Sega Superstars Tennis

"Sega does the Nintendo thing"

Sega is definitely one gaming company that has a long and storied past. It's filled with many unique games and characters. So it's naturally fitting that they're going to release a game dealing with their big franchise characters akin to what Nintendo has been doing for years. They're doing it now with Sega Superstars Tennis, essentially a little Virtua Tennis clone featuring many characters from Sega's past.

Sega released the game for just about every platform out there, but the one in question in this review is the Nintendo DS version. Unfortunately the reason I chose this version (besides pricing) was the fact that I believed it would include cool modes for the touch screen of the DS. Unfortunately the game deals little with the touch screen, simply using it for menus and navigation. While that may be detrimental, it's still a fun game that will work especially well with young kids.

The controls are very simple. Press the A button for topspin and the B button for a slice. That's the basic gist of the normal controls. But there is a nifty little special move, called Superstar Power, available for each character after completing a certain number of hits in a volley. This is activated with the L or R buttons. Every character has his or her distinctive special move, but they are somewhat generic. For example, Dr. Eggman simply launches a ball very high up in the air. Sonic uses extreme spin on his. They are all similar to this and make the hits very hard to return at times. There is also a semi-hidden ability to smash, which is done when a ball is up in the air and you hold down the A button to smash it back at a high speed; this is how you rip past opponents on the lower difficulties. It's a very simple game that will appeal not to hardcore gamers, but probably the younger brothers or sisters of them. With that being said it is a nice diversion.

There are limited modes available. The bread and butter is more than likely in the tournament mode. It's essentially a method of unlocking new characters through passing on varied levels of difficulty, either in singles or doubles with a computer-controlled ally. The AI is surprisingly very sharp in this game, knowing when to use its Superstar Power and when to volley back and forth.

There's also the minigame mode which allows you to play tennis-ized versions of classic Sega games, such as Chu-Chu Rocket or Space Harrier. These range from extremely fun to pretty lame. For example the first level in the Space Harrier one has you just dodging rocks… pretty lame. However, as you progress you can shoot tennis balls like bullets and essentially recreate Space Harrier with a tennis racket. Fairly inventive I would say.

As far as graphics and sound, there's really not much to say. It certainly looks good enough for a DS title. All the characters are well designed and fluidly animated, plus the courts look great and varied. There is a lot to be looked at in the sound department though, as there are no tracks to be remembered and even the sound effects quality is low, both in muffled spoken voices and limited effects dealing with hitting the balls even.

In the end I did have at least a few ounces of fun playing this title. Of course being a kids game it leaves a decent amount to be desired. There could have been a detailed story mode, or even more courses. In the end it's an alright arcade tennis game that really has appeal to kids. It would make a great present to a little gamer out there, but if you're into an extensive tennis game look the other way.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/08

Game Release: Sega Superstars Tennis (US, 03/18/08)