I'm not sure I "get" Sega Saturn racing games

[Anayo]

I love the Sega Saturn. However, I don't get why so many of its racing games have no more than 3 stages, yet they're considered full games. Case in point: Virtua Racing, Daytona USA, Manx TT Super Bike, Sega Rally Championship…

I know these were all home versions of arcade games people would play for an average of 10 minutes on 1 quarter. But didn't Playstation racing games released at the same time have many more stages for people playing for hours on end at home? Or am I missing something? Was there some transition where everyone thought "3 stages is fine" one day and "3 stages is too few" the next? Anyway, the racing genre on the Sega Saturn always seemed substandard to me for this reason, even though some of them are still a blast (like Sega Rally Championship).

[noiseredux]

didn't Ridge Racer technically only have one track?

[Erik_Twice]

They have three stages, but those three stages have more depth than all the stages in a Need for Speed game put together. Try to beat the expert tracks without crashing or slowing down to ludicrous levels, it will take you quite a bit of time.

You too have to remember that these games were meant to be played against others. A single Street Fighter match ends in less than three minutes, having a racing game do the same is not really that different

It was also a fairly slow transition. Virtua Racing was released in 1992, Daytona in 1993. The first game to buck the trend was (in my opinion) Gran Turismo, which is a simulation (as opposed to an arcade racer) and has a focus on car customization (as opposed to competition). But it was released in 1998 which is, much, much later.

It should also be noted that these games were beyond groundbreaking in its time. Daytona USA is contemporary with Starfox which ran at a glorious 12 frames per second and did not have full-motion seats. This was also a very big part of its success.

[Snatch1414]

Yeah it's true that they were arcade games and the ports weren't lacking in content compared to other racers that had "real" physics and cars. At the same time that's why I never really got into racing games until Gran Turismo.

[Soldier Blue]

Yeah they can be pretty lackluster in depth, but I think more than anything they have a certain "charm" about them not present in other titles. (The funny singing in Daytona USA comes to mind). And of course you play them with the Saturn controller which is a plus.

[prfsnl_gmr]

FYI...The HD version of Daytona USA is on sale on PSN right now. It is $4.99.

[TSTR]

didn't Ridge Racer technically only have one track?

dont hate bb

[Jagosaurus]

You are questioning the depth of Sega Rally?

I'm not even mad...

[Anayo]

You are questioning the depth of Sega Rally?

I'm not even mad...

Don't get me wrong, Sega Rally is my favorite of the bunch and I play it a lot. It just seems weirdly short to me.

[Ghegs]

A wise man once said "The last corner in Daytona USA's Dinosaur Canyon has more depth than the entirety of most racing games".