Sega Superstars Tennis

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Virtua Tennis minus Henman plus Space Channel 5's Ulala equals win

Question: What’s better than Virtua Tennis 3? Answer: Virtua Tennis 4. What else is better than Virtua Tennis 3? Sega Superstars Tennis - which replaces Tim Henman’s potato-faced grin with Ulala licking her lips at you before hitting the ball in a five-shaped star (Space Channel 5, get it?) while glittery pink stars explode and aliens dance everywhere. This is tennis gone mad.

The concept is Sega-like in its simplicity. Take a smattering of characters from Sega’s rich back catalogue, dump them in the Virtua Tennis 3 world, change the clay courts for Outrun’s beaches and the grass of Green Hill Zone, add over-the-top special moves than set fire to the whole lot, stand back and put your fingers in your ears lest the fizzy explosions deafen you. This is a loud, riotous, noisy and deliriously camp take on tennis that’s designed to hit your soft spot for Sega. Going by what we’ve seen, it’ll be a direct bull’s-eye.

Above: All images are from the 360 and PS3 versions