Since the Nintendo Wii doesn't have a Mario Power Tennis for everyone to enjoy (yet, anyway), Sega Superstars Tennis will have to fit the bill. The game is essentially a build of Virtua Tennis reworked for die-hard Sega fans, featuring an assortment of mascots, enemies and other characters from games released by the company over the years. It comes together as a pretty entertaining game, but a little more work could've made this really shine.

In the game, you choose from a variety of characters, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Ulala from Space Channel 5, Amigo from Samba de Amigo and others. You can then choose a straight-up tennis match or try your skills in Challenge Mode, which divides into several themed stages. These challenges vary, from thwacking zombies with tennis balls in Curien's Mansion (from House of the Dead) to knocking Monkey Balls through open portals. Some of these challenges fare better than others, but overall it's still pretty fun.

We love the Jet Set Radio court.

As for gameplay, you have various options available. You can play the game with a Classic Controller, stick with the Wii remote or use it in conjunction with a Nunchuk. That final option works best, as you keep mobility of your character while controlling their movements with remote swinging. It's essentially a reworked version of Virtua Tennis, and plays reasonably well. The only minor complaint is the ineffectiveness of the "super shots". With these, your character pulls off a special move to distract the opponent, like Ulala's customized glowing "5" tennis shots. The only problem is that these shots are returnable most, if not all of the time.

Presentation-wise, Sega Superstars Tennis will stir up many happy memories. The Curien Mansion stages are dark and moody; the Sonic the Hedgehog and Monkey Ball settings are bright and colorful; and the Samba de Amigo court will really put you in a party mood. The animation is good, although a little sporadic at times. The background music is classic Sega stuff, although it does get somewhat repetitive.

One thing Superstars sorely lacks is online play, an option present in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. However, the four-player off-line play is still a lot of fun, as you can have matches against each other for tennis superiority. The single-player content is nicely loaded as well, with a number of characters, courts, songs and other Sega goodies to unlock.

That does lead to one minor complaint. There is a decent amount of classic Sega content, but one may wonder why Sumo Digital didn't dig a little deeper. How great would it be to pit the long reach of Ristar against one of the Gunstar Heroes? For that matter, how about a battle with the ladies from Alisia Dragoon and Gunvalkyrie? Perhaps this is something that'll pop up in a sequel.

Sega Superstars Tennis is an entertaining sports game that'll appeal to both fans of the company and casual players alike. The gameplay is comfortable, the presentation is solid and the multiplayer definitely satisfies. However, more effort could've easily made it an ace of the court. At least it still earns some love, especially if you still reminisce about the Dreamcast and Genesis.

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Sega Superstars Tennis Game Guide

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