Princess Peach: Showtime! gives an icon the spotlight she deserves

20.02.2024 - 15:55 / digitaltrends.com / Giovanni Colantonio / Nintendo

Throughout her illustrious career as gaming royalty, Princess Peach has been a jack-of-all-trades. She’s tossed turnips, driven karts, smashed tennis balls, and knocked the snot out of Solid Snake. Despite that impressive résumé, she’s rarely had the chance to be a leading lady outside of 2005’s Super Princess Peach. It was a polarizing release that failed to lock down the heroine’s identity. What could Peach be if she wasn’t attached to Mario?

Nearly four decades after her debut, Nintendo is finally looking to answer that question with Princess Peach: Showtime! The new Switch release is a family-friendly platformer where Peach gets sucked into a magical theater under attack from a sorceress named Grape. She must restore a series of plays back to normal, but how’s a hero who has rarely had the chance to go it alone supposed to fight back? The character’s identity crisis turns out to be a hidden skill.

Ahead of its launch, I played an hour of Princess Peach: Showtime! that showed off five of her gameplay-changing costumes. From what I’ve seen so far, the Switch exclusive is shaping up to be an endearing solo adventure that doesn’t try to put the heroine in a box. Instead, its Kirby-like gameplay makes a grand statement about the character: Peach can be anything she wants to be.

• Princess Peach Showtime shines a spotlight on Mario’s leading lady
• Metroid Prime Remastered gives the best video game soundtrack its due
• The most iconic meme game is coming to Nintendo Switch Online this month

Power up

The bulk of my demo would find me in the first floor of the theater, where I could pop into one of four levels. Each one represents the first chapter of a stage play that’s been foiled by Grape and her mask-wearing goons. In the same vein as titles likeKirby’s Epic Yarn, Nintendo plays with an arts and crafts aesthetic here. The bite-sized levels are filled with cardboard set pieces, as if she’s stepping into a series of high school theater productions. Charming visual details sell that idea. When Peach has to hide in grass, she holds two little twigs above her head like a stage prop.

When each level begins, her power is limited. She can use a ribbon to attack foes, find hidden collectibles in each level, or send encouragement to the big-nosed munchkins that inhabit the theater. The twist, though, is that she finds a specific power in each level that will help her save the day. Those abilities are completely different from one another too.

In my first level, I’d have to stealthily avoid guards until I got a ninja outfit. That allowed me to jump up walls, dash into enemies with my kunai, and press myself against a wall to camouflage myself. That would make for a stealth traversal level where I had to get