‘Princess Peach: Showtime!’ review: leaves the audience wanting more

Princess Peach is one of Nintendo’s most iconic characters, despite rarely being allowed to take the spotlight. She first appeared as Princess Toadstool in 1985’s Super Mario Bros. and has been everything from party-goer and kart racer to ferocious brawler and surprisingly adaptable sportsperson in the years since. In the mainline games though, Princess Peach reliably plays the role of damsel in distress. 2005’s Super Princess Peach flipped the script with Mario and Luigi needing rescuing, and last year’s Super Mario Bros. Movie allowed her to shine, but it’s Showtime that sets out to make Peach a hero in her own right.

• READ MORE: ‘Super Mario Bros. Wonder’ review: let’s-a-go play this 2D delight

Set in a new corner of the Mushroom Kingdom, Showtime starts with Peach heading to the theatre to watch one of several plays put on by a travelling band of cute, duck-like creatures known as Theets. As you might expect, things quickly take a turn when the evil Madame Grape takes over the venue and traps Peach inside with a number of corrupted performances. It’s up to her to banish the dastardly Sour Bunch from the multi-tiered theatre, but Peach isn’t alone in her mission. She’s joined by a Sparkle Sprite known as Stella who allows the Princess to use the power of the sparkle via a ribbon in her hair – meaning Peach can do everything from make flowers bloom, to embolden Theets to take up arms against the invaders.

From here, Showtime plays out like a typical Mario game, with Peach needing to collect the star-like Sparkle Gems to progress through the game. Rather than power-ups though, each themed level takes place inside one of the planned theatrical performances, with Peach taking on a number of roles and their associated skills to best Madame Grape. Swordfighter Peach knows her way around a blade, Ninja Peach can sneak up on robotic enemies before dispatching them with a rush attack, while Cowgirl Peach is a horse-riding, lasso-wielding Western superstar.

As we’ve come to expect from Nintendo, each level’s theme is charmingly gorgeous, with the play-within-a-game concept allowing developers to do the most with the Switch’s power. Each world is distinct and full of character, giving a real sense of depth to the platform game. The versatile art style also lends itself to the action, with each version of Peach taking on a different genre. Swordfighter is a glorious beat ‘em-up, Patisserie Peach challenges see you in a hectic rush to decorate cakes, while the Ninja levels focus on stealth. If the world wasn’t so colourful and cutesy, Peach emerging from the long grass to take out another guard would be terrifying.

Despite the scale, Showtime feels like a small game. There are a number of different characters for Peach to get to grips with, but they’re used so sparingly that by the time you’ve understood the basics, it’s onto the next one. When you revisit them later in the game, it’s just more of the same rather than a new challenge. A lot of levels can be reduced to bashing buttons and luck. Nothing really feels earned.

In fact, there’s not much in Showtime that does feel difficult. Each level feels more like an introduction to the different powers and playstyles on offer rather than a daring showcase, and there’s not much in the way of a learning curve. Showtime is also really forgiving. An overly generous amount of hearts litter every stage and if you do fail a level enough times, you can use coins to pay for a pass. The alternative way to spend them is buying different variations of Peach’s now-iconic ballgown and matching ribbons for Stella. The main story can be completed in ten hours without breaking much of a sweat.

The storyline is also surprisingly unambitious. We don’t learn anything about the Theets beyond their desire for the show to go on, and Madame Grape’s motivations are never really explored. Your sidekick Stella is a glorified guide without much of a personality and even Peach feels a little flat beyond a number of questionable catchphrases like “Peach Time” or “That’s Peachy”. There aren’t even any good fruit-based puns. All of this would be fine, but it begs the question: why go to the bother of inventing new characters when The Mushroom Kingdom already has such a sprawling rogue’s gallery?

Mario games are at their best when they twist the norms of platformers. Showtime definitely tries to follow suit but all the experiments feel more like echoes of other games rather than anything new. There are flashes of Metal Gear Solid, Ecco The Dolphin and Mega Man, as Showtime tries its hand at being a rhythm game, a platform shooter and a puzzler.

Playing Showtime, you can’t help but wish Nintendo had the confidence to create an entire game where Peach solves mysteries by accusing strangers, controlling fish with the power of song, or sneaking into hi-tech buildings with a skill set that rivals James Bond and Spider-Man. There are plenty of moments of madcap brilliance across Showtime but they’re never developed beyond that initial chalkboard idea – which is a shame because this is the company that’s made an entire franchise from giving a plumber a vacuum cleaner and sending him to a haunted house.

By trying to do too much at once, Princess Peach becomes a jack of all trades, a master of none which isn’t really what you want from her first solo title in 19 years. It’s a wonderful vessel to introduce people to the scope of gaming but Showtime feels more like a glimpse into what the character of Peach could become in the future, rather than a showcase of who she is now. Showtime is more dress rehearsal than career-defining performance and frustratingly, it’ll leave you wanting a lot more.

Princess Peach: Showtime! launches March 22 for Nintendo Switch.

href=”https://www.nme.com/tag/xbox-series-xs”>Xbox Series X|S, and PC. We played on PS5.