Princess Peach: Showtime!

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Say what you will about the Mushroom Kingdom, what with its incessant plumbing issues and problems with turtle-based crime, but let it never be muttered that the people of the Kingdom don’t appreciate the arts! Whether it’s painting, music, or dance, you’re sure to find an outlet for your creative juices in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Even the local leadership plays a role in the artistic world, as we see in Princess Peach: Showtime!, a platformer-brawler-explore-’em-up starring everyone’s favorite royalty.

via YouTube

It’s always a good time for a night at the theater! Just sit back in your comfy chair, enjoy a beverage and watch as the show unfolds. At least, that was Peach’s plan when she brought her retinue down to the Sparkle Theater, but as tends to happen in the Mushroom Kingdom, things get a little spicy when some villains show up. The Sour Bunch is here to take the theater over and it’s up to Peach to stop them. Mario and Luigi already had their time on stage back in Super Mario Bros. 3, so now the Princess is going to get the situation under control.

Princess Peach: Showtime! features the titular monarch tackling some relatively simple platforming, brawling and puzzle-solving as she tries to get the Sparkle Theater back under control. Peach is armed with Sparkle powers that can dispatch lesser foes, but she’s really able to kick things into gear when she takes on a role. True to the theater setting, Showtime! is all about Peach dressing up and gaining new abilities appropriate to the character she’s playing.

You’ve got swordfighting, ninjutsu, martial arts and many more costumes available, with each level emphasizing the abilities inherent to a given outfit. Each role’s abilities are varied and interesting, but none of them are particularly complicated; for the most part, you’ve seen deeper power sets in a Kirby game. Levels play out like little self-contained stories, with cutscenes and such to match, and they really try to play to the strengths of Peach’s current role. Showtime! tends to play out with a somewhat slower pace than the average run-and-jump Mario adventure.

None of this is particularly difficult, as Showtime! is generous with health drops and Peach tends to be powerful enough to rarely need them in the first place, so instead, the focus tends to be on scouring the levels for hidden goodies. There’s tons of those, with the most common being Sparkle Gems scattered all over the place. Some of these are pretty deviously hidden, akin to the collectibles from recent Mario games, so you’ll have to be thorough.

The closest comparison might be something like Yoshi’s Story, which is a pretty simple game to get through if you just blitz it, but which holds hidden depths for those who want just a bit more meat to gnaw on. There’s even customizable outfits and such to spice up Peach’s adventure.

A theater show is a presentation, so of course a game that’s all about the theater is going to be big on that side of things, right? Sadly, Princess Peach: Showtime! encounters the same technical issues we’ve come to know and love from our favorite low-end seven-year-old gaming tablet. As a first-party Nintendo game, Showtime! isn’t the worst when it comes to performance problems, but the framerate still chugs here and there. Oh, Switch, we love you so, but sooner than later it’s going to be time to exit stage right.

It’s not quite Super Mario Bros. Wonder, but between the gentle gameplay and focus on exploration and discovery rather than brutal platforming or combat, it’s clear that Princess Peach: Showtime! is intended for younger audiences looking for a more relaxing experience. You don’t need a top-tier graphical bonanza to make that happen. A little bit of style and Sparkle will do instead, and Showtime! has that in spades. Feel free to take the stage – the spotlight’s waiting.