Daytona USA 2 VS Outrun 2 - 3 Way comparison (Arcade/UK & Japanese Xbox)

Well, if something's worth doing, you might as well do it right...

This will be the 4th time I've compared the Challenge Course in Daytona USA 2: Power Edition to the Outrun 2 Challenge course homage bonus tracks based on it.

Consider this to be THE ULTIMATE version, compared to all the previous Outrun 2 and Daytona USA 2: Power Edition versus videos I've uploaded in the past for several reasons:

1) I'm comparing both the UK AND Japanese versions of Outrun 2 to Daytona USA 2 simultaneously.

2) The footage in all three games are the best runs I've ever done in each individual version of the game in question - I'd never got 1st place in the proper arcade Daytona 2 Challenge Course in any of my previous comparisons and I'd used automatic gears in the Outrun 2 videos. I use manual gears here in both UK and Japanese OR2 and utterly smash the previous times I'd got in the old comparisons.

3) I'm also making a point of pausing the OR2 gameplay at times to allow the Daytona USA 2 footage to catch up, to try and keep the parts of the video in sync that weren't in any of my previous comparisons.

4) I also add a bit of extra bonus comparisons footage at the end from Daytona USA 2's Expert course that wasn't in any of the older comparisons.

So why make a forth comparison at all? Apart from to show off my bitchin' racin' skillz.

The very first comparison of the two I ever did was about 5-6 years ago and was very primitive (as the only video editing software I used at the time was Windows Movie Maker). It involved me playing a windowed video of me playing Outrun 2 in Windows Player and another video of me playing Daytona USA 2 in Windows Media centre next to it on the desk top, whilst recording the desktop. There was no synchronisation between the two games at all really.

Next up, not long after that, with a trial version of more advanced editing software, I was able to do a proper side-by side comparison, where I got the checkpoints synced up between the games. The trial version didn't really properly support making side-by-side videos, but I was able to work around this with a little creative thinking involving shrunk down versions of video overlaid on top of each other. I didn't have a clue about aspect ratios or how to make 60fps videos at that point.

Fast forward to just three years ago and I made my, at the time, ultimate version 3 of this comparison, as I was now using the superior Japanese version of Outrun 2's Challenge Course, I now knew how to render videos at 60fps and also how to get them into proper 16:9 aspect ratios. Also, both games synced up via their checkpoints.

UK/Western and Japanese OR2 Challenge course differences:

□ The Outrun 2 Challenge course track now starts at the same location as the original Daytona 2: Power Edition one (in the EU and US versions for some reason it starts further back on the track).

□ The bunki section when you leave the 'Advanced' Course (Stage 1) to join the 'Expert' course (Stage 2) is now covered so it looks more like the original Daytona 2 track (It's still a lot longer on the Outrun 2 version though).

□ The point where you start the 'Expert' track in the Japanese Outrun 2 version is now the same as Daytona 2. In the EU and US versions it started in a completely different part of the 'Expert' track which was much further back - just after the big 360 corkscrew turn. I'm torn on this change because, technically, despite losing accuracy to the arcade version of Daytona USA, it does mean you got a bit more stage for your buck in the Western version...

□ There are probably more differences on top of these, but these are the immediately obvious things...