Interview: Sega Superstars Tennis
Sumo Digital casts a Sega dream with Kikizo. Steve Lycett on working with Sega Japan, Sega fanboys and OutRun3.
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Kikizo: How did you go about choosing music to use? I mean there's so much in the back catalogue.
Lycett: Oh god! There's something like eighty tracks in the game. You start with a few unlocked, you play through Superstars and you get a lot more. We're massive Sega fans. Our lead designer Travis [Ryan] is absolutely mad about video game soundtracks.
Kikizo: Would you say Travis is more of a Sega fan that for example Gary Cutlack or myself?
Lycett: I couldn't possibly answer that for you! What I can tell you, is he's owned probably every Sega console ever, probably owns every Sega game ever made, he's vociferous in his opinions about things that aren't very Sega-like if we've done something well. We've got a couple of guys like that; we've got Trav and we've got Jode who used to be QA and is now a designer. And both of those guys, their Sega knowledge is just extensive - you think of a Sega game, ask them a question, and one of them will know the answer. [For the record, readers, this comes nowhere close, obviously].
Kikizo: Have you got any particular favourites among the 'special moves' Superstars sequences the characters have in the game?
Lycett: My favourite is probably Gilius, because I'm a big Golden Axe fan, and basically when Gilius transforms is he uses his axe instead of a racket! And also the kind of lightning effect from Golden Axe is brought back - the ball shoots up and comes down and as that happens, another set of lightning comes down around you, so if you get caught by that it electrocutes you and it really messes you up. The other one which is particularly evil is Eggman's; he kind of cheats - instead of returning one ball, he kind of sends four or five balls back, and if you catch one of those it's really difficult! He's one of the more advanced characters. What we've tried to do is look at the original games for inspiration; for example Ulala, she changes into her Space Channel 5 Part 2 costume, and the Morolians come on and dance and you start dancing. So we tried to reference the games wherever possible, and that's really been the goal, to keep all the references and give as much Sega value as we can.
Kikizo: Which version of the game should a Sega fan with all the consoles choose?
Lycett: I like all the versions, but it depends. What we kind of say, is we don't particularly make a game for one platform or the other, we try to tailor the game to the strengths if a platform, so 360 and PS3 are online, Wii is definitely about motion controls, and DS is pick up and play. I mean if you ask any member of the team what their favourite version is, you'll get a different answer. Personally, because I like to play online, I'd go for the 360 version, and that's because I've a 360, if I had a PS3 I'd probably go for that one - but I don't.
Kikizo: And finally - and I saved this till the end - the OutRun3 slip-up earlier, that was pretty major, wasn't it?
Lycett: Ah! No, read nothing into that. It would be great if we got to do OutRun3...
Kikizo: Of course I'm going to read into it. There's no way you'd say OutRun3 instead of 2 were it not something that was at the front of your mind...
Lycett: OK, so... haha! All I can say is it was a genuine mistake, and that's all I can say.
Kikizo: Alright, good stuff, thanks for your time Steve.
If you want to know what on earth we're talking about at the end there, read the next page.
(Continued...)
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