Gaming | Nintendo
I Finally Have an Opinion on ‘Princess Peach: Showtime’
It took me a while to fully appreciate this game. I didn’t pick it up when it first released, and then when I did, I sort of put it into my backlog. But now that I’ve played it, it’s pretty clear that this is a damn good game.
Nintendo as a whole has a rocky relationship with Princess Peach-centered titles. There’s only been one title truly dedicated to her, Super Princess Peach on the Nintendo DS, and despite those calling for her to return as a protagonist of a game of her own, Nintendo hasn’t budged, until now, with Princess Peach: Showtime. While Super Princess Peach was a simple 2d platformer, Princess Peach: Showtime is less of a true sequel to that game and more of a spiritual successor, as the gameplay loop has switched to a 3d platformer/hack and slash combo with an emphasis on powerups.
This is one of the most innovative titles Nintendo has put out in a while. The sheer multitude of ideas in this title is unrivaled. The game is divided into 30 stages, each floor of the Theater where the game takes place acting as a world with a boss. Each stage is dedicated to a certain powerup where Peach’s move set completely changes, which changes the way the game plays entirely. Some levels are auto scrollers, others platformers with unique gimmicks. Hell, there are even levels that become cooking sims.
So why is the game set in a theater? Well, one day, Peach and one of her toads decided to visit the Sparkle Theater to watch it’s world famous plays, but the evil Grape and her minions, the Sour Bunch, infiltrate the plays, changing the stories and wreaking havoc. Peach and her newfound friend and sidekick, Stella, use the magic power of the Sparkle to take back the play from the Sour Bunch.
The amount of personality Peach is given in this game is amazing. She’s been playable and there has been more emphasis on character in newer Mario titles, but Peach is always a damsel or supporting character. Here, she’s given center stage and we see her kindness, witty one-liners, and bravery on full display, which is just great to see.
The art direction here is also entirely unique, and Nintendo has shown that art and design is something they are incredibly proficient at. Everything is constructed to look like a play, and as expected, all the stage elements and hazards look like they are background pieces in a musical, being made of wood and having a diorama-like energy, which is perfect. This game is a visual treat, the color and stage pieces blending to create an atmosphere not many other titles can match.
However, as great as this game is, it’s not perfect.
For one, the framerate and speed of this game during loading screens and in transitions between the start and end of levels is choppy, glitchy, and freezes quite often. This is the Switch’s 7th year of being active. How are we still having these issues? The hardware should be mastered at this point and glitches and framerate is something we should not have to deal with. While the game runs fine, the transitions and loading screens being as bad as they are seems lazy and radiates a complete lack of care.
Also, a ton of the powerups are underutilized and used only in short bursts or specific areas that leaves you wanting more depth. In short, this game just has too much going on. I know I praised the variety and innovation earlier, but they really needed to scale it down a bit. Variety is great, but when you have too much of it the game can become bloated, and so many ideas left unexplored makes the game seem somewhat unfinished.
However, issues aside, Princess Peach: Showtime is the spotlight that everyone’s favorite Mushroom Kingdom monarch needed. It’s a quality experience that should not be missed by fans of the Mario universe and platformers as a whole.
