Princess Peach Showtime Review

Princess Peach Showtime is a great addition to the Nintendo line-up. In this game, you play as Princess Peach going on vacation to a theatre with several Toads. The theatre is attacked, locking out the Toads and Peach’s crown. Once the dust settles, a being known as Stella introduces herself and together, they enter different stages in order to save the theatre from the great threat of Madame Grape.

Each stage has a different theme and with each theme comes different outfits for Peach to transform like Sailor Moon and defeat the bad guys on each level.

Cowgirl Peach uses a lasso to literally throw the enemies off-screen as she rides a stage coach and horse. Picking up barrels like Donkey Kong, she can throw them at enemies for max effectiveness. Swordfighter Peach brings a Zorro-like quality and uses a rapier to battle with added agility to boot.

Patissiere Peach is probably the most problematic of the transformations, as there is no fighting ability with this form, but a baking ability instead. With the power of sweets and sugary confections, Peach literally whips up cookies and cakes to various challenges with little to no haste in her movements. Kung Fu Peach takes on the properties of Karate Kid and smacks her way through kung fu masters as she uses her skills to run through obstacle courses.

Detective Peach is another troublesome transformation as Peach in this form uses a type of search mechanic to find clues to problems and puzzles. Even though you lose a heart for each wrong guess, sometimes it’s worth it to take the hit to get to the right answer. It can, however, get frustrating at some bits. Ninja Peach is probably this author’s favorite form as the agility plus skills make this game adorable. From using branches to hide in bushes and grass, to using a bamboo pole to breathe underwater, this cute mode brings out the more aggressive side of Peach as she uses both skills and stealth to defeat the enemies.

Figure Skater Peach is very pretty, but not too exciting of a transformation. The player essentially dances with other non-player-characters to defeat enemies. Lots of twirling, spinning, and figure eights. Dashing Thief Peach is totally Darkwing Dark in how she uses the shadows to her advantage and masks up to rescue the stage from a bomb doomed to blow up unless Peach climbs a clocktower in the night.

Mermaid Peach is great if you are a fan of that Little Mermaid level in Kingdom Hearts. Y’know, the one where you had to hit the button at the right time for the concert to be a success? No? You didn’t enjoy that level? Well, funny story, Peach does that as well as pulls an Aquaman to control fish to save the citizens. Mighty Peach is Megaman with a rocket jetpack. But despite that dry delivery of that sentence, the Mighty levels are super fun and bring out the superhero fantasies for Peach as she smashes boulders, throws spaceships, and gives BayMax of Big Hero 6 something to be proud of.

After defeating the levels, bosses, and other side quests to rescue others, a showdown is done with Madame Grape as Peach has the help of the theatre behind her. The controls for this game are simple to master, but make sure not to get too caught up in the action on screen to miss opportunities to avoid getting hit by enemies. Also to mention, the Sparkles (this game’s version of Power Stars) are easy to come by if you are playing the game straightforward, but can be tricky to get to if you are a completionist trying to collect them all. But this should not pose a problem for veteran Nintendo fans of Mario. For newcomers? This is a great introduction to the new wave of Mario games coming out, and gives both veterans and newcomers a new side of Peach to admire (and cosplay).