The game stars Princess Peach, of course, as she goes to the Sparkle Theatre with her loyal Toads only the Grape and the Sour Bunch to invade and take over. Now Peach must enter a variety of plays to save the day, and to do so she will need to go through a number of transformations. As I mentioned in my demo review, the initial combat and gameplay with Peach feels a bit too easy, but once Peach gets her transformations, the game really kicks into gear in terms of creativity and gameplay.
The various transformations all add something different to the game, for instance, Swordfighter Peach is focused on combat and feels like a great reference to the classic series Princess Knight, and there was a lot more depth than I expected. In another instance, Pâtissier Peach’s minigame-style gameplay was simple at first, but the later segments could actually be a bit challenging and necessitated a couple of tries. Of course, not all the transformations were great, as Figure Skater Peach felt awkward to control, and Mermaid Peach just felt off to me.
Each transformation Peach has will bring a lot of gameplay variety, with Ninja Peach focusing on stealth, Cowgirl Peach focusing on using a lasso and horse-riding, Dashing Thief Peach being all about agility, Mermaid Peach being about puzzle solving, and Pâtissier Peach being a baking game, just to give a few examples. other transformations like King Fu Peach and Mighty Peach were also well done, and Mighty Peach may have been one of the best Tokusatsu style games (and even has a fun shmup like section) and expanded well on the combat focused sections of the game. I went into this game expecting to love the combat segments such as Swordfighter peach, Kung Fu Peach and to an extent Mighty Peach the most, but I was blown away by some of the other transformations including Detective Peach and the puzzle solving sections therein that were fun.
If there were transformations that stood out the most though, it was Ninja Peach, Cowgirl Peach and Dashing Thief Peach. These three were the most fun to use and offered some incredible level and gameplay variety, particularly Ninja Peach, where every section kept me wanting more. These showed off how creative some games can be, and even though two of these were more stealth focused, something I am not super into in gaming, these levels gave me a lot of enjoyment.
Swordfighter Peach was no slouch either, with a dodge mechanic that works similarly to Bayonetta’s Witch Time, that is actually a key to defeating certain enemies. Overall though, Princess Peach Showtime! does feel like a game that is designed to be accessible to younger players, but at the same time has a lot for older audiences as well. Just because a game is not conventionally challenging does not mean it cannot be fun, and completionists will have a great time trying to find everything, with some items hidden cleverly. I do love that this feels like a great entry point to gaming, because my niece and nephew are now at the ages where they are getting an interest in video games themselves, and this is a game I can have them play and enjoy, but that I can also find enjoyment in myself.
In terms of visuals, Princess Peach Showtime! pushes the Switch to its limits with some amazing visual effects and displays, and the music is extremely well done as well. With each play being so different, there is a wide variety of music in the game, and it all sounds great (not the biggest fan of Mermaid Peach’s music though), and the environment’s are all shown off extremely well. More than that though, the characters you encounter in the game are great, with some being very unique and some excellent boss encounters to make Princess Peach Showtime! a truly memorable experience.
As for my mention of completionists before, they will have plenty of secrets to find, and some that will no doubt require repeated playthroughs if you are not paying proper attention the first time. Far from being a simplistic platformer, Princess Peach Showtime! is a game that has so much on offer and stands out a among the best games Good-Feel has made for Nintendo ever. Etsunobu Ebisu’s return to the role of director was a welcome one and showed he still has his touch all these years later. Princess Peach Showtime! is an easy game to recommend, because both newcomers and experienced players will be able to enjoy it.
Disclaimer: A review ley was provided
