Princess Peach: Showtime! Reviews
Kids will enjoy the pomp and colour, but Princess Peach's long-awaited star turn is disappointingly shallow
A disappointingly shallow and unfocused adventure that is aimed solely at a young audience – and even they're likely to feel somewhat bored and patronised by the end.
All the way down, the theme of “not enough” pervades Princess Peach: Showtime! The costumes Peach wears look cute but their gimmicks are limited both in terms of their abilities and the game’s implementation of them. The lack of imagination is unbecoming of Nintendo, and it’s a real shame because Peach deserves a much better game. It’s like nobody’s heart was in the making of this, and while there are some entertaining moments, Showtime! simply has very little to show for itself.
Princess Peach: Showtime is a very approachable game and tries a lot of different ideas, which makes it perfect for extremely casual players or a younger audience. It's just a shame that it doesn't capture the 'kids of all ages' feeling of Mario's adventures or the aforementioned Luigi's Mansion. It's more like Yoshi's Crafted World, which makes sense as the two games were developed by Good-Feel. Though a significant step up from Super Princess Peach, Princess Peach: Showtime tries a little too much, and that means its best performances are overshadowed by discordant notes from the understudies.
While Super Princess Peach on the DS was criticised for reducing a female lead to being very literally controlled by her emotions, Princess Peach Showtime only works to allow her to embody so many different roles because there isn’t really a defined character underneath it all. For all its faults, 2023’s Super Mario Brothers Movie at least gave us a Peach who was driven, confident and capable – if Nintendo needs tips on how to build a Princess who could helm a game on her own, they should just ask Anya Taylor-Joy for tips. For now, I don’t see Showtime making it to Broadway – but I might still check out the matinee if there’s nothing else going on.
All that said, Showtime! is relentlessly charming, and its short, relatively uncomplicated plays will probably kill with a younger demographic. In fact, the setting also plays to the game’s favor whenever secret areas are too obviously telegraphed: Being able to see the strings, like the ones holding up Kung Fu Peach’s martial-arts marionette rival, is a part of the overall aesthetic and performance, not a mark against it. In the end, and perhaps above all, it’s just peachy to see such love given to the arts, with Darkle foes dispatched as much by dazzlingly synchronous ice skating and “the power of song” as by lassos, katanas, and a properly parrying kick.
Princess Peach: Showtime! is a charming start to a new series, even if it feels like a dress rehearsal for the real show.
Princess Peach: Showtime! gives mixed impression. It's the second solo Princess Peach game after the Super Princess Peach, and another game that kind of misses the mark of Nintendo's usual splendor.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Princess Peach: Showtime! does some good things, but in the end it falls short. This platformer is full of good ideas, but the problem is that they remain just that: ideas. It's as if its developers had put together a bunch of proofs of concept in a single game without worrying about the most important thing: that they form a fun product and turn out to be more than the sum of all its parts.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
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.
Princess Peach: Showtime! is a completely fine platformer with plenty of fun ideas seeded between some pretty standard platforming levels. The presentation and different classes for Peach make the game stand out, though the technical performance and slightly repetitive nature of the game make it more of a neat experiment than a must-play title.
With a focus on style over substance and a lack of any real friction in gameplay, Princess Peach: Showtime! is not going to provide a deeply engrossing experience. However, fans of the character and people looking for a relaxing jaunt into the dramatic arts will find plenty to enjoy
Princess Peach: Showtime! definitely could have been more than what we ultimately got. This game is a solidly crafted game that lacks heart and soul. Fortunately, it's a light, short enough adventure that little ones should have a pretty good time with. The low entry threshold, as well as the short duration of the individual levels, make it an ideal production for children who would like to start their adventure not only with platformers, but with video games in general.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Princess Peach: Showtime! offers a wide variety of gameplay in exchange for a lack of depth. Short and simple, it’s a fun adventure that anyone can enjoy but will be more suited to younger players.
Princess Peach Showtime is a charming game that is clearly aimed at younger users. The hand-holding gameplay and limited difficulty might prove too boring for even the casual gamer.
It's too soon to tell if Princess Peach: Showtime! will do for the character what Luigi's Mansion did for Mario's brother, but I find myself hoping we'll see Nintendo and Good Feel revisit this concept in the future. Hopefully by then they'll have ditched some of the weaker transformations, and give the graphics an overhaul worthy of royalty.
"I actually enjoyed playing it, despite its ease, and I don't see the point in limiting it to a younger audience. It suits everyone who wants an easy platform game after a hard day's work or who is looking to try a Nintendo product at various levels.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Princess Peach: Showtime! is worth it for families and young players, it is a charming and colorful introduction for the most famous princess in the gaming world.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Good-Feel knew exactly who they were making this for and they succeeded, but it would have been nice if there were some substance for gamers who grew up with Peach too.
Princess Peach Showtime! is a fun, charming, and well made game. It has its issues, but very few that its intended audience will care about. Hopefully it gets a follow up that gets to iterate on the core ideas.