Tips for Daytona USA?

[RvR]

Hey guys. So when me and my bros were young playing Daytona we would just play the beginner course and not come anywhere near winning. Probably we did beat that course later when we were older kids but basically we always sucked at it and wouldnt even attempt to try to beat the harder courses. Im playing it now as an adult and beating the beginner course was pretty easy, but doing the advanced course has been really tough. For 3 days I have played this damn course for about 6 hours each day and I cant beat it. I can get 2nd place but never 1st. And there is still the expert course looming in the background. Basically, I might be an adult now, but Im still pretty bad at this game. Any tips/advice would be much appreciated.

[Baloo]

Top tip is don't just put full pedal to the metal all of the time. The key is learning at what speed to take each turn in the track. Otherwise you'll crash the car and do poorly.

[Barone]

You must learn how to use manual transmission and downshifting to force the car to reduce speed and powerslide whenever needed.

[Silanda]

You must learn how to use manual transmission and downshifting to force the car to reduce speed and powerslide whenever needed.

+1

Powersliding is the key to getting good times, and dropping gears with manual transmission makes it much easier to initiate. Daytona's a game where I'd advise staying away from automatic gears entirely. They make things harder. Virtua Racing is similar.

[Loggo]

Barone and Silanda are spot on.

I would even go as far as to say that automatic transmission doesn’t just make things harder, it even makes the game feel kinda awkward to play.

Daytona is simply meant to be played in MT mode, its trademark manual gear-based drifting mechanic is what the game is all about. I honestly think that AT mode only exists so that first-time players can have some casual fun in the Beginner course.

[profholt82]

You'll have to use the power slide on turns to get lower times. This is actually a technique that is important in many Sega racing games, but it is particularly important in Daytona, as you need to maintain a high speed through the many turns in order to keep your times down.

The best tips I can give you to drifting properly is to anticipate the upcoming turn by getting into position, meaning that if a right turn is approaching, to get low on the right side of the track, all while maintaining a high speed. Then, just before the turn begins, hold down the brake button and swing your car to the outside before hitting the accelerator and turning hard with the turn. This will cause the rear of your car to fishtail and the tires to squeal. Controlling the position through the turn is a learning process, but once you get it, your car will maintain the high speed going sideways, and the tires will squeal through the entire turn. Once the turn is complete, getting it straight again can be tricky, but again, it's all about touch and feel and practice makes perfect. I find that neither breaking nor accelerating (just briefly lifting your thumb off the buttons) makes it easier to adjust the d-pad to get the car back into straightaway position.

It's very easy to over or under compensate during the drifts and wipe out, so proceed with caution. But once you master the drift, your lap times will plummet as you'll be cornering at much higher speeds than before.

[gamevet]

Yeah, think of it as a more advanced way of powersliding, over that of Outrun.

[Leynos]

Learn to sing Let's Go Away on perfect pitch and right on key/timing and all games bow down in front of you.


Do-da do-da do-do-do-do do-do-do

Daytona!

Daytona! Let's go away
Daytona!

Daytona! Let's go away
Daytona!

Weh, hey, hee, weh, hey hee
Weh, hey, hee, weh hee

Daytona! Let's go away
Daytona!

[RvR]

Thanks for all the great tips guys. Based on your advice on all the turns where I was being more conservative and playing it safe, I instead would just try to powerslide like a maniac for maximal speed gain, and eventually I tightened it up, made it manageable and got 1st on the advanced course. Playing expert now, gotta love that Blue Skies song.

[RvR]

They really didnt mess around with the expert course. Been playing it every day for 10 days and I cant even finish the two laps in arcade mode. When I time out Im usually in 20-22nd place. Im a lot better at the 1st half of the course and can be as high as 15th before the 2nd half pulls me back to 20+. Remarkably though getting my ass kicked in this race is still a ton of fun, so more practice it is.

[D34D 4LI3N]

... Any tips/advice would be much appreciated.

go really fast, if something gets in your way, turn.

[Blades]

Getting your ass kicked by the expert course really is a ton of fun. I've never been able to place anywhere close to first. I've seen some really interesting online videos of first place runs.



Automatic too. I like the shortcut at 2:08.

[Leynos]

go really fast, if something gets in your way, turn.

FUCK! I thought for sure sitting still and honking was the right way. No Wonder I wasn't winning. I should not have smashed all those copies of the game then. Oops my bad!

[Righteous]

For big turns, tap and hold the break for a brief moment (depending on how much you need to slow down) while going straight, then turn into a powerslide and feather the gas as needed.

For small turns, can just break and turn into a powerslide while then feathering gas as needed.

[RvR]

Today I finally finished the race in arcade mode expert course, I placed 14th! So epic. Honestly the way to go seems to be just dont overthink things, you know how racing games work, just put in the repetitions, over and over again, every day. Every day you get a hair better and it all adds up. In most games this would be demoralizing, yet in this game its not, its just fun.