Sega Superstars Tennis is a dream come true for anyone Sega fan who ever wanted their own Mario Tennis in a classic Sega wrapper. Tired of Luigi? There’s always Samba. You think Princess Peach is too nice? Ulala has what you’re looking for. Sega has finally delivered a mascot filled sports game that’s made for everyone. And it works.

The characters include all the classics like; the Super Monkey Ball monkey, Nights, and the blue dude with ‘tude himself -Sonic. Sega is no stranger to tennis games with their hit Virtua Tennis series being a great example of their skill in the sport. So it’s no surprise that they would try their luck with a tennis title featuring their biggest mascots. While Superstars Tennis may look like a shameless Mario Tennis clone at first glance, it does everything the plumber can do, and more.

SST features a variety of match types and environments, ranging from the zombie killing in House of The Dead’s Curien Mansion to the ring collecting in the Sonic level, where you avoid bombs while collecting rings. Don’t worry. The standard tennis games like singles and doubles are in there too.

Each character has their unique ‘special move’ that can be performed by pulling both triggers at once. Sonic turns into Super Sonic, while Amigo has a bunch of shakers appear on the court to deflect the ball. Performing these gives the player a big advantage for a while but they wear off quickly and are best put to use as a counter when the opponent performs their special.

There are five modes to play through, but the heart of the game is in Superstar mode. In this mode you can unlock new characters and play against your favorite mascots in courts based on their respective series. It starts you off with one match type, six areas, and eight players. As you play through the areas it grades you on your performance; ratings above A unlock more match types and more extras such as background tunes, characters and areas to play.

On the whole, Superstars graphics are actually pretty good. Most of the environments are very well detailed; The Green Hill Zone court worthy of particular mention. Fitting with the games image, the colors are very bright, sharp and there is no noticeable slowdown. They aren’t fantastic by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly do the job they were asked to when pumping out these colorful backdrops.

Unfortunately, the games sounds are not as good as the graphics. Since some courts and content have to be unlocked, you’ll fund yourself hearing the same tunes a few times in a row. And while they’re ok here and there, they’re not something you want to hear over and over. In addition the voices given to each character are very limited. After only a few games with one person you will hear everything they have had to say. This happens even quicker if you end up playing against the same character. Two characters running through the same short list of catch phrases saps the well pretty fast.

+ Tight, fun, and simple controls

+ This game is fun with friends

+ Surprisingly good looking game

+ A great pick up ’n play game for the family

Final Score: 8.0 

Comments (11)