Princess Peach: Show time! is a Nintendo Switch exclusive that serves its niche well. This action-adventure game is suitable for younger players and casual players and offers simple but fun gameplay with satisfying visuals and sound. It also provides a decent level of challenge for experienced players who want to get their hands on all the hidden collectibles in the game.
Unfortunately, it’s not for everyone: if you don’t like simplistic games, you’ll probably get bored quickly. Additionally, some performance issues ruin the spectacular images.
Come on stage and watch my full Princess Peach: Showtime! review.
Princess Peach: Show Time!: Basics
- What is it? Princess Peach: Show time! is an action-adventure game that follows Princess Peach as she attempts to free the inhabitants of a magical theater who have been trapped by the villain Sour Bunch.
- For whom? Princess Peach: Show time! It is well suited for younger players or casual players. It also provides a decent challenge for the finishers.
- What’s the price? Princess Peach: Show time! It costs $59 on Nintendo Switch.
- What other games has the developer created? Princess Peach: Show time! comes from Good-Feel. They are behind Yoshi’s Crafted World on Switch and Kirby’s Epic Yarn on Wii.
- What games does this look like? Princess Peach Stages: Show Time! They are generally easy to beat, but each one is filled with hidden collectibles that make the game more challenging for completionists. That makes it similar to games like Kirby and the Forgotten Land and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe.
making an entry
Princess Peach: Show time! It takes place entirely in a theater, with 2D side-scrolling stages consisting of light platforming, simple combat, and puzzles. Each level takes place within a theatrical production and sees Peach don one of 10 costumes. Different costumes unlock unique special abilities; For example, Kung-Fu Peach can kick enemies, while Detective Peach must look for clues and accuse suspects. During each level, you are encouraged to collect various collectibles, including coins and Sparkle Gems. Coins can be spent on cosmetics and Sparkle Gems unlock additional floors in the theater, allowing you to reach new stages.
Each game you explore takes place in three stages. The first stage establishes the basic concepts. The second provides a little twist to the formula. And the third stage mixes things up even more when the villain’s magical powers distort parts of the theater.
For example, in Cowgirl Peach’s scenarios you encounter bad guys in a tavern at noon, chase bandits at dusk, and run alongside a runaway train at dusk. Discovering what new visual journeys and gameplay surprises took place in the next stage made me never want to put the game down.
Wearing many hats
The gameplay in Princess Peach: Showtime! It’s simple, but compelling. There are no branching paths in the levels and most enemies are easily defeated in one hit. This allows the game to be accessible to a wide variety of players regardless of ability.
However, the game is not only aimed at less experienced players. Collectibles are hidden in each level and there’s a handy tracker that lists how many you found and which you missed. This helps build the experience and gives you a reason to go back and repeat stages you’ve already passed. Additionally, there are optional trial stages on each floor – these themed bonus stages task you with using Peach’s special abilities to obtain the highest score possible within a time limit. Reaching the top spot in the rehearsal stages is a surprisingly difficult challenge.
I certainly haven’t caught every Sparkle Gem on my journey through Princess Peach: Showtime!, but that’s okay. There doesn’t seem to be any incentive to collect everything other than the satisfaction of seeing that 100% completion mark. It would have been even better if Sparkle Gems could be used to unlock more cosmetics or bonus stages to reward players for going the extra mile.
In the spotlight
Princess Peach: Show time! It is a visual marvel on the base model of the Nintendo Switch. There’s a wide variety of themes and color palettes on display, and the fact that each level takes place on a theater stage adds an extra layer of creativity. Special effects are achieved with cardboard cutouts, puppets and moving projections, just like you would see in a real theater. All of Peach’s transformations look fantastic, and the cookies and cakes in the culinary-themed stages look especially good to eat.
Unfortunately, there are a couple of issues that prevent the images from being perfect. The red curtains on the loading screens are meant to flutter gently, but there’s so much stuttering that they look more like a slideshow. This is preferable to serious lag during gameplay, but it doesn’t make a good first impression before you’re put on a stage. I also saw some frame rate drops during the transformation sequences, which is a huge shame as they are a highlight. The models generally look sharper in docked mode compared to laptops, so you may want to continue playing on a TV if you want the best viewing experience possible.
The game’s soundtrack is excellent. Ninja Peach’s theme mixes classical Japanese instrumentation with a funky disco beat, and Peach’s siren song mixing with the piano backing track in Mermaid’s stages sounded magnificent. Plenty of punchy sound effects make every move feel impactful, whether you’re slicing through enemies with Swordfighter Peach’s saber or listening to Figure Skater Peach’s skates crash into the ice after a perfect jump.
Princess Peach: Show time! Verdict
Princess Peach: Show time! It’s not going to please all types of players. But casual and younger players looking for a nice, relaxing game that doesn’t take up too much of their time will find plenty to enjoy. It’s also appealing to collecting fans, as searching for all of the Sparkle Gems in the game provides a good challenge and incentive to replay levels.
There are a couple of improvements that could have made it even better: it would have been great to have more rewards for finding collectibles and eliminate the few instances of lag. But overall, Princess Peach: Showtime! offers satisfying gameplay with wonderful visuals and music.