It's no secret that a lot of classic videogame music is heavily borrowed from popular and classical music. "Borrowed," as in, you know, "fell off a truck." It's not something to run into very much anymore - it's largely a relic of the '80s - but every once in a blue moon you'll spot something. Case in point - Daytona USA. Now, I know the songs on Daytona get a lot of snickers, but I really dig them. They're good.
How good? Well, the melody to the song for the Mountain stage - I wanna flyyyyy sky hiiiiigh... Remember that tune? Well, Sega stole that melody from a little-seen Stevie Wonder song called, "Send One Your Love." It's from his one album that's truly overlooked, The Secret Life of Plants.
Here, check it out for yourself. I knew that melody at the start sounded familiar. After a couple listens, it finally dawned on me - hey, that's in Daytona USA! I oughta know, 'cause I spent half my time on that game trying to start 20-car pileups. Which, of course, is the only real reason the original Saturn Daytona was any good. When you're trying to dodge stock cars falling from the sky, AND jamming to Stevie...life is good.
P.S. Now that I'm thinking of it...why did everyone bag on Saturn Daytona? That screenshot looks pretty damn good to me. I kinda like it. What was the big freakin' deal, anyway? I think everyone was just too wowed by Playstation, and too pissed at Sega. Can't blame anyone for that. Both were well-deserved. But, still, this game looks fine.
P.P.S. What's with all the freakin' post-scripts?! I'm outta control! I grabbed that screenshot from Michael Palisano's webzine The Laser. It's available on the links section to the right, so be sure to visit once or twice. It's a good site.
1 comment:
The main problem with Saturn Daytona was the pop up: It was about a meter away from the car! That infamous Sonic rock formation? Shows up not long before the time you've hit it. Over wise, it played fine, once you knew th tracks well.
(also, digital controls didn't feel quite like the arcade. Mind you, either did Ridge Racer on PSX.)
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