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The Nintendo Switch is likely at the end of its life cycle with rumors of a new console arriving in early 2025. To that end, Nintendo’s release slate for 2024 does feel a bit like the death rattle of the Switch where there are a few ports of older games, and some tests for new franchises. The first franchise test comes in the form of Princess Peach: Showtime! which, as a game to test the waters is not bad but it is a little short.
Princess Peach: Showtime! follows Princess Peach as she attends a play at the Sparkle Theater which is predictably attacked by Grape and the Sour Punch who abduct all the actors. Peach has to team up with a sentient ribbon named Stella to defeat Grape and save the show.
The game feels like Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Final Chapter Prologue or where it almost feels designed to sell the player on what the big new game is going to be and how the mechanics are going to work only without the upcoming future title imminently arriving. This is a short title that runs relatively smoothly (here played on a Switch Lite) and has its share of fun moments as each level has a new gimmick that the player has to deal with. One level Peach is a figure skater, one she’s a pastry decorator, one she’s a detective, and each one has its own gameplay style. It makes for an interesting gameplay loop but none of the gimmicks are particularly deep. For the swordsman level for example, all the player has to do is button mash and occasionally jump (optional) to clear the level.
It is in this lack of length and replayability that the game really flounders. Once one clears the game, there really isn’t an incentive to go back and play it again in the same way that Super Mario Bros. Wonder does. The levels are short and get repetitive easily, especially when the gimmicks are just repeated over and over. This is made worse by gimmicks that feel similar like the cowgirl levels and the thief levels. This is not the worst game one could play but someone should definitely hesitate before spending the full retail price on this game.
That said, this could be the start of something great. Nintendo is great about starting a franchise with an interesting concept that eventually grows into a definitive edition later on down the line. The best Super Mario Bros. game is Super Mario Bros. 3. The best 2D Metroid game is Metroid Fusion (Samus Returns is also acceptable). The best Pokemon games are either HeartGold/SoulSilver or Black 2/White 2 depending on who is asked. Down the line they could revisit this franchise and deliver something bigger and better, maybe on the Switch 2 with more processing power.
Final Rating: 7/10
