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7/10
Summary
Princess Peach Showtime! is a quick experience that is aimed towards newcomers but don’t let that distract you from the stunning visuals and new friends you meet along the way to saving the Sparkle Theater.
Developer – Good-Feel
Publisher – Nintendo
Platforms – Nintendo Switch (Reviewed)
Review copy given by Publisher
Princess Peach has taken a trip to the Sparkle Theater but things have gone off script as the wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch steal the show! Peach has a companion who joins her on this adventure, Stella, the theater’s guardian and she’s the one who is able to provide you with all of these different roles and abilities throughout the theater.
It’s your time to shine with Princess Peach Showtime by fending off the Sour Bunch who are the main enemy. You’ll run into these enemies no matter the abilities you play on stage, Swordfighter, Kung Fu, or Pastry Chef. The story of this game is pretty simple and it’s to bring the Sparkle Theater back to normal and ultimately defeat anything Grape has put in your way.
Stella and Princess Peach will also have to rescue each cast member from all of the in-game worlds and their names go by Sparklas. Without revealing too much about the story it does introduce new characters to the Mario universe of games including the enemies. Although it may not have the mainstream appeal of a Mario video game, its gameplay is engaging, for the most part.
The gameplay of Showtime will always change because you will be taking on several roles like Swordfighter, Detective, Patiessiere, Cowgirl, Figure Skater, Mermaid, and many others. When you debut on the stage with each of these roles you’ll be impressed with it and the mechanics that come with it. During your journey in any of these roles, you’ll run into a lot of dialogue between the Sparklas and even the Sour Bunch of enemies.
While the gameplay can be fun and entertaining at first, it can become monotonous and repetitive after replaying the same roles. Yeah, spoiler alert you will be able to replay these roles multiple times so don’t worry if you completed the first part of the story for Swordfighter. When you get to the last parts of most of these stages you’ll notice a lot of similarities to the previous versions where it will most likely have similar fights at the end and the same routines throughout the journey.
For experienced players of Nintendo games, you will be disappointed like I was with the difficulty of the game but we have to remember this is a kid’s title. It’s clear to me that Good-Feel and Nintendo wanted to make this the ultimate kid game and they have done it with Princess Peach Showtime. The gameplay mechanics are very simple and make for a relaxing experience.
Visually is where Showtime shines the most. No matter if it’s walking around the Sparkle Theater or going through the worlds as a Dashing Thief, Mermaid, Mighty, or Figure Skater, this title looks stunning in every way. The cutscenes have to be one of the best we’ve seen from a Nintendo title since the Switch was released.
Princess Peach Showtime does have charming music and each stage you visit features its own style of songs. Throughout its entirety, Showtime deserves a lot of credit not only for its art style but also for its exceptional audio design.
Without spoiling too much, the boss battles, for the most part, are not too challenging for players. Which I thought was a little bit of a letdown and I almost wish there was a difficulty option before starting.
A more frustrating part of Showtime is how short the experience is, but luckily there is some post-game content such as collecting all the Sparkles and Ribbons you likely missed and you can do Rehearsals. You’ll need Sparkles to unlock other areas of the Sparkle Theater, but you do not need every single one to complete the story.
While there are some things to do after the main story is over, it’s hard to justify the $59.99 price point of Princess Peach Showtime.
