Sumo Digital serving up Sega Superstars Tennis

Sonic the Hedgehog is in a competitive mood of late. Taking a break from his normal evil-thwarting activities, he's penned in to showcase his company crossover dominance in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games next month and Super Smash Bros. Brawl in February, respectively.

Sonic's also going to take care of some business in his own backyard, as Sega today announced Sega Superstars Tennis, a mascot sports game from the latest Foundation 9 acquisition, Sumo Digital. The game is currently set for release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Wii, and Nintendo DS in Europe and North America in early 2008. The Xbox 360 and PS3 will feature online play.

Sonic may be the publisher's ace, but it will draw a pool of more than 15 playable characters from its lengthy history, including Super Monkeyball's AiAi, Space Channel 5's Ulala, and Samba De Amigo's Amigo. Each character will have its own abilities, as well as home courts, like Sonic's Green Hill Zone.

Sumo Digital is no stranger to the subject matter, having previously developed Virtua Tennis 3 for the Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation Portable and Virtua Tennis World Tour for the PSP. The studio has also worked with Sega before on recent versions of the Outrun series for Xbox, PS2, PSP, and PC.