Mario supporting character earns a starring role on Nintendo Switch
Despite being the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach usually plays a supporting role in Nintendo games. She is the one to be rescued or a character in an ensemble adventure. But all this has changed in this new game for Nintendo Switch.
For the first time since 2005’s Super Princess Peach, the heroine stars in her own game.
follows the royal as she heads to the Sparkle Theatre for a performance. Her visit is disrupted when Madame Grape and her Sour Bunch take over the building and the plays.
With the help of the theatre guardian, Stella, Peach embarks on a mission to clear its basement and five floors of ne’er-do-wells.
At first, Peach has a few basic moves. She can jump and use a ribbon to interact with the environment and cheer up Sparkle Theatre’s inhabitants, the Theets.
As players progress through each floor, they unlock stagespecific roles. With 10 main roles and an additional one in the finale, the campaign pushes Peach to extend her “acting” range.
The game begins with the protagonist unlocking a role in the first stage to essentially become an understudy.
The second act allows players to explore more of Peach’s abilities, and the third level in the Sparkle Theatre basement has Peach rescuing the main performer, Stella, from the clutches of Madame Grape’s minions. What is notable about
is that each role and level has a distinct vibe and method of gameplay. The campaign is not all about platforming and defeating foes.
Kung Fu and Swordfighter Peach fill that satisfying gameplay niche, but the princess can do more than combo attacks.
Cowgirl Peach uses a lasso to grab adversaries. Smart players can use that to toss enemies at each other. Dashing Thief Peach follows a similar tack, but her grappling hook gives these levels a more platform-heavy approach.
Ninja Peach adds a stealth element, as players must sneak past foes and attack them from behind to defeat them – rushing at them head-on results in a restart from a checkpoint.
Of all the action-heavy roles, Mighty Peach has the best levels, in which her superhero abilities allow her to smash the Sour Bunch with punches and grab buses and UFOs to clear enemies in her way.
The developer, Good-Feel, also takes advantage of Mighty Peach’s flight abilities to create side-scrolling shoot-’em-up levels comparable to those in the 1987 arcade game R-type.
Showtime! also offers gameplay opportunities that are slower-paced and quirky. Patisserie Peach has players doing Cooking Mama-esque minigames to make cookies and cakes.
Detective Peach is more cerebral and has players analysing objects and piecing together clues to find Sour Bunch adversaries disguised as Theets or bombs that must be disarmed. These levels are more puzzle-oriented.
The most unusual role is Mermaid Peach, which has players controlling fish to interact with the world. The levels have a vibe akin to The Little Mermaid as the princess sings to control the marine life. The musical mermaid finales have Peach using her voice to protect herself against enemies. For all its unconventional design, these stages are delightful.
The worst role is Figure Skater Peach, which requires a lot of manoeuvring. Peach has to jump and twirl to defeat enemies and clear obstacles. This can be frustrating because the controls and gameplay feel cumbersome.
With more than 30 levels and minigames, Showtime! is a relatively short game, but players can go through the same level several times to find all the stars and gather secret collectibles.
It rewards players who find all the stars with album art of Peach’s performances. Players can also buy new costumes with the in-game coins. The add-ons even apply to Stella. It is unfortunate they do not do more than change the characters’ appearances.
Showtime! is proof that Princess Peach can carry a project and carve out a gameplay niche just as well as her mustachioed counterpart.