> Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition (the name given outside of Japan) ran at a consistent 30 frames per second, had far less draw-in than the first game for a good sense of distance, and enjoyed greatly improved graphics with cleaner, rainbow-like textures and solidly detailed environments. Even the net-curtain effect used in the game to render fences seemed refined. The game included the three original arcade tracks, Three Seven Speedway, Dinosaur Canyon, and Sea Side Street Galaxy, as well as two new neat-looking corner-packed courses designed for the Saturn hardware. There was still some draw-in, but not enough to draw much attention. All the original music tracks were remixed, and the generally despised Japanese lyrics were removed (though some of us liked the original music). You could ram into the enemy cars unlike the first game in which you'd defy physics by driving through them. The original car handling was altered, however, turning the newest conversion into an almost entirely new racing game. The car handling wasn't as sensitive and the powerslides were more difficult to maintain. The handling felt more "rooted in reality", as someone once put it. "This is meant to be an arcade game, not a simulation!" I hear someone shouting. Again, a Daytona game received mixed reactions but American gamers got a NetLink addition. 

     > The Japanese version, called Daytona Circuit Edition, was released after the American and European versions, and so the extra time was spent to make even further improvements. Everything is in English; importing it won't pose a problem. Plus, the controls are as simple as any standard racing game. A two player link up mode is included, but I've never tried it.

     > One interesting addition to the Japanese version is the camera panning around the car before a race begins. A polished demonstration of the in-game 3D graphics. Also present in the Japanese version are even smoother textures in and throughout the courses. These smoothened textures are prominent on the Dinosaur Canyon track; the mountainous trackside detail has gotten a coat of polish. The grass in Sea Side Street Galaxy is colored in a deeper green and the building textures in the first underpass are no longer blocky (not that you'd notice them unless you were looking). There is far less draw-in now which was noticeable before on the first track. The scenery grows into place in almost natural style resulting in a greater distance-depth. The clipping/draw-in is about on par with the Model 2 arcade game (that's right: even the mighty arcade game suffered from scenery suddenly sprouting up, not that it mattered).

     > What made the arcade race tracks so special were the distinctive landmarks. Three Seven Speedway has a huge wall at a sharp turn depicting a sculptured image of Sonic the Hedgehog, Dinosaur Canyon has its stone archway, and Sea Side Street Galaxy has a space shuttle as well as cool overhead bridges scattered along its winding roads. And more. The new courses maintain that tradition with the inclusion of equally conspicuous eye-candy. National Park Speedway, as the name might imply, has a rollercoaster in the background. And amazingly enough, the Desert City track has a moving train that passes above you on an intersecting bridge, and appears alongside the main stretch as you race! 

     > A cool extra in the Japanese game is the ability to race all the courses at night or sunrise. Simply hold down the X and Y, or X and Z buttons before the race loads in at the "Gentlemen Start Your Engines" screen and behold new time-of-day lighting. The lights inside the Dinosaur Canyon tunnel turn on too.

     > There is some slowdown on the first course in arcade mode when racing side-by-side with cars as you pass the giant stadium. I think the slowdown is worse than in the American/PAL versions even though it is only minor. Shame. This course is best played without the usual 40 cars all driving around it at once.

     > The controls couldn't be simpler: B accelerates (when held down), A and C break, and the top buttons on the Saturn control pad zoom the car view in or out. Fast stops, useful for sudden turns, can be made by letting go of the acceleration button and breaking. A radar is top right of the screen and shows where enemy cars are, as positioned around you at the center, but only cars near to you.

     > The radio commentator sounds more realistic apparently due to his longer scrambled radio sounds before and after talking, but the in-game sounds all sound the same to me (i.e. the same as the first Saturn conversion). The metallic crash noises and sounds of cars passing by are quite encompassing. Clearly audible anyway. When using the in-car views, the car hums as an engine should if running.

     > There are the appropriate amount of cars racing against you on every track for an adequate non-collision free ride. Enemy cars have substance; ramming them gives off sparks. They even try to drive in your way and slow you down. However, this can be used to your advantage: positioning your car in-front of an enemy car after a crash can give you a much needed speed jolt (the radar comes in handy here). Also, you can use enemy cars as buffers when taking a turn to avoid crashing. The enemy car AI can be tweaked to become more or less difficult.

     > The two new CCE/CE courses present a grueling series of high and low speed turns, hair pin bends and chicanes. National Park Speedway has some long stretches allowing you to pick up speed before the eventual turns. Desert City is a beautifully detailed but tricky mountain race track. Combined with the existing three tracks, the game has plenty of mileage.

     > The obnoxious crashes are back as if to remind us that driving at insane speeds will almost certainly end in being flung into the air, and spun as we go. The crashes seem more frequent in the Japanese version but I'm not complaining. Another interesting point of conversation is your car spinning out of control while still on the ground. This can happen by either ramming into the back of an enemy car at over 300 kph, or failing to pull out of a powerslide when pushing into one too far. It's possible to spin *and* crash into the trackside! Careful now.