---
title: "The Greatest Fighting Game Character of All Time Was the Car from Daytona USA"
description: "Hornet's will knock you out of alignment or get wrecked trying."
date: "2021-03-24"
modified: "2021-03-24"
authors:
  - name: "James Gilboy"
    job_title: "Contributing Writer"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/james-gilboy"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/39919/the-greatest-fighting-game-character-of-all-time-was-the-car-from-daytona-usa"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "Features"
  - "News"
---

# The Greatest Fighting Game Character of All Time Was the Car from Daytona USA

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2021/03/daytona-usa-fighting-game-car-1.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

There's no better excuse for stringing together a series of well-choreographed ass-kickings like a revenge plot. Cars have reason to seek vengeance in the fighting arena, too; [that Lexus LS-lookalike](<https://streetfighter.fandom.com/wiki/Bonus_Stage>) suffered mightily at the hands of players in a bonus stage of *Street Fighter II.* Letting this injustice stand would've been an insult to car-kind everywhere, which may be why in late 1996, a car embarked on a quest for comeuppance, entering the arena in *Fighters Megamix* for the Sega Saturn.

A tournament fighting game released when that genre was at its peak in the arcades and on home consoles, *Fighters Megamix* combined characters from previous Sega fighting titles *Fighting Vipers* and *Virtua Fighter 2*, plus a host of other Sega properties. One of those other games was its [arcade smash hit](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/32303/relive-80s-arcades-with-this-sega-racing-game-pop-up-art-book>)

 *Daytona USA*, whose hero car, the "Hornet" stock car, could be unlocked by beating the game's "Secrets" mode.

![message-editor%2F1616599583655-daytonausafightinggamecharacter.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1616599583655-daytonausafightinggamecharacter.jpg>)
**Daytona USA*'s Hornet in *Fighters Megamix*, *YouTube | Sega Lord X**

Hornet is said to have played similarly to *Fighting Vipers* character Bahn, reusing some of his moves, but with novel animations re-tailored to a race car. It stood on its back wheels to punch with the front, could "kick" with its rears, and even perform leg sweep-like moves wherein it rammed opponents' shins. Being apparently based on a *Fighting Vipers* character, it could sustain cosmetic damage that knocked off bodywork, each time emitting sounds not of grunts, but of mechanical clunks. This re-theme extended to returning the punishment, too, with some moves emitting engine revs rather than guttural roars. Hornet even had a matching home arena—a speedway.

https://youtube.com/embed/srzaNn5Z6qw

Hornet, though, does not mark the most recent cameo by a car in a fighting game. Back in 2017 when the [Toyota C-HR](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/19693/driving-the-toyota-c-hr-r-tuned-a-600-hp-compact-crossover-that-wants-to-kill-you>) was new, Toyota ran an ad depicting the coupe-over traveling the stages of *Street Fighter II* before entering a showdown with the game's boss M. Bison. As the C-HR was never a playable character, however, it has to take a backseat to this fighting stock car hero.

https://youtube.com/embed/BGtN1vkZAAc

*Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: james@thedrive.com*

*h/t* [*@MikeMcWhertor*](<https://twitter.com/MikeMcWhertor/status/1374456312419942404>)

## Author
James is a former staff writer for The Drive. He has changed the conversation around electrification, debunked misinformation online, and become a prominent hunter of what he calls "automotive cryptids."

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/jamesgilboy>)