Cramming console games into the portable world is certainly nothing new. Why, I can remember being completely horrified with Mortal Kombat on my Game Boy! Yes, it's true, I remember things every now and then. Sumo Digital's handheld division have attempted to avoid the usual pitfalls of forcing a square block into a triangle hole by making sure the DS version is actually portable friendly.

First of all, the Planet Superstars mode is gone. Missing, vanished - its face now gracing milk bottle labels. That's a huge, delicious slice of the Wii's single player game right there. It's not a great loss though, as the mini-games which were unlocked during the course of it are now available from the get-go. There are eight in total, each with ten missions and a score attack mode. They're exactly the same as the console version, with the exception of Space Harrier. Instead of being confined to a tennis court, the DS version completely recreates the look and feel of the original game, having you run down endless stretches of trippy checkerboard landscapes. It's a wonder why they didn't do this in the console version, as it's bloody lovely.

So how's the tennis? Well, you can jump straight into a Quick Match from the title screen. The characters and court are chosen at random and away you go. No fuss, no mess, just like that paper towel that can soak up the entire ocean in one fell swoop. There's also a bog standard Match mode, which is much like Quick Match, except… not quite as quick. Is this getting too complex? There are a few Tournaments to enter, too. This is where you unlock additional characters and courts.


Single card multiplayer is available for two player matches, but you'll need at least thirty seven thousand copies of the game if you want to tackle a four player Doubles match. Understandable, but can you shove that many cartridges in your system? Again, no online multiplayer here - a bit of a downer considering how common it's become in DS games. As for the controls, the D-pad and face buttons are the default choice, though you can switch to a touchscreen exclusive option. Slide the stylus around to move your player and quickly swipe in the direction you want to hit the ball. It's pretty terrible, to be honest.

Graphically, the game is a bit of a mixed bag… of chocolate coated nuts. You know the type, where you only ever seem to get about three or four actual chocolate nuts, the rest of the bag's filled with soul-destroying sultanas. The characters have shrunk down to the small screen really nicely, surprisingly detailed with some great animation. The courts however, consist of pre-rendered stills captured from the console version; scaling in and out with the combined power of Mode 7 and Blast Processing. They look nice initially, but all of the courtside action is missing. No Blaze to give a concussion to in Green Hill Zone, no breakdancing referee on the beach. It's a bit lonely at times.

But even with the game having less to keep track of on-screen, it somehow suffers from a horrendous amount of slowdown – seemingly at random. Doubles matches are the worst hit, they'll starts off smoothly enough, then all of a sudden it's like glue and honey trucks collided on the court. This completely destroys the flow of the game at times.


Being confined to a cartridge and all, the vast amount of music available in the Wii version has been stripped out. What's left is pretty high quality, though. The voice samples seem a bit more limited in comparison, too. Amy for example, now only has one very disturbing grunt whenever she hits the ball. Suda51 should see if he can use it for the upcoming Fatal Frame IV.

With junk like Tennis Masters and Top Spin 2 making up the few tennis games available for the DS, SEGA Superstars Tennis is pretty much the winner by default. It's enjoyable at times, but the slowdown is just awful. This really could have benefited from more time in development. On the plus side, the mini-games alone are better than some full DS games.