As an “older” gamer (30′s mind you) I have great affinity for the Alien movie franchise. Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, is a classic and James Cameron‘s Aliens is one of the best reviewed movies of all time. Unfortunately, the Alien movie franchise went downhill shortly after.

So anyway, I hope Gearbox and Sega do the movies justice with Aliens: Colonial Marines.  They claim, after all, that it will be a true sequel to Aliens.  So, it’s kinda like the movie fans always wanted but never got.

So far, I was psyched by the gameplay trailer and I like the new box art.  Check out the gallery below.

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Aliens: Colonial Marines is the bold upcoming shooter by Gearbox and Sega that declared itself as a true sequel to James Cameron‘s classic Aliens.

Does it have what it takes to do the film justice? I have to admit, the trailer does a good job in capturing the essence of the classic film. Watch the gameplay video below and comment.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is scheduled to release sometime this fall on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

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• Aliens: Colonial Marines – New Action-Packed Trailer
• SEGA’s Swagvertising For Aliens: Colonial Marines Has Officially Gotten F**king Ridiculous
• Gearbox and Sega Set to Deploy Aliens: Colonial Marines (Screens / Trailer)

My roommate in college was an Industrial Design major, and I vaguely remember him sitting at his desk from time to time, carving away at something that looked pretty important.  I’d probably have more to say but I was usually busy drawing naked ladies. College was a very productive time for me.

The work of an Industrial Design student by the name of Elie Ahovi is the real reason you are here right now.  Elie worked up a console revival that is very near and dear to my heart.  I’m talking about a Dreamcast 2, or Dreamcast Delta, as he calls it.  Regardless of name, Elie put a great deal of thought into this creation, analyzing current trends while trying his best to remain true to the original design essence.  Check his work out in our gallery below and make sure to his Behance Network page to tell him that he is full of win.

P.S. If anyone from SEGA reads this, Elie will be looking for a job come this March.  I implore you to hire him and get cracking on top secret project or two.  Code name “Delta” has a nice ring to it.

Also, this…

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Tails, my friend, we have some catching up to do. In fact, you might even say we have to make up for lost “time”…

Longtime fans of the Sonic the Hedgehog series often recall the games from the Genesis era (or Mega Drive, if you’re outside North America) with a great fondness. However, one of the most highly-praised installments from that period is also one of the most seldom played: Sonic the Hedgehog CD, or just Sonic CD for short.

Sonic CD, helmed by the oft-uncredited creator of the character, Naoto Oshima (Yuji Naka being the Lead Programmer on the original title), was originally meant to be an enhanced version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which was being created by a separate team headed by Naka at the SEGA Technical Institute in the United States. Instead, Oshima wound up taking the project in another direction, creating an all-new game for the company’s ill-fated Genesis CD add-on which bore a couple of small, passing resemblances to its Western-developed sibling.

In all, Sonic CD could be considered to have been in the wrong place at the right time. Sonic the Hedgehog fever was running wild, but that same fever did not translate into sales for the SEGA CD platform, though many of those who played it considered the title not only one of the platform’s best titles, but one of the best Sonic games, period.

Following its 1993 release, the game would be ported to the Windows PC platform in 1996, gaining it a little more exposure. Years later, the PC version of the title would be added to the Sonic Gems Collection in 2005. The problem there is that unlike the preceding Sonic Mega Collection, Gems would only be released for the GameCube in North America, thus keeping it out of the hands of a fair number of PlayStation 2 and Xbox owners (though the latter would only receive the Mega Collection in any region).

But now, Sonic CD finally has a chance to hit it big with the masses; unlike previous releases, the version we are here to talk about today is being released far and wide for virtually every platform– PlayStation Network, Xbox LIVE Arcade, Android, iOS, and at some point next year, even Windows Phone 7 and Steam. Ironically, it seems that just about the only platforms not getting it at all are those branded by Nintendo, making for an interesting bit of turnabout following Gems Collection.

(Well, there’s also the PlayStation Portable, but that should probably come as no surprise by this point.)

Unlike previous re-releases, the new Sonic the Hedgehog CD is no mere port; instead, independent developer and Sonic fan Christian “Taxman” Whitehead developed a new game engine called the “Retro Engine,” and presented a proof-of-concept wherein the game was reconstructed to SEGA. Upon seeing the game running on the iPhone, SEGA was apparently impressed enough to not only make the project official, but bring it to several other platforms as well, adding new tweaks and improvements along the way.

Sonic CD was well known for many things, including its time-traveling dynamic, CD-quality soundtrack, and anime cutscenes at the start and end of the game, to say nothing of the introduction of the characters of Metal Sonic and Amy Rose. Its legacy speaks for itself, and you can find numerous reviews all over the web with a little searching; of this, we have little doubt. Rather than delve into the quality of the game itself (beyond a brief summary), the focus of this review will be on what this particular version brings to the table.

Perhaps the first thing one might notice is how everything has been adapted so that it can run in widescreen. This includes not only the menus, but the gameplay itself, as well as the title screen and even the anime cutscenes by Toei Animation and Studio Junio.

In fact, those few who did own the SEGA CD may well remember that the cutscenes were displayed in a tiny window in the middle of the screen, and were a little grainy, as most videos were for the time. But no more; though the art style is simplistic, seeing those same scenes playing at full speed and taking up the entirety of your television screen is a sight to behold.

Similarly, the game presents you with three options for the in-game visuals. These include “Nostalgia,” “Smooth,” and “Sharp” settings, which seem to evoke different levels of quality, ranging from how the original looked on the SEGA CD to a look which seems to be a little more in keeping with what is expected from today’s displays.

Several companies, including SEGA, have looked to Backbone to create “high definition” versions of their 16-bit titles for these platforms, but these efforts have typically been met with disdain, with comments of how the original graphics look “smeared” being the norm. However, while we can’t quite put our finger on just what it is, the job performed on the graphics here feels far superior to Backbone’s attempts to update 16-bit visuals. And best of all, you can adjust the visual style at any time by simply pausing and accessing the settings.

The visuals are not the only thing which has been upgraded, as the audio provides almost everything a Sonic fan– a Sonic CD fan, especially– could want.

When the game was originally released, there were two soundtracks: one for the Japanese and PAL regions, and another composed for the North American release (which itself would find its way into later European ports). Fans have readily debated for ages over which version was preferable, from Masafumi Ogata’s title theme “You Can Do Anything” (aka “Toot Toot Sonic Warrior”) versus Spencer Nilsen’s “Sonic Boom” (which would go on to be featured in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) to decidedly different approaches to stage music (the Japanese versions featuring three variations of a common theme per zone, whereas the NA version would use different themes altogether), and even the boss music.

Following the announcement of this release, SEGA stated that it would only feature the Japanese/PAL music due to some licensing issues. Hope was kept alive, however, by talk that the North American soundtrack might be offered as downloadable content, so as to offset the cost of reusing Nilsen’s music.

Now, we aren’t sure what happened, but it all worked out for the best as this version of Sonic CD comes with both soundtracks. That’s right– while the Japanese music is the default when you download the game, you can switch it over to the North American soundtrack from the menu at the title screen. Unfortunately, unlike the visuals, you can only make this switch from this menu. It’s only a minor gripe, as being able to switch soundtracks on the fly and compare them as you go through the game would have been a great feature, but we aren’t about to complain– not when we thought we might not get Nilsen’s tunes at all.

Now, we did say it brought “almost” everything a fan would want. The “almost” applies to the unfortunate omission of the Engrish lyrics from the Japanese theme song, “You Can Do Anything.” Given that was a large draw for fans of that soundtrack– and even a favorably silly part for those who prefer the other– it’s unfortunate that they were mysteriously left out.

As an aside, it should be noted that you are able to adjust the volume of the sound effects and music in relation to one-another, and you can do this at any time from the pause menu.

As beloved as the game was to many fans who played it, it wasn’t without some issues, and we don’t just mean the music. Sonic felt a little different in how he controlled as well compared to post-Sonic 1 games, and this is perhaps best represented by the Spin Dash. With Sonic CD being developed at the same time as Sonic 2, both wound up taking the same basic idea and putting their own– *ahem* –spin on it.

The Sonic 2 version, which has you press the jump button repeatedly while holding down, is perhaps the best known. Not only did it come first, but it would become the standard for many, many other games to follow. Sonic CD, however, only required one button press and Sonic would gradually build towards his (seemingly slower) top speed. Of the two, it was far less warmly received.

The Retro Engine version, however, takes both versions into account. Like the music, it must be selected before you start up your game, but players can now choose between both types of Spin Dash, with the more “classic” style set as the default. And as much as we love Sonic, there are those far more hardcore than we are, and word is that switching the Spin Dash style affects the controls in other ways as well, with whatever differences there are between the Sonic CD and Sonic 2 versions of gameplay present and accounted for. We didn’t notice a huge difference beyond the Spin Dash, but more hardcore fans might.

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We recently spoke at considerable length about Sonic the Hedgehog’s latest outing, the 20th anniversary celebrating Sonic Generations. As such, that makes covering the Nintendo 3DS version a little bit easier (and probably less wordy, but we’ll see).

Traditionally speaking, there are two ways to bring a console title to a portable platform: one is to essentially try to bring the exact same experience to the latter, lopping off any extraneous parts or limbs as necessary due to technological limitations. The other is to all but forget what has gone into the console version, and essentially build something new from the ground up which delivers the same basic idea, but in a form better suited to the less-powerful hardware.

Sonic Generations hits somewhere between the two ideals, though closer to the latter– at least where gameplay is concerned. The story is the same as the one seen in the console version, and much of the dialogue is replicated verbatim, though without the voice acting of the console version. There are little sound bytes as each character’s sequence of word balloons begins, but much of the dialogue falls comparatively flat without the voices to deliver them.

Hey, say what you want about Sonic and the rest, but Mike Pollock’s Eggman is an absolute joy to listen to. You can tell that he must be having a great time voicing the role, and it’s a shame not to have it here, especially when we’re certain the Nintendo 3DS could more than adequately handle it.

Way Better Than English

As we were saying, the story is mostly the same, only now, none of Sonic’s friends appear, save for Tails. Well, Shadow and Silver appear, too, if one were to include their appearances as bosses– but more on those later.

The cutscenes used to tell the story also lack the… well, everything of the console version. If there is one thing SEGA can do well with Sonic, it’s computer-animated cutscenes. But instead of those, or even stills from the console version, the Nintendo 3DS version basically has the characters standing and talking against static backgrounds which they don’t even look like they are able to interact with.

This is worsened when the scene in question involves more than just talking; it would be all but impossible to guess what the characters are doing if not for them telling you. And even then, near the end of the game, there is at least one event which happens that we’re still not entirely sure of what happened– that one does differ from the console version, and they don’t really bother to explain, though you still get the general idea of what went on.

Heck, you don’t even get a cool transformation sequence for Super Sonic (no, that’s not a spoiler… not if you’ve ever played through most any Sonic game before).

It’s disappointing because we’re pretty sure SEGA can do better than this. Shoot, get the guys at Archie to draw up some cut scenes next time.

Anyway, despite this disappointment– which may not even matter to you, and is easily skippable for those who don’t care why a blue hedgehog needs to run really, really fast through colorful stages– the game is actually pretty good. And, depending on your view of the frequently over-the-shoulder Modern Sonic style presented in the console version, this version could even surpass it.

The reason for that is because, for the most part, gameplay in the Nintendo 3DS version is entirely 2D, or at least 2.5D in some parts. Ironic, given the system, we know. But Classic Sonic plays as the Blue Blur did during the heyday of the SEGA Genesis, and Modern Sonic feels like a cross between the side-scrolling portions of Modern Sonic on the console, and the gameplay of Sonic Rush, minus the mid-air stunts.

That said, there are some 3D portions, but they are exceedingly rare. These are relegated to some rail-grinding, special “escape” sequences, such as where Sonic runs towards the player as a giant totem pole comes falling down behind him, and the Sonic the Hedgehog 2-styled (or more accurately, as we’ve more recently been told, Sonic Heroes-styled) special stages.

These special stages appear after both Sonics clear their respective portions of a zone, and there are seven in all (as there are seven Chaos Emeralds to obtain). If you want to see the end of the game, then you must complete them.

Fortunately, these special stages are not nearly as difficult as those seen in past Sonic titles. At first we thought they would be, as we believed the goal to be to collect as many colored orbs (in lieu of rings) as possible to get the Chaos Emerald. Instead, these actually fuel your boost meter, with which you must keep up with the Chaos Emerald in order to get it.

Special stages have always been the bane of this reviewer’s Sonic experiences, and he has never succeeded in gathering all seven within any game; one or two, at the most. But this time out, he was able to acquire all seven with ease, and had a blast doing it. And like other stages in the game, you can improve your score and rank by going back to them and doing even better.

As for the main portion of the game, things have been streamlined considerably. Rather than a large, interactive hub, you select your stages from a menu, while other features– challenges, unlockables, etc.– are separated into their own game modes.

The lineup of stages differs from the console version as well, though not in the way many had hoped. Being a handheld title, there were fans who had hoped that this version of Generations would take its stages from Sonic’s Game Gear, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable appearances. But, for the most part, that isn’t the case, and the majority of stages come from console titles.

Though both share unique versions of the Green Hill Zone, that is the only one they have in common. Sonic 2‘s Chemical Plant Zone is replaced by the Casino Night Zone, Sonic & Knuckles‘ Hidden Palace Zone is replaced by the Mushroom Hill Zone, and once again, Sonic 3 is left out entirely, unless you’re willing to count it and Sonic & Knuckles as one game.

Things continue with Sonic Adventure‘s Speed Highway being replaced by the Emerald Coast and Sonic Adventure 2‘s City Escape being replaced by Radical Highway. After that, though, things veer wildly away from the pattern established in the console version.

Gone are the remakes of levels from Sonic Heroes, 2006′s Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic Colors for the Wii; in their place are a humble two zones, with Water Temple representing Sonic Rush and Tropical Resort representing Sonic Colors for the Nintendo DS. It’s an interesting trade-off, to say the least, though it is unfortunate that the number of stages seems to have been dictated by the number of Chaos Emeralds.

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June 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of everyone’s favorite cobalt Erinaceus europaeus, and SEGA has decided to mark the occasion in style with the release of Sonic Generations for the Xbox 360 (the version reviewed here), PlayStation 3, and PC platforms. There is also a release coming soon to the Nintendo 3DS, but that is its own separate version, and one we will hopefully have the opportunity to look at for you soon.

Sonic Generations is a celebration of Hedgehog history, for better or worse. Sonic Team has gone to the effort of taking one zone from several of the Blue Blur’s games and remaking them for a new generation of consoles. Not every game is accounted for, though some are represented in other ways; you won’t find levels from any of the portable titles here, nor anything from the “Storybook Series” of games released for the Wii, though they are often accounted for in other ways, be it an unlockable music track or a reference in the characters’ dialogue.

The story, for those interested, is that Sonic’s friends are throwing him a party when a mysterious force swoops in and attacks the group, sending Sonic’s friends through time portals and leaving the hedgehog himself in the middle of a white void. There, he winds up teaming up with his past self, the shorter, rounder, and some would say cuter version from the titles which helped the SEGA Genesis stand toe-to-toe with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (itself celebrating 20 years) for the majority of the 16-bit era.

Together, they set off through the void, or “White Space,” finding areas from different eras of Sonic’s history and racing through to restore them to their original full-color glory.

The void acts as the hub world for the game and, after clearing the initial Green Hill Zone stage, becomes the place where you will start the game each time. Like time itself, progression here is linear — you may get a peek at some upcoming stages, but you’ll still have to travel through each stage as it comes chronologically… or rather, in order of each game’s release, given that a couple of stages, such as two of the Rival Battles (more on those in a bit) and Crisis City from 2006′s Sonic the Hedgehog (we did say for better or for worse, and that game definitely falls into the latter) are technically in the future, but are still placed a bit before the end of this interactive timeline.

You can switch between either Sonic at any time and use who you prefer to navigate the White Space, which itself is very much like a 2D stage. This hub is divided into three “eras,” each of which feature three games/areas, one Rival Battle, and one boss to represent them (plus the game’s final boss): the Genesis era (containing Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, which is acknowledged in its Lock-On form here. There is also a nod to Sonic CD here, the Dreamcast era (Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes, despite the latter not appearing on SEGA’s ill-fated final console), and the “Modern” era (2006′s Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic Colors).

In addition to the stages, the White Space also contains Omochao’s Skill Shop, where you can purchase upgrades for each Sonic using the points earned just by playing the game. These, of course, allow them to do all sorts of things, from having higher speed to braking on a dime to using shields from the Genesis Sonic games. The downside is that you only have 100 Skill Point slots to allot to these abilities.

You can also purchase 1UPs from the shop, which is handy at times, or a Genesis controller, which allows you to play an emulated version of the original Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis console found in the Green Hill’s portion of the White Space.

But that’s not all! There is also an information booth and a “house” of some sort, where you can view cutscenes you’ve seen before, bios and 3D models of the characters, concept art, or even listen to the music you’ve unlocked. The game’s main stages are filled with red rings, similar to those seen in Sonic Colors, and the more you get, the more there is to see.

The one downside to the cutscene archive, however, is that it does not store the scenes where Sonic frees his friends. YouTube notwithstanding, the only way to see them all is to finish each area with each Sonic, requiring two playthroughs of the game. If you don’t have the time or patience for that, we recommend finishing with Classic Sonic in each area, as the reactions most of the characters have to his altered appearance are generally more amusing than those given to the Modern Sonic they all know and love.

That said, there is a fair bit to do without even entering the stages.

Of course, the stages are what Sonic Generations is all about, and are what people have waited for each new trailer to see what would be revealed as the release drew ever closer. Sure, all the other stuff is nice, but this is the meat and potatoes right here — for a lot of people, everything else is secondary.

The main idea of Sonic Generations is that you’ll get to experience one stage from one “main” game as both Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic. Classic Sonic’s races through stages are 2D-styled gameplay affairs, while Modern Sonic utilizes the mix of 2D and 3D gameplay first pioneered in the daytime portions of Sonic Unleashed and perfected in Sonic Colors.

However, contrary to what some people think (including those hailing from once-respected publications), none of the stages are directly lifted from any of the source material, nor are the Modern Sonic stages merely Classic Sonic’s stages played with an over-the-shoulder perspective. Sure, the themes and some elements may be familiar, but spend any amount of time playing, and those with at least a little familiarity should recognize Sonic Team’s attempt to remake these settings, even going so far as to combine elements from other stages which did not make the cut into the final product. One example of this can be seen with the corkscrews in Sonic the Hedgehog‘s Green Hill Zone, which did not debut until Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

For those who grew up with the series or are simply longstanding fans of Sonic the Hedgehog, it is a sheer delight to see the stages of yesteryear recreated with the technology of today; for that matter, even some of the more recent levels seem to have a newfound attraction, too. If you’re old enough to remember playing Super Mario All-Stars when it came out, and the thrill of seeing all the new sights afforded by the marvel of more advanced technology, seeing the updated Sonic stages here provokes a similar sensation, but with the benefit of about three more generations’ difference.

The developers clearly had some fun with the redesigns, as you can see a lot of neat little touches in several of the stages, such as roadsigns named for characters, or “Missing” and “Wanted” posters for characters who have been long absent from the franchise.

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Our editor Dave Oshry is a man who stereotypes people. Is there a term for that? There should be a term for that. Stereotypist, or something.

Take me for example. He singles out the one person on this site from the southern United States (without “Mobile Guru” or “MMO Champion” in their title, anyway) who wears a cowboy hat, and tells them to review a NASCAR game which just came out for Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Network.

“Why, sure!” says the individual. “I’ll just put aside my banjo and wipe the moonshine from my lips, and get right on it! Never mind the fact that I’m not very good at the game!”

It was at this point that he put down the world’s tiniest violin, slapped me on the back, and said “that’s the spirit!”

And that’s how we reached this point.

ROLLING START!!!

Am I the right person to be reviewing this game? I have no idea. I don’t watch NASCAR , I don’t drink Mountain Dew or Mtn Dew or whatever they’re calling that stuff now (Mello Yello, thanks), and I moved to Canada a decade ago, so you tell me.

Ah, but then, this isn’t just any game with a NASCAR license on it, is it? In fact, I’m not even sure that NASCAR proper has anything to do with the game at all, despite the name. This is Daytona USA, an arcade racing game from SEGA’s AM2 division. So in reality, it’s basically NASCAR-styled racing as viewed through a Japanese filter. Sort of like how America basically took Street Fighter II and turned it into G.I. Joe: Generation 2 for the first few years of its industry dominance.

With that said, here’s a little more disclosure: when Daytona USA first hit the arcades, I was not the least bit interested. No, the racing game I chose to play was none other than Nintendo and Midway’s Ultra 64 showpiece, Cruis’n USA, and it was glorious. No other racing game could ever possibly top it in a million years, no matter how hard they tried… unless they made a sequel, perhaps.

Fanboyism is a strange, strange thing, and can trump nostalgia for the rose-colored glasses bit any time.

That’s right: Nintendo vs. SEGA, the real console war (not like what you namby-pamby gamers have now, what with your two or three consoles under your televisions…) was still hot and fresh like a Krispy Kreme donut when the red light is on, and I wasn’t about to give SEGA’s game the time of day.

Except for that time I gave it the time of day. I didn’t like it, of course, because it was SEGA. But it did look sort of nice… you know, for an inferior product. And damn if it didn’t have a catchy theme song… that I refused to listen to. Lalalalalala~!

Suffice to say: I was young, dumb, picked my side for better or for worse (in this specific case, quite a bit worse in the long run), and just didn’t play the game very much at all.

Thankfully, times have changed. I’m older, wiser, and really don’t give a crap about console wars any more. Sure, I still love Nintendo (though I’ve yet to don a crown to proclaim it– nice gimmick, though), but I have moved on to open my heart to SEGA, as well as Microsoft and Sony. Which is a good thing, because otherwise doing this review would be really hard.

With that said, I’ve downloaded and played the game. And you know what?

I like it. Quite a bit, actually. Maybe I should give lima beans another try, too!

Or maybe not.

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo... DAYTONA!!!

At first, playing Daytona USA felt a little rougher than most of the driving games I’m used to. A little more sim-ish, one might say, though not terribly so; it’s difficult to watch your car flip off the side of the track, tumble across the road, land on its wheels looking like a crushed tin can, get right back in the race, and call it a simulation. Perhaps a fine middle-ground is what AM2 has managed to uncover here. Fortunately, the game has multiple difficulty settings, which makes learning the nuances of the game a bit easier before you crank things up a notch.

The game itself is rather low on content, with only two cars to choose from (automatic transmission and manual), and three courses to choose from, including a short “Beginner” course, which is completed in 80 laps; a medium-length “Advanced” course, which goes for 40 laps; and the rather long “Expert” course, which needs “only” 20 laps to complete.

However, they manage to do quite a bit with that content. Numerous modes and challenges set across each course gives you plenty of reason to rev up again after finishing a race. You can take on dozens of computer-controlled drivers, cruise by your lonesome to the game’s famed/infamous soundtrack in Karaoke mode (a big hit in the deep South, I’m sure), challenge the clock in Survival and Time Trials, race up to seven other players online, or show just how proficient you are at controlling one of these mean machines by proving you can get up to speed within a time limit or avoid hitting the wall while maintaining your speed. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. And it probably goes without saying that there are Achievements and Trophies to be earned on your system of choice.

With all of that said, there is plenty to keep you busy here with what the game has to offer, which helps balance things out nicely.

The King of Speed

Some companies would probably just dump a ROM on a server and call it a day, but not SEGA; they have enhanced the visuals, giving it a nice high-definition look. Granted, they haven’t really done much with the polygon counts on the cars and track, but even then, it still looks surprisingly good for a 3D game originally released in 1993. Furthermore, unlike some other updated releases, SEGA has offered via downloadable services (looking at you, Sonic Adventure), Daytona USA now features an enhanced 16:9 widescreen format.

This release also supports all steering wheel controllers on the Xbox 360, as well as the Logitech GT Driving Force steering wheel controller for the PlayStation 3. We were unable to try this feature at the time of review, though if you have one of these lying around, now would be a great time to break it out and bring things closer to the original arcade experience.

And, unlike some other SEGA arcade driving games that have been re-released to Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PlayStation Network, Daytona USA retains the soundtrack which so many find synonymous with the title. For those unfamiliar, put away any thoughts of some weird country or rock or country-rock tracks you might be imagining; the tunes on display here, from “Let’s Go Away” to “The King of Speed” are… well, hard to describe, but fit right into that “NASCAR viewed through a Japanese lens” notion mentioned earlier.

Have a listen for yourself: