Princess Peach: Showtime! Reviews
Help Peach save the Sparkle Theater from the wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch, who have set the stage for the ultimate tragedy. Joined by Stella, the theater’s guardian, Peach is ready to save the day! Review copy provided by company for testing purposes. Princess Peach: Showtime! has a surprising amount of depth, making one of the best Super Mario spin-offs to date.
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.
I went into Princess Peach: Showtime expecting Nintendo-quality filler. A game to pad out the year’s release schedule without being a particularly memorable effort by the company. Instead, we get a wonderful, playful and clever little game that allowed Nintendo to make Peach a multifaceted hero without needing to subvert all those years spent building this incredibly valuable character. This feels like it could be the start of another very valuable property for the company.
Does Princess Peach: Showtime! reach the level of, say, Super Mario Bros. Wonder? Probably not. But it’s certainly on par with any of the solo Luigi or Yoshi outings we’ve had. Here’s hoping that we don’t have to wait another two decades for Peach to get another starring role, because this one is well worth your time.
Peach’s foray onto the stage is is full of whimsy and many moments of sheer joy, just as 2023's Super Mario Wonder is, but the difference is that this is Peach’s game – and hers alone. Despite the Sour Bunch trying to sully the Sparkle Theater’s reputation, Princess Peach is here - as a Cowgirl, Ninja, Detective, and so forth - to put a stop to that. And she puts on a wonderful, replayable, empowering performance while doing so.
In the Mushroom Kingdom there is life beyond the plumber. That is why it is a pleasure to see how the Princess takes the reins of the game to lift it herself. With a strong focus on the little ones, the simplicity of the levels is accompanied by a plot that is easy to understand, but that still shows high moments (such as the final battle). The transformations in the different archetypes will be accompanied by a change in the gameplay, becoming a succession of phases in which we will try different approaches and mini-games. For the most dedicated players who feel that this title will not have any challenge, there are collectibles that will be difficult to obtain in the first round, unlocking added challenges at the end of the game (in addition to the trials). Without a doubt, it is a pleasant approach for the new generation to start playing different genres while being protected by a friendlier adventure.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
In this platformer, the focus is not on the difficulty of the individual levels, but on the many surprises that await me with Peach's creative outfits and transformations. The Sparkle Theater, Princess Peach and the game environments are detailed and lovingly designed. Even though the levels can be played through quickly, collecting coins and hidden stars gives me the motivation to play through them several times. It's a rather easy game, but a real feel-good experience.
Review in German | Read full review
Princess Peach: Showtime! had the potential to be much more than it is. It’s upsetting that it’s so simple and easy, and feels like a waste of the sheer amount of creativity that went into the concept of the theater, plays, and costumes. It’s that creativity that’s preventing me from giving this game a lower score. But on the merits of its gameplay alone (and the fact that it’s not a very long game — I completed it in about 15 hours), this isn’t Nintendo’s strongest showing.
The promise of Princess Peach: Showtime! was in the name: to deliver a "show". But unfortunately it's not bold enough to enchant us with its short campaign.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Princess Peach: Showtime! further proves that it doesn't require Mario to show up to save the day because Princess Peach can hold her own.
