Kyle Orland writes:
"0:00 What can I say, ever since I played Mario Golf/Tennis, I'm a sucker for cute characters in unpopular sports (See: Hot Shots Tennis, We Love Golf, etc.). I'm a big Sega fan in general, too, so I'm looking forward to playing with some classic characters.
0:01 Aiai from Super Monkey Ball bounces a ball and serves to Beat from Jet Set Radio. Ulala from Space Channel 5 returns the ball with an overhead Smash, then Amigo from Samba de Amigo does some wall jumps off a cliff and hits it back. Nights from, er, NiGHTS hits it to Dr. Eggman from Sonic, who uses an octo-handed backpack to smash it at Sonic. The Hedgehog runs through a loop, jumps off a springboard, and bends the racket as he smashes the ball into Eggman's face! Confetti falls and everyone (except Eggman) is jumping and happy as the title screen appears. I'm pretty sure they aren't playing tennis by the real rules, though.
0:03 There are three different control modes ... one that's like Wii Sports Tennis where you just swing the Wii Remote, one where you swing and move around with the Nunchuk, and one where you hold the Remote like an NES controller. Let's try the Nunchuk/swinging hybrid. Wait, that means I have to stand up, huh? Grooooan."
For Sega and Sonic the Hedgehog aficionados, Sega Superstars Tennis is a solid blend of simple sports action and glossy fan service.
SEGA Superstars Tennis will be released for the Mac on October 17th, Feral Interactive has today announced. Developed by Sumo Digital Ltd., published by SEGA for consoles and inspired by two decades of SEGA history, SEGA Superstars Tennis sees 16 fan-favourite characters serving up extreme arcade tennis.
Following news that Sega is planning on bringing 20 Dreamcast games to XBLA, and the possibility of Saturn games to follow, NowGamer went straight to Sega and asked them how they mastered the art of fan service.
