A princess's world isn't all roses, literally. There Princess of the Mushroom Kingdomwhich now well over thirty years ago had been stereotypically conceived as the classic “damsel in distress” who must be saved by the hero (or rather, the plumber) on duty, It took him a really long time to break away from this role. A role which, as we well know, has fallen to several other damsels, and which in an equally prolonged manner had to wait a long time before being re-evaluated independently. But that's another story. If in 2005 the first title dedicated to Peach was released quietly and remained in a corner, now it arrives Princess Peach: Showtime!the platformer clearly made in Nintendo that we tested on its portable console and accompanied us on a soft and colorful adventure.
Princess Peach: Showtime!, spotlight on the princess
This game marks the return of Peach as the protagonist of a video game after almost twenty years, offering a very simple plot. Princess Peach goes at the Shining Theatre for a show, but the entire structure is conquered and altered by the evil one Gooseberry and by his subordinates of the Compagnia del Mosto. With the help of Stella and her powers, Peach is the only hope to oppose the fate of the Theater.
With this title, we therefore try to create an unprecedented and parallel universe to that of the Mushroom Kingdom, consequently eliminating the classic enemies of Super Mario and reducing the presence of the Toads. A successful attempt? Only halfway. The creation of the new imagery is graphically successful, not that we had any doubts about it, but the contextualization of the inhabitants of the Theater and the enemies makes them rather anonymous and not too distinguishable from previous works in the Super Mario universe.
For example, the Shining Theater and its structure are very reminiscent of Peach's castle in Super Mario 64, helping us move from one stage to another (four per floor).
True to the theme of the game, each scenario offers a different show and a consequently different representation of the Princess, as well as offering an equally different video game genre. An interesting and engaging solution, which allows us to put Peach to the test in never monotonous situations.
Fifty Shades of Peach
Going into the merits of gameplay, we are faced with the same situation as in the context: almost extreme simplicity in the controls. Excluding some sporadic steps where they are needed the shoulder buttons to pose Peach in the spotlight (and obtain items and secret passages), the action is based on just two keys.
Jump and act. Nothing else. There are not even excessive changes in rhythm and action within the work: the Princess' movement is continuous in rhythm, while the jump is modulable in intensity. Furthermore, the type of action varies its function depending on the transformation undergone by Peach. When she dresses in his classic clothes, for example, we can unleash Stella's powers, useful for awakening an inhabitant of the Theater, stunning an enemy, activating a button and more.
From this evidence, we note how the game is based heavily on simplicity, which here rhymes with accessibility for any type and experience of player. Sometimes, however, this simplicity turns out to be excessive, as, on the contrary, the only “complexity”, if we can define it that way, of Princess Peach: Showtime! it is evident in particular from the attention paid to defining a new world and many different versions of the princess.
Aesthetic and technical performance (almost) at the top
We certainly can't complain too much about the performance of the game engine, both in terms of graphics and its response. The animations are excellently detailed and the graphics are, as always, very colorful and soft, as well as some shots that vary from scenario to scenario. Even within them, the direction offers always different zooms and angles to try to give us an almost cinematic result. Choices that sometimes however meet the limits imposed by the console.
As often happens, even in this situation the framerate of our Nintendo Switch proved to be anything but stable, the only major flaw in the face of an almost painstaking job of this level. Nothing to say even about the soundtrack, where the tracks can both be listened to again from the main menu and they seemed pleasant and different from each other, always suitable and well contextualized. Too bad it all wears out in a matter of hours, however proving to be a short-lived game and definitely not at all challenging. We will need little more if we want to hunt for all the collectibles. And without being able to skip the dialogues we have already heard in the various stages).
Princess Peach: Showtime!, our review of the platformer on Nintendo Switch
Princess Peach: Showtime! is a new IP from the world of Super Mario that focuses heavily on scenography, with lots of dialogue and a guide to this new cross-section of the Nintendo universe. Too bad for the limited longevity and that dancing framerate which does not allow us to fully enjoy the aesthetic efforts of the team. In essence, if Nintendo wanted to give us a particularly mainstream and all too accessible title, it certainly succeeded. We close with a final provocation. A short title, with Peach often showing off like a diva in the spotlight, different from other works in the Mario world. A casual choice, to use “light” language, for a female protagonist who hadn't had a title for twenty years? He didn't deserve anything more of a platformer where, in fact, he changes clothes, and has few actions to perform? We find it hard to believe that Mario, Luigi and Toad, to name a few, would see the same type of content, but maybe we will have the opportunity to change our minds. Meanwhile, we have to watch Peach's “showtime” and nothing else.
