Summary

• Peach takes center stage in Princess Peach: Showtime!, showcasing diverse abilities in different costumes.
• Over 50 levels, endgame challenges, and unique boss fights provide unexpected depth.
• The game offers a variety of content (although it lacks a harder difficulty option), making it enjoyable for all.

Nintendo's latest action-adventure game puts Peach in the spotlight with Princess Peach: Showtime! where it is up to the familiar heroine to save the day and show off the many talents she possesses. Peach takes on various personas with each costume change within the plays, and there is a lot of variety to the experience. Through each of these roles she takes on, she shows off even more of her strength as a character that goes far beyond "damsel in distress" within the Super Mario universe.

Princess Peach: Showtime! has a surprising depth to it that is based on the variety of sub-games present within its mechanics. The entire game is much larger than one would assume, with over 50 levels plus more hidden objectives available, and the variation in character skills and abilities is intriguing. The theme of stage plays provides a perfect backdrop to showcase the different types of game mechanics, while also giving a unique and well-crafted visual effect throughout.

The Story Of Princess Peach: Showtime!

The Sparkle Theater Is In Danger

Shortly after Peach arrives at the massive Sparkle Theater to enjoy a play, the evil Madame Grape uses powerful Darkle magic to transform the entire event center to use it for her own nefarious purposes. Peach discusses the situation with her new friend Stella, who explains to Peach the power of Sparkle within the theater. With Stella by her side, Peach uses these Sparkle powers to enter each play and save the show.

As the Princess overcomes the evil presence in each performance and saves the day, Madame Grape's hold becomes weakened. Other than the basement, every floor of the building has four plays in production, and once all four plays have been saved, Peach can face Madame Grape's henchmen in a big boss fight.

Each Costume Transforms Peach To A New Character With Entirely New Abilities

Lots Of Different Games In One

During the game, Princess Peach enters several different stage performances and takes on the role of the headlining star of that show by changing into a costume that grants her the abilities of that persona. Her basic Peach abilities are gone and replaced with new skills specific to that costume's role. There are ten different costumes that she will see through the basic portion of the game:

• Swordfighter
• Pâtisserie
• Detective
• Kung Fu
• Mighty
• Mermaid
• Dashing Thief
• Figure Skater
• Cowgirl
• Ninja

Every costume has three levels associated with it, as well as some extra challenges for a few of the costumes. If someone is not fond of a particular costume's play style, luckily, the levels are not very long to complete, and then they can move on to other types that might be more enjoyable to them.

Princess Peach: Showtime! has clever endgame content that lets players continue to play without feeling out of place.

Each persona feels well-developed and not rushed, and they are all strikingly different from each other in game mechanics and abilities. Any of these costumes as a full game would likely do well as a spin-off series with enough dedication to expanding their mechanical influences.

Much More Content Than Expected

Princess Peach: Showtime! Has Endgame Challenges

With the levels being fairly quick to complete, at first, it felt as though the game would not be very long or have as much substance to it as other games in the Super Mario franchise. That is not true, however, as there are more than 50 levels to enjoy, as well as creative and chaotic boss fights that can provide both humor and challenge.

After the culmination of the final boss battle, the fun doesn't stop there. Princess Peach: Showtime! has clever endgame content that lets players continue to play without feeling out of place. Replaying levels for 100% completion is still just as fun, with more things to do. Boss battles have new challenges that can reward Sparkle Gems for replaying if one can meet the objectives. Additionally, there are difficult "rehearsals" to compete in for even more dresses and ribbons.

Review Score And Final Thoughts

4.5/5

In some ways, the shortness of each level and bouncing around between personas can feel a bit like playing through several demos of games, although the overarching story does do a good job of tying things together. There is a large amount of content for the game and plenty of extra silly things, such as dressing Peach up in numerous dresses that are available to unlock or changing Stella's ribbon colors. During the endgame, there are even more cosmetic items to unlock for more fun.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is never truly challenging and could use a choice of a harder difficulty setting to keep things more interesting. Players will have to replay levels multiple times to get 100% completion, and one drawback is that missing one item will require playing the entire level again rather than being able to backtrack, which can get frustrating. Overall, Princess Peach: Showtime! is an extremely enjoyable game, offers a significant amount of content, and is something that could be enjoyed by anyone.

A digital code for Nintendo Switch was provided to Screen Rant for the purpose of this review.