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.

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