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SEGA Superstars.... Tennis? Wii / 360 / PS2 / PS3 / DS

M

McBradders

NeoGAF: my new HOME
GottiDC said:
why even put this on ps3, this is the type of game that does not need to be on ps3 at all. ps3 is for upper class, not for mindless below medicore wii games
Click to expand...

:lol

So you've played it?
 
T

Threi

notag
GottiDC said:
why even put this on ps3, this is the type of game that does not need to be on ps3 at all. ps3 is for upper class, not for mindless below medicore wii games
Click to expand...

tru dat homie
 
D

D-X

Member
Penguin said:
http://media.wii.ign.com/media/142/14211933/vids_1.html

Purdy new trailer.

Don't know if posted before.

Game looks ace.
Click to expand...

That was an awesome trailer - I had a huge smile on my face throughout. It felt so...Sega.

Also it looks like we have a small hint of a secret character?

tailstennis.jpg
 
D

D-X

Member
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=90996


eurogamer said:
You're SEGA (bear with me). You've got arguably the best tennis game engine around from Virtua Tennis 3. You've got tons of iconic IP dating back more than 20 years. There's a gap in the release schedule, and pop SEGA Superstar Tennis emerges out of the delivery room fully formed, and with none of the desperate screaming and emergency surgery of a protracted labour.

Holding aloft its new baby, SEGA proudly stormed the gates of EG towers (we do have towers now - did you see the press release?) to give us a hands-on with a near-complete 360 build of the game, currently looking good for a mid-March release on about 97 platforms. Okay, five: 360, PS3, Wii, DS and (uhuh) PS2. "No PSP or PC?" you cry. "Where's the love?" That's meant to be a tennis joke.

Anyway, let's start with some facts and figures: 16 characters, ten courts, eight mini-games, and - fun! - unlockable music. Of the 16 characters, six are available from the start from a cast that includes Sonic, Tails, Shadow, Amy Rose and Eggman (from Sonic The Hedgehog), AiAi and MeeMee (from Super Monkey Ball), Ulala and Pudding (from Space Channel 5), Alex Kidd (err, Alex Kidd), Amigo (Samba De Amigo), NiGHTS and Reala (NiGHTS), Gum and Beat (from Jet Set Radio) and one more currently top secret character that we're forbidden to reveal for fear of severe reprisals and sullen rejection. And, no, it's not Ryu from Shenmue. Or the dragon from Panzer Dragoon. Don't be silly.

In terms of the ten courts (four of which are open to start with), there's the Green Hill and Scrap Brain Zones (Sonic the Hedgehog), as well as Coconut Beach (OutRun), Monkey Island (Super Monkey Ball), Galactic Cruiser (Space Channel 5), Shibuya Cho (Jet Set Radio), The Curien Mansion (The House of the Dead), Aqua Garden (NiGHTS), Carnival Park (Samba De Amigo) and one more we're bound and gagged not to reveal yet. On top of that, the obligatory daft mini-games will be inspired by The House of the Dead, Puyo Pop, Space Harrier, Samba De Amigo, Virtua Cop, and a few others we, again, must take to our graves. Assuming we meet our doom between now and mid March. You never know who's in the trees. Waiting.

With only a brief hands-on opportunity, we didn't get a chance to explore the intricate nuances of each character or anything, but certainly had enough time to get a feel for the game and how it's shaping up. Taking its cue from Virtua Tennis, the serving and shot mechanics are broadly along the same lines, with a few tweaks here and there to give it its own personality and unique feel. For example, it feels initially harder to serve, with a more sensitive approach to aftertouch ensuring that you'll be out if you hold the stick for too long in one direction.


Likewise, returning serves and keeping rallies going doesn't appear to let you stretch for shots in quite the same way as VT does. Whereas you might reasonably expect your man (slash monkey, slash hedgehog, etc) to stretch and dive to meet the ball, time after time we found ourselves punished for shots that would be considered routine in VT. Whether that's a set-in-stone gameplay decision or something being tweaked and balanced in the final stages of development was hard to say. Right now, though, SEGA Superstar Tennis definitely doesn't feel like Virtua Tennis with SEGA icons instead of grizzled professionals.

The overall look and feel, though, is exceptionally slick, exactly as we've come to expect from SEGA's rather wonderful tennis titles to date. It runs in 720p without a hitch, giving it the kind of super glossy sheen you'll either love to death or want to smash to bits with a 2-by-4 (sorry, they demoed Condemned 2 afterwards). Each themed court is instantly recognisable, and, obviously developer Sumo has gone to town to make sure the characters, the music and all the little touches are perfectly in tune with the whole SEGA mythos. If that word is allowed in this article. The title screen has blue skies and fluffy clouds, for gawd's sake. UK:R will be in heaven.

Playing off against a beaming Bramwell, we eventually sussed out a nifty power-up system, unique to each character. After clocking up a few decent shots, it appears to top up your special move gauge, allowing you to unleash (via both trigger buttons, if we remember correctly) what amounts to a gigantically unfair special attack, such as a volley of bananas for AiAi and Sonic's SuperSonic transformation with a ball that zips all over the place. You'll duck. You'll dive. You'll dance through the debris. You'll desperately try to get your return shot in, and probably fail and curse the mother of your foul opponent. Still, the beauty is, you can simply do the same back to them and laugh in their stupid face as Eggman throws bombs in reply. This is all ripped off rather shamelessly from Mario Power Tennis, of course, but it's still fun to be evil in tennis games. There's never enough evil in games, no matter what the do-gooders have you believe. Mwahahahahaha evil, we mean, just in case Keith Vaz is reading this.

And then there's the mini-games. The only one you can play at the start (and therefore the only one we could get our hands on) was The Curien Mansion one, based, obviously, on The House of the Dead. Similar in nature to the Alien Attack one in VT3, you have to see off a succession of lurching zombies as they shuffle their cankered limbs toward you. Accurate serving is basically your only weapon against the living dead, and once you've cleared a wave, another one appears, only slightly faster than before. Unlike VT, there's no real level cap - if you can keep clearing them, the game keeps on ramping up the difficulty until, presumably, it all gets a bit mental.

In terms of modes, expect the usual array of singles and doubles options in Exhibition mode, along with the main Tournament mode where you'll unlock everything. Multiplayer wise, expect the usual offline and online options, with four player support promised - including the mini-games (with each player getting their own coloured ball to denote who's who). Let's hope they make the online mode slightly more user friendly and lag tolerant than VT3, which was, let's face it, a bit of a lottery when it came down to it on 360. This time PS3 will also boast online, while each platform is expected to have its own exclusive play mode of some sort.

With tons of unlockables (including the music associated with each game), SEGA Superstar Tennis is a bit of a fanboy's dream. The Xbox 360 Achievements will make you smile, too, although - again - we were told not to reveal them at this stage. With so many unique versions promised, it'll be interesting to see how it translates to the Wii control system, and whether the DS and PS2 can truly represent the graphics without too many compromises. With the game just a few weeks away from release, check back soon to see our full in-depth verdict on this intriguing new tennis offering.
Click to expand...
 
CamHostage

CamHostage

Member
Gamecocks625 said:
I hate trailers like this. Show me actual gameplay.
Click to expand...

Uh, it's Virtua Tennis with SEGA star characters. What is it that you're missing here? The gameplay is going to mostly be in wanking fanboys do over finally having SEGA alive again... plus Virtua Tennis.
 
G

goldenticket

Member
ksamedi said:
Is the Wii version motion controlled?
Click to expand...

i asked that earlier and the response i got was you swing like wii tennis and use nunchuk to run around with, should be fun


thanks d-x for the informative post. i wish ristar was in it. its cool there are two jet set radio players though. yeah you are right prob a vf character in there as well
 
K

ksamedi

Member
goldenticket said:
i asked that earlier and the response i got was you swing like wii tennis and use nunchuk to run around with, should be fun


thanks d-x for the informative post. i wish ristar was in it. its cool there are two jet set radio players though. yeah you are right prob a vf character in there as well
Click to expand...


Its time Nintendo released that Wireless nunchuck then.
 
G

Gagaman

Member
Holy shit, is it just me or do Sega always make the greatest FMV trailers now a days? The Sega fanboy in me just had an orgasm from watching that. :lol

Is it sad that I'm actually just as excited for this now than I am Smash Bros Brawl?
 
G

goldenticket

Member
Gagaman said:
Is it sad that I'm actually just as excited for this now than I am Smash Bros Brawl?
Click to expand...

a little but mainly because ive read the wii version doesnt have online play where the 360/ps3 do. but i am looking forward to it too i just wish wii had online
 
J

jarrod

Banned
Skipping online for the Wii version's definitely a mistake imo... if Sumo can manage it for Outrun PSP, Wii should be no problem considering the more prevalent network infastructure. DS version should be online too actually... if SEGA's internal studios can manage it, why not Sumo? It's like VT3 reversed or something. :lol

Doesn't bug me much personally though, I was always going for the 360 version anyway.
 
G

Gagaman

Member
goldenticket said:
a little but mainly because ive read the wii version doesnt have online play where the 360/ps3 do. but i am looking forward to it too i just wish wii had online
Click to expand...
No online for the Wii version? Oh....


I'll get over it!
 
P

PowerSmell

Member
Gagaman said:
Is it sad that I'm actually just as excited for this now than I am Smash Bros Brawl?
Click to expand...

Fan-service is a powerful drug, and Sumo are going straight for the vien. A fucking Space Harrier level!!!!!!!
 
G

goldenticket

Member
jarrod said:
Skipping online for the Wii version's definitely a mistake imo...
Click to expand...

i think so too for me if it had online i would but it new. since it doesnt ill try to get it off the buy/sell/trade thread or ebay when it hurts 30 bucks.
 
L

Lobster

Banned
goldenticket said:
a little but mainly because ive read the wii version doesnt have online play where the 360/ps3 do. but i am looking forward to it too i just wish wii had online
Click to expand...

What..

boourns..

SEGA has already had other games for Wii set up online..why not this..

boo.
 
I

Infernal Monkey

Member
Haha yeah, stupid censor. Op,a would be great! I wonder how he'd swing a racquet though considering he's got no hands. Maybe tape it to his wings? ='D
 
G

Gagaman

Member
How would O,pa Op,a (seriously, why is that blocked?) play tennis? Would make a good power up of some sort, though, bit like how you could command it to battle in SegaGaga and crush an opponent with a 100 ton weight. Maybe that could be Alex Kidd's special =)

How about..

1165499839922ristar_title.jpg


or maybe..

article-104.jpg


or why not..

tje-cover.jpg


I swear, Sega have so many unused franchises. I hope they turn Sega Superstars into a series of games, each one reviving an old character or two =)
 
K

Kafel

Banned
Infernal Monkey said:
Nah, he's mentioned too. A mystery!
Click to expand...

Oh, right.

Eurogamer knows anyway. Let's hope it will leak soon.

Golden Axe's dwarf !


edit : oh wait, what about Billy Hatcher ?
 
F

fresquito

Member
I'm interested in this. It looks and sounds fantastic, except for the lack of online play on the Wii version (the console I own). It's about time someone releases a tennis game on a console which best selling point is "gasp", a tennis game.
 
G

Guybrush Threepwood

Banned
I hate how Sega calls Robotnik Dr. Eggman now.

Dr. Robotnik sounds so much better. I don't care if he was Eggman in the Japanese versions of the 2D games or whatever.
 
G

gwiz210

Member
I can see it now, 777 Speedway Court. Or maybe a court based off Daytona USA's Expert Course? I can imagine all the Daytona racers crashing and speeding around. so awesome...
 
K

Katana_Strikes

Member
Holy Carp!

There is so much potential for this game. Heck, it could be for tennis games what Smash is for fighting games. This is basically Virtua Tennis Megamix (at least I hope it will be).

Don't mess this one up Sega. Sheesh!
 
C

Chao

Member
I almost creamed my pants when classic Sonic sound effects played.
This game looks awesome, and I hope this turns out in more "SegaSuperstarGames"

AND PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST MONKEY BALLS, I WANT TOEJAM AND EARL.
 
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