ic-games Review - Sega Superstars Tennis - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

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Sega Superstars Tennis

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: SEGA
Reviewed: Xbox 360/PS3
Genre: Sports (low realism)
UK Release: 21st Mar 2008
Article Date: 26th Mar 2008
Difficulty: N/A
Retail Price: 49.99
Price Comparison:
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Score Breakdown

Experience:
Gameplay:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 75%

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Pros

Some great themed events

Great for SEGA fans

Cons

Slowdown

Screenshots

4 of 12

Sega Superstars Tennis is Sega’s own take on Nintendo’s Mario sporting franchise and with teleporting balls, zombies roaming around the court and frantic cop shoot outs it’s just as frantic (if not silly). Of course, the game does allow you to play a normal game of tennis as well if you so desire. Singles and double matches are available and can be played offline and online via Xbox Live. Ultimately though, although it may well have tennis in the title, as anyone brave enough to lay down the readies will soon find out, Sega Superstars actually ends up being (at times) a lot more fun than just plain old tennis.

The main campaign can be found in the ‘superstar’s mode’ where you take part in mini-games to unlock new characters, courts, music tracks and party games to play outside the superstar mode. Some of the missions just involve you beating characters in tennis matches but others push the tennis theme a little further and in some cases completely ditches the sport altogether.

The Superstars mode, featuring different rooms containing minigames in the theme of Sega’s back catalogue is a brilliant idea but some work much better than others. For example the virtua-cop mode turns the tennis engine into the addictive shoot-em up of yesteryear, whilst the Out-Run mode bears no resemblance to the arcade hit whatsoever. It’s a strange, mixed bag, of great and useless ideas with some working much better than others.

Of course online play is also included via Xbox Live for the 360 and worked well enough for simple pick up and play blasts of tennis mayhem. The Superstars power up can be disabled online (which we personally encourage) and the different characters that can be chosen will offer up some pretty fearsome games if used to their strengths. Unlocked characters from the single player game are also transferred and can be picked online, so Xbox Livers have a reason to dabble with the single player adventure as well.

Strange then how we actually only get around to talking about the tennis portion of the game late into the review but it’s a testament to how much of a back seat the sport has been shown in the game. Sure it’s as playable as the only other comparison on the 360, Virtu Tennis, but with so many cleverly implemented variations available to play in the superstar’s mode you might find yourself leaving the tennis part of the game until later on yourselves.

If you are pretty much stuck on the single player mini-games you can also watch other people play them via the Superstars TV mode. This TV mode works in pretty much a similar way to the Project Gotham TV Channel allowing you to flip in and out of matches picking up hints and tips as you go along. You can also download highlights and other snippets in the TV mode which can really help you pick up your game.

As we mentioned, the tennis portion of the game plays just as good as virtua tennis with the exception of real players being replaced with Sega trademarked characters. You’ll find Sonic, Tails (and later Shadow) from Sonic the Hedgehog available to use alongside other themed characters from the likes of Supermonkey ball, Jet Set Radio and Golden Axe. The rest of the themed events are going to be kept secret but fans of Sega are going to love what is on offer.

The only real problem we had with the tennis was the Superstars power up. Hit good enough shots and win points and you’ll be able to pull off a special move, these range from making your opponent teleport away to altering the path of the tennis ball but ultimately, once pulled off, the move can be as disorientating for yourself as it can be for your partner, personally we hated the idea and switch it off whenever possible. Of course you may get more mileage from the moves. Finally, as good as the tennis is, it’s simply not as fluid as Sega’s other tennis hit, Virtua tennis. Yes some of the courts look beautiful, but it all comes at a cost, and that cost is the framerate. These framerate issues do vary in severity from court to court, and can at times be quite off-putting but nothing that really becomes a showstopper.

Sega Superstars Tennis is a strange beast to review. Some of the themed games work well, for example we enjoyed the nods to Virtua-Cop, Golden Axe and dare we say it, even some of the Sonic the Hedgehog games held our attention well. Other themed events like Out-Run didn’t work so well or offer enough to even warrant their inclusion. If you’re a fan of Sega though you’ll simply love what Sumo have done with Superstars and the online tennis matches will certainly keep you coming back for more once you have lapped up the Superstars mode.

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