Nintendo’s Princess Peach Showtime did anything but break a leg

When a game grows into a series, and that series falls into the spotlight, expectations come with the fame. One of the main expectations is that games from this series must at least be good. 

While many Nintendo fans feel as if the nostalgia and popularity of the Mario Brothers make each game good by default, “Princess Peach: Showtime!,” released on the Nintendo Switch on March 24 is proof that not all Mario games follow this trend.

“[A Princess Peach game made] me excited, especially seeing modern Mario games and how far they’ve come. I’m sure it’ll be a very unique experience, yet still similar to past games. It’ll be fun to see how they can twist the usual formula of Peach being kidnapped while Mario saves her,” said senior Destiny Mendoza.

The game is not terrible, of course. It is a break from the norm, of Peach being a damsel-in-distress. It is even a solid 7/10 according to IGN. The issue is it is just okay. The game feels uninspired, unoriginal, and underdeveloped, at best. 

There was a lot of potential, not just for the concept of a fight against a theatrical villain and her troupe, but also the fact it is an independent Princess Peach game. So much was lost with Peach’s character, especially as the protagonist and main fighter of the game.

“I think [female representation in mainstream franchises is] very important! It gives women characters to see themselves in and opens opportunities for the franchises to explore options to make more female protagonists in video games,” Mendoza said.

Mario has definitely taken a step in the right direction, though. “Princess Peach: Showtime!” has been received much better by critics and household gamers alike, than Peach’s previous game, “Super Princess Peach.” The game is not touching on blatantly sexist tropes, at the very least.

“I think that [now], there’s a lot of good representation for female characters,” said senior Kanyiti Abdulai-Jinapor.

“Princess Peach: Showtime!” offers different gameplay styles as Peach utilizes the power of Sparkle to defeat the Darkle (which I believe is quite an unfortunate name). With the assistance of Stella, a little star ribbon who supports the Sparklas, Peach can transform into different roles suited to the plays being held. Each quirky power that Peach gets tends to be simple or easy to control, as the game is geared toward kids, instead of all age groups.

Two of the roles Peach can obtain are Kung Fu and Swordfighter, and they’re also just okay. See, one thing the Mario games offer is combat, whether in the form of jumping or something a little more “complex” (by Mario standards, anyway) like “Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.” While the Mario franchise isn’t known for its balanced, intriguing combat system, beating enemies is at least fun. When Peach fights, it is beautifully animated. But it’s mostly mindless button-mashing instead of combat with intention and slight planning.

“I think button mashing is fun for casual game modes of fighting games, but overall, [but] I think they should at least have a little bit of skill involved,” senior Marion Mensah said. “[It should be] just enough so button mashing won’t work as often or efficiently.”

There are other roles Peach can take on, however. It’s not all button-mashing combat. Ever wanted to be Mermaid Peach, whose only power is singing to move a school of fish? Or how about Patisserie Peach, who unlocks minigames where you need to press certain buttons or move her around to create baked goods?

The issue with these transformations, and even the game itself, isn’t the concept. The issue is the execution, wholeheartedly. If Nintendo wanted to create a game for everyone, they could have separate difficulty modes you choose at the beginning of the games that make minor changes. “Mario Odyssey” is such a perfect example of this. 

Nintendo has done it before; they have made better games for Luigi. So why can’t they do it with Peach?
If you want to read an article about the importance of diversity in video games, check out Video game companies need to ‘level up’  in diversity and representation.