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This thread has been linked to the game 'SEGA Superstars Tennis'.
Sega Superstar Tennis
XBOX 360
I picked up Sega Superstars Tennis on Sunday, after what I could only describe as an unsuccessful day. In order to cheer myself up what I needed was a little retail therapy. I wandered into a shop and saw this gem at £8, it was preowned, but still a bargain. Having some money left on a gift card, I thought I'd buy it.
Upon starting the game, I was apprehensive of what I might discover from the purchase-the game never really became a hit as there were several other big-name tennis titles around at the time of launch. This title was also slated by the critics. To my pleasant surprise, it looks from the start a nice tidy game.
The main mode of the game is the “Superstars” mode, in which you play themed tennis-based games with all the themes coming from Sega's popular games. Such themes include Sonic the Hedgehog, Samba Di Amigo and Super Monkey Ball, with the characters to match. Each has gameplay link to its theme, such as the Curien Mansion having a zombie defence game and a Virtua Cop mini game involving a shooting gallery.
However, the game can be a bit samey -doing similar tasks just with a different character, background and game items. But the most part the game throws up a very mixed variety of game ideas.
Every time you pass the objective of the game, it is clear a Puyo-Pop Fever all or just winning a match of tennis, it will unlock the next mini game in that game genre. If you are really lucky you will also unlock another game character, tennis court or soundtrack. Therefore the aim of the game is to pass all the stages and unlock everything. Even if you aren't a completionist, you will unlock a fair amount of stuff by just playing-as the game is very addictive. I am 48% complete and have been playing it for only 2 1/2 hours.
The last part of the above paragraph highlights the first problem encountered with the game, namely it being too short. Maybe I was expecting a longer game. Fortunately, it can be picked up so cheaply now that game length shouldn't be the main priority in buying the game.
Talking about ages-the game does seem to require a lot of loading time, for instance selecting a character is difficult as the game chooses to render 3-D representation of the character upon highlighting them, which can take up to 5 seconds to do so. This makes starting a game rather tedious. I personally wouldn't have minded if a 2-D representation of a character was used if it meant the game was quicker.
Graphically, the game is not bad-little cutesy but that is Sega for you. The 360, in my opinion, looks the wrong path for this game as it wouldn't look out of place included in Wii sports. Nonetheless, it still looks rather nice on my TV.
The sounds in the game are fab. All the characters sound as they should and music soundtracks are taken straight from the original games. It is an audio dream. My only gripe with the sound-effects is that the characters overly repeat themselves when they score or fail. More voice recordings would have been nice, but with a fab soundtrack to compensate, superstar tennis scores highly in the audio department.
The basic tennis side of the game is fun if you fancy a pick up and play game. Singles matches and doubles matches are available and playing against a computer controlled opponent is rather enjoyable. I would imagine that playing online against real opponents would be much trickier, but much more fun. Unfortunately due to an error with my Xbox Live connection, I was unable to try this feature.
Overall, what I once saw was a poor and slated game has actually proven to be a top game that I haven't yet put down. As you can now buy the game less than £10, it is one that I'd recommend buying if you're out something to play and fancy something enjoyable to pass time with. I'm certainly going to complete this one!
70%
XBOX 360
I picked up Sega Superstars Tennis on Sunday, after what I could only describe as an unsuccessful day. In order to cheer myself up what I needed was a little retail therapy. I wandered into a shop and saw this gem at £8, it was preowned, but still a bargain. Having some money left on a gift card, I thought I'd buy it.
Upon starting the game, I was apprehensive of what I might discover from the purchase-the game never really became a hit as there were several other big-name tennis titles around at the time of launch. This title was also slated by the critics. To my pleasant surprise, it looks from the start a nice tidy game.
The main mode of the game is the “Superstars” mode, in which you play themed tennis-based games with all the themes coming from Sega's popular games. Such themes include Sonic the Hedgehog, Samba Di Amigo and Super Monkey Ball, with the characters to match. Each has gameplay link to its theme, such as the Curien Mansion having a zombie defence game and a Virtua Cop mini game involving a shooting gallery.
However, the game can be a bit samey -doing similar tasks just with a different character, background and game items. But the most part the game throws up a very mixed variety of game ideas.
Every time you pass the objective of the game, it is clear a Puyo-Pop Fever all or just winning a match of tennis, it will unlock the next mini game in that game genre. If you are really lucky you will also unlock another game character, tennis court or soundtrack. Therefore the aim of the game is to pass all the stages and unlock everything. Even if you aren't a completionist, you will unlock a fair amount of stuff by just playing-as the game is very addictive. I am 48% complete and have been playing it for only 2 1/2 hours.
The last part of the above paragraph highlights the first problem encountered with the game, namely it being too short. Maybe I was expecting a longer game. Fortunately, it can be picked up so cheaply now that game length shouldn't be the main priority in buying the game.
Talking about ages-the game does seem to require a lot of loading time, for instance selecting a character is difficult as the game chooses to render 3-D representation of the character upon highlighting them, which can take up to 5 seconds to do so. This makes starting a game rather tedious. I personally wouldn't have minded if a 2-D representation of a character was used if it meant the game was quicker.
Graphically, the game is not bad-little cutesy but that is Sega for you. The 360, in my opinion, looks the wrong path for this game as it wouldn't look out of place included in Wii sports. Nonetheless, it still looks rather nice on my TV.
The sounds in the game are fab. All the characters sound as they should and music soundtracks are taken straight from the original games. It is an audio dream. My only gripe with the sound-effects is that the characters overly repeat themselves when they score or fail. More voice recordings would have been nice, but with a fab soundtrack to compensate, superstar tennis scores highly in the audio department.
The basic tennis side of the game is fun if you fancy a pick up and play game. Singles matches and doubles matches are available and playing against a computer controlled opponent is rather enjoyable. I would imagine that playing online against real opponents would be much trickier, but much more fun. Unfortunately due to an error with my Xbox Live connection, I was unable to try this feature.
Overall, what I once saw was a poor and slated game has actually proven to be a top game that I haven't yet put down. As you can now buy the game less than £10, it is one that I'd recommend buying if you're out something to play and fancy something enjoyable to pass time with. I'm certainly going to complete this one!
70%
It's a review I have been meaning to post for a long time - only managed to get around to typing it up today...only 9 months after I bought it...
Cheers - it's not bad is it Chris?
Cheers - it's not bad is it Chris?
Got this myself quite cheap awhile ago. Had a good bit of fun out of it.
Good review HM :)
Good review HM :)
Sega Superstar Tennis
XBOX 360
I picked up Sega Superstars Tennis on Sunday, after what I could only describe as an unsuccessful day. In order to cheer myself up what I needed was a little retail therapy. I wandered into a shop and saw this gem at £8, it was preowned, but still a bargain. Having some money left on a gift card, I thought I'd buy it.
Upon starting the game, I was apprehensive of what I might discover from the purchase-the game never really became a hit as there were several other big-name tennis titles around at the time of launch. This title was also slated by the critics. To my pleasant surprise, it looks from the start a nice tidy game.
The main mode of the game is the “Superstars” mode, in which you play themed tennis-based games with all the themes coming from Sega's popular games. Such themes include Sonic the Hedgehog, Samba Di Amigo and Super Monkey Ball, with the characters to match. Each has gameplay link to its theme, such as the Curien Mansion having a zombie defence game and a Virtua Cop mini game involving a shooting gallery.
However, the game can be a bit samey -doing similar tasks just with a different character, background and game items. But the most part the game throws up a very mixed variety of game ideas.
Every time you pass the objective of the game, it is clear a Puyo-Pop Fever all or just winning a match of tennis, it will unlock the next mini game in that game genre. If you are really lucky you will also unlock another game character, tennis court or soundtrack. Therefore the aim of the game is to pass all the stages and unlock everything. Even if you aren't a completionist, you will unlock a fair amount of stuff by just playing-as the game is very addictive. I am 48% complete and have been playing it for only 2 1/2 hours.
The last part of the above paragraph highlights the first problem encountered with the game, namely it being too short. Maybe I was expecting a longer game. Fortunately, it can be picked up so cheaply now that game length shouldn't be the main priority in buying the game.
Talking about ages-the game does seem to require a lot of loading time, for instance selecting a character is difficult as the game chooses to render 3-D representation of the character upon highlighting them, which can take up to 5 seconds to do so. This makes starting a game rather tedious. I personally wouldn't have minded if a 2-D representation of a character was used if it meant the game was quicker.
Graphically, the game is not bad-little cutesy but that is Sega for you. The 360, in my opinion, looks the wrong path for this game as it wouldn't look out of place included in Wii sports. Nonetheless, it still looks rather nice on my TV.
The sounds in the game are fab. All the characters sound as they should and music soundtracks are taken straight from the original games. It is an audio dream. My only gripe with the sound-effects is that the characters overly repeat themselves when they score or fail. More voice recordings would have been nice, but with a fab soundtrack to compensate, superstar tennis scores highly in the audio department.
The basic tennis side of the game is fun if you fancy a pick up and play game. Singles matches and doubles matches are available and playing against a computer controlled opponent is rather enjoyable. I would imagine that playing online against real opponents would be much trickier, but much more fun. Unfortunately due to an error with my Xbox Live connection, I was unable to try this feature.
Overall, what I once saw was a poor and slated game has actually proven to be a top game that I haven't yet put down. As you can now buy the game less than £10, it is one that I'd recommend buying if you're out something to play and fancy something enjoyable to pass time with. I'm certainly going to complete this one!
70%
XBOX 360
I picked up Sega Superstars Tennis on Sunday, after what I could only describe as an unsuccessful day. In order to cheer myself up what I needed was a little retail therapy. I wandered into a shop and saw this gem at £8, it was preowned, but still a bargain. Having some money left on a gift card, I thought I'd buy it.
Upon starting the game, I was apprehensive of what I might discover from the purchase-the game never really became a hit as there were several other big-name tennis titles around at the time of launch. This title was also slated by the critics. To my pleasant surprise, it looks from the start a nice tidy game.
The main mode of the game is the “Superstars” mode, in which you play themed tennis-based games with all the themes coming from Sega's popular games. Such themes include Sonic the Hedgehog, Samba Di Amigo and Super Monkey Ball, with the characters to match. Each has gameplay link to its theme, such as the Curien Mansion having a zombie defence game and a Virtua Cop mini game involving a shooting gallery.
However, the game can be a bit samey -doing similar tasks just with a different character, background and game items. But the most part the game throws up a very mixed variety of game ideas.
Every time you pass the objective of the game, it is clear a Puyo-Pop Fever all or just winning a match of tennis, it will unlock the next mini game in that game genre. If you are really lucky you will also unlock another game character, tennis court or soundtrack. Therefore the aim of the game is to pass all the stages and unlock everything. Even if you aren't a completionist, you will unlock a fair amount of stuff by just playing-as the game is very addictive. I am 48% complete and have been playing it for only 2 1/2 hours.
The last part of the above paragraph highlights the first problem encountered with the game, namely it being too short. Maybe I was expecting a longer game. Fortunately, it can be picked up so cheaply now that game length shouldn't be the main priority in buying the game.
Talking about ages-the game does seem to require a lot of loading time, for instance selecting a character is difficult as the game chooses to render 3-D representation of the character upon highlighting them, which can take up to 5 seconds to do so. This makes starting a game rather tedious. I personally wouldn't have minded if a 2-D representation of a character was used if it meant the game was quicker.
Graphically, the game is not bad-little cutesy but that is Sega for you. The 360, in my opinion, looks the wrong path for this game as it wouldn't look out of place included in Wii sports. Nonetheless, it still looks rather nice on my TV.
The sounds in the game are fab. All the characters sound as they should and music soundtracks are taken straight from the original games. It is an audio dream. My only gripe with the sound-effects is that the characters overly repeat themselves when they score or fail. More voice recordings would have been nice, but with a fab soundtrack to compensate, superstar tennis scores highly in the audio department.
The basic tennis side of the game is fun if you fancy a pick up and play game. Singles matches and doubles matches are available and playing against a computer controlled opponent is rather enjoyable. I would imagine that playing online against real opponents would be much trickier, but much more fun. Unfortunately due to an error with my Xbox Live connection, I was unable to try this feature.
Overall, what I once saw was a poor and slated game has actually proven to be a top game that I haven't yet put down. As you can now buy the game less than £10, it is one that I'd recommend buying if you're out something to play and fancy something enjoyable to pass time with. I'm certainly going to complete this one!
70%