It's been almost two decades since we've last gotten a game first and foremost starring the pink-clad lass in Princess Peach. I've not played Super Princess Peach, and to my understanding it's only tangentially relevant to the game of the topic today. But the point still stands that, for being the character that's the subject of conflict for most Mario game plots, Peach herself hardly gets to be the star of the show. And this game almost feels like it addresses that directly by quite literally making her that.
I'm interested in Peach Showtime because I have a soft spot for the Mario extended universe. I think it's neat that this big franchise so often branches into completely different aesthetics to best suit the personality of their protagonist. Luigi's series featuring a Halloween ghost attraction feel to reflect his bravery in the face of his own anxiousness. DKC is a little closer to nature and about the atmosphere for DK the literal ape. Wario Land games are visually grungier to reflect a character whose name quite literally means "Bad Mario". You get the idea. Point is, Peach picks up a predictably pretty look, but with a theater-themed twist.
The theater thing play prop look, mostly an aesthetic, serves its purpose as set dressing. And as usual with Good Feel games, a lot of individual visual
elements that feel very cute in how they were thought out. It's cute to spot out the wooden cutouts and how all the enemies are animated via strings dangling from the ceiling. Screen transitions are treated more like scene transitions. There's a scene where Mighty Peach Ultramans her way to giant size, but it's not literally her becoming giant, as you'll see the little cardboard cutouts of a cityscape by her ankles and tiny prop space ships by her. The ghost bats in one of the Swordfighter levels appear via projector effect. I could spend a whole article just talking about the various visual touches.
But something also pretty clever and interesting is how much traditional magical girl DNA they worked in as well. Between the transformation sequences revealing wardrobes that give superpowers, a magical companion that assists with said superpowers, and fabulously flamboyant and over-the-top villains. Even to the point of adorably proclaiming the logical opposite of "sparkle power" is "darkle power." There's a lot of that in this game. Sweetly saccharine shenanigans.
A lot of the discussion I've seen around the game has been around its difficulty, or lack thereof. Which reminds me of when a certain Kirby's Epic Yarn had the same allegations aimed towards it. For my money, I think it's absolutely fine for some games to be relatively unchallenging. If something like a Devil May Cry is a roller coaster, then Peach Showtime is more like a chill darkride. It's asking for an audience seeking vibes more than thrills. My thing about it being that, most Mario games, and Epic Yarn for that matter, felt made with an "all ages" audience in mind; I can see anyone from children to adults to even your grandma playing and getting something out of an Epic Yarn. Princess Peach Showtime, though feels a lot more deliberately made specifically for small children.
Which isn't inherently bad, mind you, but it's still running the risk of missing out on the rest of the gaming space. Where Kirby Epic Yarn's sewing theming hardly feels thread-bare, with it constantly having new and creative ideas for level themes, Peach feels like it's trotting similar ground, each costume level feeling like it plays about the same as the last. Mostly just having a slightly different backdrop. So Epic Yarn ends up feeling more varied and interesting, despite being more mechanically simple and samey. And I think it would still go down better if it wasn't so dry in its writing. Even dialogue-lite Mario games are more verbally clever than this, which I found myself repeatedly trailing off and fading on attention because the big-shnoz brothers are discouraged until I whip them with the ribbon again. You'd think for a theater game it would've been a higher priority.
That isn't to say variety ISN'T there. You'll almost never be doing the same thing twice in a row. The first floor features a swordfighter stage, which gives some very basic combat. Almost too basic, since merely jumping catapults Peach out of harms way and conveniently into position to counterattack, but I digress. A ninja stealth stage was fun, following it up with a cowgirl level and then a big diversion with Patissiere Peach having a sweets-baking minigame.
I would easily say the two biggest winners of the show are the Ninja and Kung Fu Peach stages. Ninja having a lot of cute animations in it featuring the various ways Peach sneaks around, and the runner sections aren't half bad, if a bit basic. And Kung Fu Peach is a dopamine dispenser with knocking hordes of enemies away by flying around poles, kicking furniture and pottery at them, and even each other. And also for having a QTE that actually punishes you for trying to button-mash through it.
Most costumes have individually satisfying moments, it's cathartic to nab a barrel and crack it over a Sour Bunch bozo's skull. But then they ask you to do that 15 more times and it gets less exciting. And I feel like the biggest losers are Ice-Skating Peach and Mermaid Peach, just because their actions are just that limited. Skating Peach just has jumping and spinning, and the most they do this with is doing so on spotlights over and over. And Mermaid Peach is even worse because it's just holding B to move fish around with your voice and brief distractions that barely count as rhythm games.
About the most in-depth thing about the game are all the secrets, there being a fistful of sparkly stars and a new dress pattern in each stage. This could've been a nice way to get familiar with each level, but the combination of long load times and inability to skip in-level cutscenes (when the out-of-level cutscenes you can skip) pretty swiftly meant I gave up on getting them all. I never had a mandatory reason to go back for more because I passively grabbed way more than enough to get past all the boss gates.
While it's a decent enough waltz, it is a game I went through and couldn't help but shake the feeling that it was table scraps compared to a Luigi’s Mansion or even a WarioWare. It's got the makings of something cool, and Peach has been long overdue for something cool with her name on it. I like the costume design and the whole theme is a good fit for her. I like the tones of magical girl influence in there, and Madam Grape is a nice design for a non-Bowser adversary for Peach. All-around a fine foil for our fair princess. I just never felt a ton past "that's cute".
The game just ends up with a problem where it feels like it's spread itself too thin in spite of how short it already is. Each costume is so limited in what they can do that it feels like they should've just had 10 longer levels, one for each costume, rather than try to splay it out into 30, and just balance it out by making it so you can pick various starting points when entering the level so you don't have to play the entire thing when going for secrets.
It's among the most "it's fine" games I've ever played. I know value is just as subjective as anything else about a product, but it makes me glad I got it via that voucher thing to get it and another recent Mario title that I felt $60 was asking a little too much. I don't think there's any shame in having a game that's a bit smaller in scope be a little cheaper, but Nintendo gotta sell that perceived premium.
It's an alright game and I still enjoyed myself, I just feel like Peach is owed better than what feels rather transparently like filler until Nintendo's next big system is out. It's a fine enough show, just not one that I think will leave a grand impression.
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