NIDZUMI+

If Nintendo can shoe horn their characters into a tennis game then why can’t Sega? Well they can and they have. So here’s presenting Sega Superstars Tennis for the Nintendo DS.

On offer here is a slightly dumbed down and toned up version of the Sega Sports Tennis Virtua Tennis engine but with the Sega stamp all over it. Really you can’t argue with that although what you can argue with is the ‘Special Attack’ moves that each character has at there disposal. If your involved in a tense game that you have to win, your opponent could just unleash a special attack to, 9 out of 10 times win the rally. You can return these shots but its very difficult and rarely happens. It’s not too bad, unless you just were wanting a pure tennis simulation.

You get to play as many characters from Sonic, Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5, Super Monkey Ball and more. Surprisingly there are a lot of playable characters on offer here and they all play slightly differently with their own unique voice overs and moves. There are a wide selection of courts that are all Sega-erd out but the courts really make no difference except for your own personal nostalgic reasons.

To accompany the exhibition mode (singles and doubles) the game has a small amount of tournaments on offer, that vary in skill and you get your traditional ‘Virtua-Tennis-Esque’ style Mini-Games as well. These add a lot of life mainly due to the variety but they get old, and fast.

Superstars Tennis doesn’t innovate, it doesn’t simulate but it does provide a fairly average Tennis experience on the go with a nice nostalgic feel. It’s just a shame it isn’t just normal Virtua Tennis because what’s left is just an average Tennis game.

Screen taken from the Xbox 360 version. I feel the site needs to get some Jet Set Radio on.