Interview SEGA Superstar Tennis

X-Power: Could you start things off by telling us what your job is at SUMO Digital and what games you’ve produced over there?

Toby Allen: Sure. I’m Toby Allen and I am a producer at SUMO Digital. I’ve worked on Outrun 2 SP for Japan, I’ve worked on NEW International Track ‘n Field, Go Sudoku, Driver 76, Super Rub-a-Dub and Virtua Tennis 3 of course. Those are some titles that I’ve worked on.

XP: There are very few companies in the game industry that have a large share of well-known and beloved franchises to pull off a game like SEGA Superstar Tennis. Why has it taken so long for this game to be approved, given SEGA’s background history? Were there any troubles to get this project green lighted?

TA: No, I don’t think there was. I think it was one of the first times where we basically got the chance to actually do it, really. It’s one of those things where the moment has to be right and with the fact that we now have five platforms, we can provide a wide variety of different sort of experiences. Virtua Tennis 3 you know, when we just finished that, we got of lot of experience with the Virtua Tennis series and I guess it required a studio that had that experience to be able to pull this off and that’s what we’ve been to able to do, I think.

XP: Will the gameplay of SEGA Superstar Tennis have a lot in common with the latest Virtua Tennis games, knowing that SUMO Digital was involved with Virtua Tennis 3? Or will there be some major differences between the two because of the more 'wacky' setting?

TA: Yeah. I mean, this game is a bit more of an arcadey game in the sense of, you know, it’s a bit more fun and I suppose and as you said, a bit more 'wacky'. But Virtua Tennis is sort of of an arcadey, 'real' tennis game, whereas this is very much of a SEGA, pick-it-up-and-play kind of game. It feels quite similar to Virtua Tennis in terms of gameplay, so you know the actions and you know what to kind of expect, but in terms of general theme... It’s just a lot more of a fun game, whereas Virtua Tennis might be a bit more for the hardcore fans. They naturally like SEGA’s Virtua Tennis, they like playing with Federer, while Superstar Tennis is for those that would like to play Sonic, Tails or Dr. Eggman and the like and immediately have fun. That kind of thing basically.

XP: The team has announced that Superstar Tennis will have online multiplayer. Will it use the exact same online infrastructure of Virtua Tennis 3 or will there be any adjustments? I remember that there was no indication whatsoever about the quality of somebody’s connection for instance in Virtua Tennis 3, which often resulted into laggy matches with people you didn’t know. There also wasn’t a real way to get out of those matches. Will at least this be fixed Superstar Tennis?

TA: Yeah, we learned quite a lot with Virtua Tennis 3. Obviously it was the first time that any tennis game of that caliber went online. It worked very well to a certain extent, but as you mentioned, there were a few things that weren’t in there, but I think you’d be surprised by the quality we’ve put into the networking side and the online modes. Because obviously we have that experience of Virtua Tennis and brought it into this. We’ve also provided the PlayStation 3 with a full online opportunity this time around so yeah, so we’ve learned from there and we’ve tried to find all the little mistakes we made.

XP: So I can assume that two players can play on the same console or that there will also be a spectator mode like in Virtua Tennis?

TA: Yes. There’s a whole TV mode, a whole spectator mode where you can watch the replays and the highlights of other matches. You can play with two people (you know: one person’s at home and one person’s against) and you can challenge two other people together in a doubles set. You can do everything you could do in Virtua Tennis 3 basically, at minimum.

XP: Is there a chance that the team would include full versions or demo’s of particular retro titles, given the quantity of characters and franchises this game contains? Like for example: a playable Sonic the Hedgehog? Kind of like how it’s done in Animal Crossing or Super Smash Brothers Brawl, if you’re familiar with those.

TA: That’s an interesting question! (laughs) Yeah, I am [familiar with them], but we haven’t really thought about that actually. Mainly because we had to squeeze so much information into the game. You know, with Xbox Live Arcade you’d be able to download some of the retro titles quite easily, but on the Wii we’re quite tight on space. But no: it’s more of a question of SEGA. If SEGA wanted it, we’d do it for them!

XP: SEGA and Nintendo have been quite friendly with each other lately. Are there any chances that we’ll ever see a Nintendo vs SEGA tennis title, now that both parties have recently collaborated for Mario vs Sonic Olympics? Both companies do have experience with “casual” tennis games by now after all.

TA: Again, that’s kind of up to SEGA and Nintendo. We’d be happy to work and create a sort of Mario & Sonic Tennis game. Or Mario and Sonic in an Outrun-based game, that’d be pretty cool I think. But yeah, it’s up to them really and we’d be happy to do it. We’ve got a lot of fans from SEGA and Nintendo, so…

XP: Is SEGA Superstar Tennis a sign that there’s more to come for long forgotten franchises like Space Channel 5, Jet Set Radio or the recently confirmed Alex Kidd? Even Samba de Amigo and NiGHTS have been “revived”, after being inactive for quite some time.

TA: Yeah, we might be able… Well, it’s… That is up to to the gamers I think. If the gamers really push for those franchises to come back up, we’d be more than happy to help recreate them or create a specific Arcade version of them, or just a downloadable version.

XP: So basically: as long as the fans make it clear to SEGA--

TA: Yeah: if you get an active petition or that kind of thing online… Sure.

XP: Speaking of downloadable games, now that you actually mentioned it… I don’t know if you’re familiar with Cosmic Smash?

TA: (laughs) Yes I am. I only heard of it, but I haven’t played it…

XP: Ok, so to clarify just in case: it was pretty much a squash game with a similar visual art style that Rez uses. Would you also be interested in providing an XBLA / PSN port?

TA: Yeah, sure. I play squash myself and I love squash! So yeah, if it is kind of like that, why not? Convince SEGA that we’d be happy to!

XP: How far will Superstar Tennis go to keep the authenticity of the music and sound effects per franchise that has been included in the game?

TA: Well basically, we’ve worked with all the studio’s from SEGA, but we’ve also got Richard Jakes whom remixed some of the Outrun music for the European versions and that kind of thing. We’ve got some of the original sounds from the studio’s, so we’ve done that. We’ve just remastered them into 5.1 so there won’t be any changes.

XP: So every franchise will have a certain number of soundtracks in the game?

TA: Yes.

XP: And they’re also unlockable I assume?

TA: They’re unlockable in the Superstars mode, yes.

XP: Alright, that was it and thank you for the interview.

TA: My pleasure!