I got to spend a little bit of time today talking with Steve Lycett and Travis Ryan of Sumo Digital, the developers behind Sega Superstars Tennis. We discussed a lot of topics surrounding the game’s development and upcoming release.

For starters, Sega Superstars Tennis utilizes the core game engine from Virtua Tennis, so you know the gameplay will be solid. The goal at Sumo Digital was to make tennis more accessible and fun for everyone by pulling classic characters from the Sega universe. In total, 16 characters will be available for you to choose from. Each character will provide their own style of play and special moves, with these deriving from that character’s past in Sega franchises. For example, Sonic will be a fast player with special moves surrounding his spin attacks. Not all of the development team’s favorite characters made the cut, however, due to time and the way they characters would fit into the feel of the game.

The variety of levels in the game have been taken from past experiences with Sega franchises. Some of the most iconic levels will make their way onto the tennis court. Green Hill Zone from Sonic has been recreated in 3D for you to slap the balls around. With each level, multiple music tracks and sound effects are present that give a full representation of the game they came from. Steve Lycett hinted that there may be more than one Sonic level in the game, so keep your eyes peeled.

To go along with the core tennis gameplay, eight new mini-games have been created by Sumo Digital. Each will revolve around a key Sega franchise and include both single and multiplayer aspects. Where possible, original music and sound effects for each franchise have been used in the mini-games. A key mini-game is made from House of the Dead. Zombies will spawn on the other side of the net and you have to hit the ball at them to take them before they get to you. Don’t want to be come a Sonic zombie, now do you?

This marks the first time Sumo Digital is working on the Wii, and they spent most of the development time making the control schemes work well. Three schemes are present, with the standard scheme being the easiest. If you’ve played Wii Sports Tennis, you know exactly how to play. Just swing the Wii remote and smash the ball across the court. You don’t have to worry about moving your player or aiming if you don’t want to. As a more advanced scheme, you can attach the Nunchuk and control the movement of your player as well the shot type with the buttons on the Wii remote. Finally, if motion controls aren’t your thing, you can either turn the Wii remote sideways or plug in the Classic Controller and go at it with just the buttons. Due to time and development resource constraints, the team at Sumo Digital wasn’t able to include online play on the Wii or DS versions of the game. Possibly an addition for sequels, you’ll only be able to play offline multiplayer now on Nintendo’s platforms.

Downloadable content is a possibility down the line, depending on the success of the game. Steve and Travis didn’t have much to say at this point, but it’s something we can expect if the audience is interested.

Overall, the game sounds promising. It should provide a good deal of fun tennis gameplay that is accessible to a wide range of players. Look for Sega Superstars Tennis on store shelves March 18th.