Reception for the Saturn port was mixed, with comparisons to the PlayStation port of "Ridge Racer". Two sports reviewers of "Electronic Gaming Monthly" found problems with the frame rate and animation, but declared it a good conversion and noted the improvements on the North American version. "GamePro" reviewer Air Hendrix praised the addition of Saturn mode and mirror mode and the gameplay of the core game. He concluded that though it "paled in comparison" to "Ridge Racer", which "takes an early lead with better features, gameplay, and graphics ..."Daytona's" intense gameplay and breathtaking graphics will exhilarate any racing fan". "Maximum" criticized the low-resolution texture mapping, clipping, and lack of multiplayer, but praised the challenging course design and realistic game mechanics, particularly the impact of wind resistance. "Sega Saturn Magazine" found the game graphically impressive aside from the pop-up and had strong arcade-style gameplay. "Next Generation" wrote: "While "Daytona USA" suffers from an accumulation of weaknesses, if it's a fast, thrilling racing game you're after, the Saturn conversion has a great deal to recommend". The Saturn version was ported to Windows a year later, and received lower scores for unaddressed problems.