Princess Peach: Showtime! is a game that after so much time, finally stars Princess Peach as the protagonist again, rather than someone having to be saved by Mario. The game does have a plot to set up its events, whereby Peach goes to the theatre to watch a play. Upon arriving, it is taken over by the villain, Grape, and her minions, the Sour Bunch. All the plays are corrupted and taken over by the villains, and Peach travels through each one to restore each one with the help of Stella, the guardian of the theatre.
The theatre element plays into the gameplay. This is a third person action adventure game of sorts, although it is on the easier side and designed more for younger audiences, it’s still fun, enjoyable, and relaxing. Peach herself can jump, and twirl Stella, who takes on the form of a ribbon. This has various effects depending on what it is used on, such as restoring a flowering tree, freeing the play actors, or dispatching enemies.
The gameplay gimmick here is that Peach will eventually gain a different costume in each level. Peach literally changes costumes and gains different abilities. We’re quickly introduced to Sword Peach, where she wields a sword and can have more aggressive attacks. Due to this gimmick, a lot of the game’s enjoyment is the variety of costumes and abilities. It is fun to see Peach gain the abilities of a ninja and able to wall run and camouflage herself or become a cowgirl and lasso enemies to throw them against each other.
Each level is short, and while the gameplay design of the levels is nothing innovative (they’re functional, but won’t blow your mind), since it plays as if Peach is in the play, complete with props and changing backgrounds, it brings with it a lot of charm. Then it mixes different types of gameplay so you’re not always jumping, fighting enemies and facing bosses. There’ll be chase sequences, minigames and bigger set pieces.
Each of the levels have various collectibles, including stars for completing certain objectives, and a ribbon for finding a hidden character. Like in all Mario games, there are coins. These can be used to progress the game and spend on in-game costumes for Peach. You can replay levels to get any of the collectibles that you’ve missed but you’ll have to play through the whole level from start to finish, which can be repetitive. This is because you cannot skip cutscenes, and you cannot back out of a level early.
While the game is mostly a sidescroller, it’s more like a 2.5D game where there is limited 3D movement. Due to the theatre theme, each level is like a stage play, complete with props. At times, it does mix between something that belongs in a play and something that doesn’t due to the larger setpieces. The changing gameplay helps with ing things fresh, such as the baking minigames, or even levels where Peach becomes a detective and you need to find clues to solve mysteries. Although these detective levels slow down the pacing too much.
Despite the simple controls, or maybe it is because of the simple controls, but given each different dress that Peach obtains only provides her with a different singular ability, it can be awkward and clunky to use at times. Especially during sections where you know what to do but need to do it in a timed section, you’ll end up failing due to fighting against the controls. On the other hand, at least the graphics are bright and colorful, suiting the theme of the game and looks good… except for the few times where the resolution feels a bit fuzzy.
Most levels are short-ish where they take less than ten minutes. Some feel shorter and some feel longer, there’s not that much consistency. However, the different transformations keep things flashy and fun. Bosses in general are as easy as the rest of the game, thanks to their obvious patterns. The game takes around five to six hours to complete and after that, there is not much more content to play other than replaying levels to gain all the collectibles. There are harder challenge levels where you can go for high scores.
While the story is simple, there is enough charm to it, and it tells enough without bogging you down with cutscenes. Plus, it’s more plot than usual for a Mario game. It helps that the villains are likeable and that’s due to the theatre setting where everything is flashy and melodramatic. No player should have any issues with completing the game due to the low difficulty. Even if you lose all of Peach’s hearts, you’ll just end up repeating that section of the level with a minor penalty. If you cannot pass that section, it’ll even offer you an option to skip it completely.
Overall, Princess Peach: Showtime! is a simple game, and that can be boring and off-putting for some. On the other hand, this means it’s the perfect game to play for relaxing, or in between heavier games. The different transformations that Peach can obtain provides enough variety to the short runtime so that it doesn’t outstay its welcome.
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