a joy to drive. You're constantly battling to keep it gripped to the road on the straights,

and shifting gears like a mad man to get it drifting. It's utterly barmy, but it exists

in it's own world, with it's own, convincing realism. It isn't realistic in the same way

that Gran Turismo 5 is, but it acts exactly as expected of a car that races around these

fantasy worlds. This new release of Daytona USA is pretty much the standard bearer for

what HD rereleases looks like. It leaves everything from the arcade original intact, but gives

you the benefits of all the mod cons, like widescreen and a brilliant online multiplayer.

Folk that don't know better will moan about the graphics, but I think they look beautiful,

fast and colourful, with a timeless style all of their own. One major addition is

the karaoke mode. Let's be honest, we all know the words to the Daytona soundtrack,

but this time you get to kick back with the horses and sing along to your hearts content.

Daytona USA is a classic. For the price it's going for, you'd be mental not to pick it

up. There's more fun packed into it's three tracks than there is spread out through all

these other modern racing games. If you can look past the old fashioned graphics which

I think still have a sense of charm about them no other game has, then you're gonna

have a whale of a time. Now, if you'll excuse me.