Worst Game Theme in the World

[davidn]

I remember that the era of full-3D games was beginning when Total Reality was on CITV, and that I was amazed at the look of a Saturn/arcade game that they showed called Daytona USA. I also couldn't help... noticing... its music - for some reason, as part of a triumphant start to the era they'd decided to set the game to the most over-the-top "Wow, I'm a 3D racing game" soundtrack that then rang throughout arcades for a number of years (you must have heard it - it's possibly even more iconic than "Ridgeidge Raceraceracer").

I thought it was hideous even at the time and couldn't understand why it the programme was saying how great it was, but of course, what I didn't realize at that age, having no sense of paradox, was that directly because this was the worst game theme in the world, that retroactively makes it also the best one in the world. Even if you've forgotten it by now, you'll never be able to get it out of your head once you've dared to click on this link.

DAY-TO-NAAAAA - Let's [indeterminate noise]!

Of particular note are the lyrics, starting with the hideously jolly "Do-do-do-de-do-do" part and then performing the spectacular feat of managing to turn downhill from there. It's mostly in that mangled attempt at something resembling English that only the Japanese and Ben Sotto have truly perfected, but as far as I can tell, the first verse is something along the lines of:

This is your Crew Chief,
The courses are really tough,
But it's a beautiful day,
So... [long pause] feckitDAYTONAAAAAAA...

As the art of good lyric writing seems oddly to be equivalent to that of not saying what you actually mean, you've got to admire their bluntness. I suppose by American motorsports standards the courses are indeed really tough, sometimes featuring corners that turn to the right as well as to the left.

Comments

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

It's got to be "Let's going"! Which is just full of engrishy goodness.

Actually, my first introduction to this game (aside from having heard tell of its terrible theme music, but not actually having heard it myself) was when the pawn shop I pass on the way to work put it up (http://img.ravenworks.ca/daytonapawnshop1.jpg) in their window (http://img.ravenworks.ca/daytonapawnshop2.jpg) just this past thursday... I'm dying to see how long it stays there for, what the market for impulse purchase of retro video game hardware is like these days...

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

BTW, Pawn Shop Daytona Watch, day Whatever: It has been replaced with Diddy Kong Racing.

[davidn]

That didn't last very long! Perhaps after a week of that song they felt compelled to take it out and hit it with a mallet.

I'm surprised that you'd never heard the theme music before - it used to be inescapable in any place with a small arcade area :)

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

My only experience with arcades was when we would go on vacation to Maine, when I was a kid... I remember S.T.U.N. Runner and I remember Cruisin' USA, but I can't really recall any racing games in between!

[davidn]

Whenever the family was anywhere that had arcade machines - cinema, bowling, and so on - I didn't usually manage to convince my parents to allow me to spend money on them, so my experience with them was limited too... however, it was special because you could mess about with the cameras in the rolling demo without paying! Perhaps that's another reason why it stayed in my memory.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

Hah, I remember some game that did that.... (in retrospect, I wonder if it WAS Daytona?)