Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading. In this installment, we’re covering Princess Peach: Showtime by developer Good-Feel.
Princess Peach: Showtime!: (The Explanation)
Its time to take a seat as Princess Peach takes to the stage in her newest adventure. It has been too long since her last adventure in Super Princess Peach back in 2005 for the Nintendo DS. This time around, she won’t have to rely on her emotions to save the day as Peach will be able to use dazzling transformations to wow the audience and steal the show in Princess Peach: Showtime! and we are all for it.
What was meant to be a pleasant trip to the Sparkle Theatre for Princess Peach and her accompanying Toads, turns out to be anything but as the dastardly Madame Grape and her Sour Bunch commandeer the Theatre and dampen the spirits of those in attendance and on the Stage. In the commotion, Princess Peach is separated from her trusty Toads and beloved crown, but all is not lost as Peach is soon joined by a sparkle spirit named Stella who bestows upon her the Sparkle Ribbon, an item that enables Peach to use Sparkle power as she takes to the stage in the Sparkle Theatre’s many plays.
Princess Peach: Showtime is an action adventure game that seems to blend 2D side-scrolling and 3D movement with platforming elements similar to that of Yoshi’s Crafted World. The controls are relatively straightforward with the A button designated for jumping and the B button for action. You can invert these controls whilst on the theatre floors between Plays, by going to Main Menu > Options > and then choosing Button Controls. The jump button is pretty self explanatory so we won’t go too much into that. As for the Action button, Peach can attack foes with her ribbon and interact with objects and friendly characters like Theets and Toads.
As Peach takes to the stage in the many plays of the Sparkle Theatre, she will be able to find transformations that will allow her to embody the role of a particular character, depending on the theme of the stage play. For example, Peach can transform into Swordfighter Peach in medieval-like plays and can parry her opponents with her swashbuckling skills.
In Wild West themed plays, Cowgirl Peach can lasso her foes and ride atop a prop horse. In the Feudal Japan plays, Ninja Peach uses stealth to sneak up on her enemies and deal swift blows to quickly dispose of them. These are just some of Peach’s transformations and there are several more to discover as you play Princess Peach: Showtime!, although you probably know what many of her transformations already are if you have seen any of the trailers for the game.
On each stage of Princess Peach: Showtime!, there are multiple Sparkle Gems, a ribbon for you to find and collect, and coins. Finding ribbons will give Peach access to new dress patterns that she can wear when not in transformation. As for the coins, these can also be used to unlock new dress Patterns for Peach and new color designs for Stella. Any designs and colors you have unlocked, can be changed via accessing the main menu.
The Sparkle Gems are the most important collectible as these are required to open boss doors on each floor. The first boss door may only require 10 Spark Gems in order to open it but as you progress through the game, you will need more and more gems in order to open them. Finding all the Sparkle Gems on each stage will take some time as some of them are reasonably well hidden in secret areas or easily missable during auto running scenes that you may have to go back through the play to try and collect any that you miss.
Although Princess Peach: Showtime! is not a particulary difficult game (if at all), however, for new and young players who may be struggling, they can talk one of the Theets in the main lobby of the Theatre to get access to the Heart Charm. The heart charm grants players three additional hearts on top of there five standard hearts, allowing them to take more damage from enemies.Â
For anyone hoping that Princess Peach: Showtime! would be a long game, they may be disappointed to learn that it is not. Some people have already beaten the game to 100% completion in around six hours which is not very long at all. Of course, it is worth taking into account that this time may be longer for more casual gamers and seeing that this game is primarily directed at younger audiences, they may get more play out of it than more experienced gamers. Aside from the game’s many different plays and acts, there are challenges (referred to as rehearsals in the game) for players to hone their skills and get a bit more out of Princess Peach: Showtime! as well as earn more coins and ribbons to unlock more of Peach’s outfit designs.
One thing that I must point out is that while this game is absolutely stunning and incredible charming, it is not without some minor faults. There is the occassional stuttering in frame rate on occasion and the loading times when starting an play can be a little on the long side. These aren’t exactly game breaking but they are quite noticeable and I do hope that a potential patch in the near future may help improve this.
At the end of the day though, Princess Peach: Showtime! is a short play but is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. I would personally say it has been one of my favourite games to play this year thus far and I do hope that we will see Good-Feel continue to provide additional support to the game with a little extra content later down the line. Should that not be the case, I will certainly be jumping back into this game every now and again as it is short but sweet and very neat, with Princess Peach showing that she is so much more than a damsel in distress and is a more than capable heroine in her own right.
The curtain may be falling on this EXPlay but the show must go on as we want so much more games like this with Princess Peach being the star of the stage and our hearts.
Princess Peach: Showtime!: (The Gameplay)
Game Specifications:
Developer: Good-Feel
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Action, Adventure
No. of Players: 1 player
Release Date: March 22, 2024 (EU & NA)
Price: $59.99
File Size: 4.7 GB
Nintendo.com Listing
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