A really cute momentum-based platformer that clearly takes a lot of inspiration from Sonic, and I think succeeds at being a pretty fun experience.

It’s a bit of a buggy mess, especially in terms of collision, and it seemed like there were some time or budget constraints as some cutscenes are fully 3d and others are 2d, with little rhyme or reason. The flow of the controls are really great, it’s an extremely unique control scheme that works really well and feels very satisfying after a while. I wish Penny had 1 or 2 extra moves to make their kit feel full, and I wish you didn’t have to manually stop to use the peel-out. In a platformer, the movement has to be something you nail, and I think they did pretty good here.

The same can’t be said for the level design unfortunately, levels are visually very distinct and creative, but in practice feel very same-y and shallow. It feels like a more watered-down version of Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s level design, with far less ideas and unique set pieces. The boss fights are kind of terrible, but cute in terms of the story.

Overall, really nailed the general flow of the game in a kind of disappointing set of levels, with somewhat shallow and half-baked elements, but for its short runtime, this game is perfectly alright. Missed potential for sure, but still fun.

An utterly unremarkable title that doesn’t really do anything wrong, but one that I will forget exists in two weeks. It’s a shame because the concept of a multitude of different gameplay styles in short bites could work really well, but this game just does very little with it.

In terms of presentation, this is the one thing the game is consistently good at. The theater aesthetic is really charming and fun, and lends itself very naturally to creative level design, nailing the crafty-like look that a production would. That couple with the fun spin the stage does when you enter a door, and it almost feels like a more deserving version of Yoshi’s Crafted World’s stylization. I will say, I do feel like it’s a bit of a missed opportunity that the main floors have two levels for each gameplay style, yet they didn’t make it Act 1 and Act 2? In the play-based game? In fact, the stories in those two levels are almost entirely disconnected, which feels like a waste. Still, Peach’s outfits are super cute and have a lot of expressiveness in their looks, as do the levels. Radiant Peach is also very cool even if the gameplay isn’t anything to write home about.

This is a game for babies. This game is mind-numbingly easy, and it’s by design. It was a struggle to get through the first two floors of the theater because it was just such a slog to get through these levels. It’s a shame too because I feel like the game somewhat finds its footing by the third floor. Being easy is not inherently a bad thing. There are plenty of easy games or systems in games that are easy, but still enjoyable, and usually that comes down to a ‘rule of cool’. It’s why quick time events are so widely used. This game tries to do that, but I feel like it takes a while to get to the level of cool for it to be justified. It doesn’t help that the play format inherently lessens the scale of the levels by reminding you the levels are self-contained. The gameplay and stories are incredibly surface level, and have a hard time being fun because they lack any depth whatsoever. The sword fighter levels are a slog and have some terrible boss fights. The dashing thief levels have maybe the worst grappling hook gameplay known to man. These styles are one-trick ponies too, so if they don’t nail the core mechanic (and most of them don’t or BARELY do), say goodbye to your enjoyment for the next 15 minutes. It’s a shame because given a little more depth or actual challenge, these levels could be really fun. Here’s a ranking of the gameplay styles:
1. Mighty
2. Cowgirl
3. Patisserie
4. Kung Fu
5. Figure Skater
6. Detective
7. Ninja
8. Mermaid
9. Swordfighter
10. Dashing Thief
And here’s the kicker: the only ones in the realm of “good” are those top three. The rest range from ‘really bad’ to ‘fine’. It is a problem if 70% of your game is not fun.

I don’t know how, but this game is locked to 30fps with consistent frame drops. As well as this, it seems like either the game or just peach are rendered at a low resolution, which is kinda crazy considering this game is by no means visually impressive. It looks decent, I guess. But it gets blown out of the water by games like Mario Odyssey or even the Mario Party games. There is no excuse for this to look so mediocre and run like shit.

Overall, a really lackluster entry in the Mario franchise. Mario is always a safe series in terms of enjoyment, but this game feels WAY too safe, and barely feels like it ever does anything interesting. Peach deserved better.