
For gamers of a certain age, the name Sega is a synonym for arcade racing perfection. From Yu Suzuki’s sprite scaling opus Out Run to the polygonal bliss of Virtua Racing, the company always stood at the top of the arcade racing genre due to on-point game design, ensuring that anyone regardless of skill could walk away with a silly grin. We have been fortunate in recent times with great re-releases of such classics, with Virtua Racing's remaster, in particular, exceeding even the original release. However, Model 2 and Model 3 games continue to be a no-show in the Sega Ages line-up, and gamers are increasingly asking in unison: “Where the heck is Daytona USA?”
With Daytona being absent, it falls to other titles to fill that void – and sadly, Speedway Racing isn't going to scratch that particular itch. Super PowerUp Games' homage to the world of 'left-turn only' racing might look the part in still images, once you pop the hood, the illusion of a proper Daytona-like arcade racer on Switch quickly falls apart.

Let's (rolling) start with the bad: 60FPS performance doesn't make it to the grid. The game moves along at (mostly) 30FPS in both docked and portable, with a few dips here and there during massive pileups. Considering the overall plainness of the art assets, one would assume that twenty cars racing around oval tracks would make 60FPS a feasible goal, but that isn't the case here. It's not a deal-breaker, but still disappointing.
The lack of customization options hurts this title further, though; it would be nice to remap buttons or be able to toggle some of the visual aspects, such as the speed blur effect. We found a pet peeve with the default controls due to the fact that 'L3' is assigned to re-spawn your car onto the track, and unless you have some serious left thumb analogue discipline you will trigger this feature by accident a lot – which can often cost you a race since re-spawning is a massive gamble; you sometimes end up being spawned on top of another wrecked driver, with little choice but to re-spawn again and losing even more time.

Multiplayer is present, with local-only split-screen for up to four players, but at the cost of the other 19 CPU-controlled vehicles. This sadly makes racing around the six available speedways far less fun than the arcade, time trial (featuring online leader-boards) and championship single-player modes. You can unlock a handful of extra vehicles by winning either East or West racing cups; it might not be much content, but considering the game retails for so little, it could be considered adequate.
On the plus side of things, the car pile-ups are, to put into a word, glorious. Since the AI drivers seem to have a single setting of “murderous intent”, you will never find a single clean lap on any of the game modes featuring CPU-controlled cars on the track. One could even mistake this as an entry in the dormant Destruction Derby franchise; while cars sadly lack damage modelling and we don’t get any flying debris in the air, the horrific twists and tumbles are very satisfying to watch – as long as it's not your car getting some accidental air time.

Regardless of vehicles stats, all cars are delicate beasts, with the slightest wall bounce or misjudged drift almost always resulting in an out-of-control spin, turning you into a juicy target for anyone coming up from the rear. With some practice improvement becomes noticeable, and it is incredibly rewarding to thread the needle of a major pileup of a dozen cars by using a perfect drift straight into a first-place Championship victory. It even gives the loud (and often obnoxious) rock soundtrack some purpose.
Conclusion
Speedway Racing is a mostly competent but ultimately unexceptional attempt to emulate the thrills and spills of Daytona USA – a courageous endeavour indeed. But like the many faux sponsorship advertisements dotted around this game’s speedways, closer inspection drops the curtain to reveal some hard-to-ignore shortcomings. The fun we got out of it clearly demonstrates potential, but a severe lack of customisation options, absence of smooth 60FPS performance and the availability of better racing games on the Switch all conspire to put an unavoidable dent into the bodywork. This is still fun for a few days without ruining your bank account, but it is forever left-turning near the back of the pack.
Comments 75
I was just thinking about Daytona USA. Why hasn't it been re-released on current consoles yet?
Yup, I knew it would be bad.
@Vriess
Cause Sega seems to think all we want is Sanic and 16 bit games.
Bought this game when it launched.
Regretted it 5 min later.
Calling it a Daytona clone is an insult to Daytona USA.
Please please Sega - release Sega rally championship!!!!
Nooooo, I’ve been waiting for months for this! Shame it’s rubbish, I just want Daytona.
Wow that was a lot of car racing metaphors in one short review
When's the new Cruis'n USA gonna come out? 😆
Such a pity, was looking forward to this
Whoever developed or released this turd is probably not concerned about repeat business. Hell, they probably think the internet or review sites don't exist.
I'm just waiting for 90's Super GP
@Morph
I've given up hope.
Lol at days of blunder 😂
@PiXeLSteF this is a day.......never purchase for me😂😂😂😂😂😂😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭Gwah ga hahaha cough! Gha ha....... Ha!
That sound... Can you hear it?... It's my soul being crushed with the disappointment of this being crap. I need a Daytona, outrun, ridge racer, f-zero or burnout in my life. Not a fan of driving sims but love a good arcade racer.
@andykara2003
Yeah like that will happen
It's just sanic and more sanic and 16 bit games from Sega.
@nessisonett
It's stil on the ps3 if that helps.
Or buy a Saturn with Daytona.
Anything is better then this travesty.
Fair play for even bothering to review this...!!
@nocdaes Please understand I have seen far, far worse on the eShop.
Ill be around if you need any clarifications for this humble effort, just @ me with anything you need to know. Of course I wrote this review before Newman's horrific accident at Dayton 500 last weekend, very happy to know he will recover.
Some East Cup gameplay for you, so you can see it is not a complete wreck but simply not up to the game it is paying homage.
@KitsuneNight Yeah, PS Now has Daytona on PS4 and PC and it’s perfectly playable. Definitely better than this!
I’ve been waiting for this to be reviewed. The eShop Screen shots don’t look that bad, but i’m always wary when there’s no video.
Come on M2, give us Daytona and Sega Rally
@nessisonett
Hell even the Saturn port plays better then this.
It might look like dog vomit, but at least it plays great.
I hate how modern games nowadays wouldn't allow you to remap buttons, like c'mon how hard is it to implement a simple feature that let players assign buttons to a controller with their own preference. It's like they want us to get use to their own lame layout. I mean a certain games would be awesome to me if they would had allow me to just reassign button. This goes back to the Speed Racer on Wii situation I had, that game was an awesome racing title but hamper by the fact that they wouldn't just allow you to use a classic controller to play and reassign buttons your way considering that a PS2 port also exist and show that playing with traditional controller works just fine if not better.
@Beermonkey have you played Wreckfest? Is an excellent arcade racer. It’s not on switch though unfortunately...
5 is generous
I can see why this reminded people of Daytona USA stylistically in screenshots. When I looked into it before release, all I saw were oval tracks, which I like, but I was thinking it was going to be a lot less like Daytona than some were hoping. From the sound of the actual game play, the AI and controls sound like big problems. I do love the fake sponsors, though.
I don't think I've ever clicked a control stick by mistake. I didn't know that was a problem for anyone.
@retro_player_22 That's one of my pet peeves about the Johnny Turbo's Arcade series. I bought 8BitDo's SN30+ Pro controller to address that issue, but unfortunately, the slight input lag makes it less than perfect.
@sdelfin
The controls are so twitchy, the slightest bump sends you careening in to a spin or in to the side of a track.
And the AI veers between EXTERMINATE and inept. Because the track is often littered with cars either spinning out or smashed in to each other in a pile or bumping in the sides of the tracks.
It would be hilarious, if I didn't pay 7 bucks for it.
@datamonkey Just a quick Google and sold on by same studio that brought you Flatout. Thanks for heads up. Might hunt down an Xbox copy.
@Vriess I think every time Sega want to release it they have to pay for the Daytona licence. It’s why a few years back they rereleased the game in arcades as Sega Racing Classic as it saved them some money.
@Beermonkey
Wreckout is a bit on the hard side, but somehow also absolutely hilarious with how the AI goes all out, and how in most races only a few survivors limp to the finish.
@BulkSlash
I would be happy with that version.
I don't care about the name Daytona, as long as its the game we all know brue brue skies and all.
“AI is often unhinged” 😂
@Benji80 fear nothing about investing into GRID Autosport, you can play it as unrealistic as you want, and there is even stock car racing.
I like "proper"racing games like this - even though I suck at them!
I'll stick to Asphalt - really enjoying that.
Surprised it took them this long and that they had this much to talk about when it comes to a cheap shovelware game like this.
@Beermonkey I'm the same way. Horizon Chase Turbo is a good Outrun-esque game.
Whatever happened to a game called Sega Super GT/ Scud Racer? It's a 90s racing game where you're driving a Dodge Viper on an airport runway. Never got ported to Dreamcast or Gamecube or anything.
I don't know who came up with L3 and R3, but I hate this guy. -_-
@technotreegrass I've got to the point where I've actually started to go back and play burnout games on GameCube and PS2. Also PS2 Outrun 2. Remember playing the hell out the arcade version of Outrun 2 when on holiday in Spain with my old house mate in 2004. Possibly the best part of that holiday, disaster and a half but that's another story. 😆
@Morph Yeah good luck with that
Total pants then how disappointing, the wait continues then for Sega to give us model 1,2,3 emulation. Must confess just bought a custom hyperspin PC loaded with retro goodness. Namco system 21, 22, model 1,2 that will have to do until Sega M2 deliver.
@Shiryu do you know why this uses the same assets as Rock n Rally racing? They seem to be by different companies, but the graphical style, fonts, voices and LS to respawn are certainly identical.
@Bucket That one is a bit more cell shaded, but I would not dismiss some sort of asset pack for racing games out there.
... giving this turd a 5 is very ...very generous. "Proper drifting mastery feels rewarding"... umm ? seems like the gave me a different version ? In my humble opinion its more a bowling game then a racing game.
This game looks and feels like a mobile game. I was looking forward to this
Pretty sure you can buy Daytona USA on Xbox One
@NoLife Mind if you explain the criteria that makes a game "look and feel like a mobile game"?
@KitsuneNight sorry to hear you got burned in giving it a chance. I've become extremely cautious of new games, as even games that get good reviews sometimes have issues that would bother me. I checked out video of this one a few days ago, so I saw exactly what you described in terms of the AI, and the controls were described as quite troublesome as well.
A Daytona USA Collection (or let's be ambitious, a Sega Arcade Racers Compilation!!!) would be awesome. But of course Sega always replies to such pleas with more Sonic announcements.
@Vriess You can get it for Xbox One. It's technically the Xbox 360 version, but it is backwards compatible and can still be purchased from the Xbox store.
This in absolutely no way possible is a 5, i'd give it a 1. It is absolutely diabolical. A broken mess of a mobile game. Unplayable.
@KitsuneNight I did exactly the same thing. After experiencing the horrible handling I gave up on the game quickly. Wasted money. Whats even worse is that the game was on sale only a week after I bought it on release day
@YANDMAN If you take a look at my gameplay video above, you will see that it is far from a 1/10.
Damn, put this on my wishlist when I first saw it but thought I'd check out the reviews first. What a shame. And now I see it in motion, it doesn't even look as good visually as Daytona USA 2001 on Dreamcast. Still, there's a few other low poly retro racer sims in development, hopefully one of them turns out good.
@Shiryu makes sense. Somebody might use it to make a decent game at some point, then...
@Shiryu I don't need to watch your video, i stupidly purchased it the moment it was released. I have never felt so cheated or ripped off by any other game i have purchased on the eshop. It is Utter SH#T
@mauhlin12 It barely works in emulation.
@YANDMAN I too bought it on release but the red flags were already up due to lack on trailer or review codes. Once I saw 60fps where out of the window I knew it could not live up to what we want or deserve on Switch, but I still managed to have fun with it for that weekend.
@Shiryu All power to you. I played about three races, got instantly infuriated at the poor control/ handling and every aspect just being terrible. If it were 2.99 or less it would be easier to take, but at this pricepoint it is a total insult to anyone purchasing it and nothing more than a cash grab.
@YANDMAN And then I wrote this review in order to better inform you lovelies. =)
@Shiryu You were sadly much too slow in getting it out.
@YANDMAN Funny thing is, I was not...
@sdelfin
That is usually why I wait for sales.
It launched with a discount but I stil got burned
At first i figured it had a learning curve, but no the game is just crap.
If the controls weren't so touchy and if the car didn't spin out of control if you breathed on it, I could deal with the slipshod AI and glitches
But alas it is pretty much garbage.
@jongred
Yeah It's not worth 10 bucks.
Or even 7.
See Sega?? There’s a gap to fill here!! Cmon guys!
Sega, pull you finger out..........you have already done the hard work with the RingWide PC, 360 and PS3 ports.
The license must still be in place as you are still selling the above home console games.
Just get it done.
@X68000
@joey302
Sega releasing anything other then Sanic and 16 bit rehashes ?
Don't be silly.
@KitsuneNight I know silly me 😊 what was I thinking!
@Shiryu Well...three days too late for me
@YANDMAN I fear you were not the only I have diserviced but I can assure I reviewed the game in a timely manner, it was just not a priority among games being released that week and that explains the publishing date. Also note the lack of review codes, this one came out of my pocket.
@Shiryu Question? Unless i've missed it how come nobody is talking about the fact that the latest SEGA Ages releases have just had a tandem Japanase/ European launch? I feel bad for your loss ( having to but the game ) it is god awful. Apex racing or whatever it's called now will right those wrongs.
@YANDMAN You are right, I have been eagerly following the development of Apex Racing until they went dark an year ago and its very nice to see them secure a release.
@Shiryu yeah me too, i think i've been on that trail for about three years. It was very worrying when they disappeared.I'm a huge fan of flat polygons in general and this game looks fantastic. There are a lot of good games launching this year.
@YANDMAN this is going to be a good year!
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