March 22nd, 2024, marks the release day of Princess Peach Showtime, a game that I have been looking forward to since its reveal, and even more so after playing the demo recently and being absolutely enamored by its sense of creativity and whimsy. I figured, hey, if I'm looking forward to this Peach game so much, I should give the first one a try as well! I sincerely doubt they'll be at all related to each other, but its fun to get the full Princess Peach experience regardless. Except this one wasn't very fun, actually.
Super Princess Peach is, 90% of the time, a mindless walk through a quick level grabbing whatever collectibles you need or may come across. The other 10% is a frustrating mess of a labyrinth where you will be wandering the area multiple times over in hopes of finding the weird little happenstance you need to pull of to find a Toad, or having a good old trial & error fest in a room that is exclusively pipes that only exist to drag you back to the beginning of the room. One of them takes you to the end of the level, have fun guessing.
The game doesn't do much to make these levels feel special, either. Peach's entire gimmick is her four emotions (stellar concept really), or three, given that one of them does nothing but heal Peach, in a game where dying is not only extremely difficult, but goes practically unpunished on the off chance it does happen.
The three emotions that actually are utilized are never for any more than a couple purposes. Being happy makes her spin windmills or blow away large clouds, maybe float at a snail's pace if you don't feel like platforming; being sad makes her run faster and grow plants; being angry makes her burn bridges and light torches, up until the end of the game where they just do that for you anyway. Very rarely will a new opportunity arise for one of Peach's abilities, but chances are you won't be seeing it again after a couple more levels.
Making it to the end of each world will reward you with a boss fight that follows a quick and easy touch screen minigame. Every boss in the game has one weakness that you will be told about just before fighting them, and they will hardly change anything up the whole time. Pick their favorite feeling and hit them five times with it, win game. Hell, you don't actually need to use any of the emotions for the final boss of the game except for one very brief instance of Rage just before the final hit.
The story is nothing I'm crazy for, either. I didn't care for Perry, and I guess Nintendo didn't either. Bowser and the gang find a Vibe Scepter (good one) that makes everyone very emotional, giving them similar abilities to Peach herself. This doesn't matter, SPP is more focused on giving you quick glimpses into the talking parasol's past at the end of each world, something something evil magic something something old man. It's your job to help reunite them. Or don't. You won't.
I was content on giving this game maybe a low 6/10 if it weren't for that final world. Genuinely appalling decisions made there.
Oh well, I don't have to play it anymore. Still looking forward to my Game of the Year tomorrow. Stay tuned for that one.
Super Princess Peach is, 90% of the time, a mindless walk through a quick level grabbing whatever collectibles you need or may come across. The other 10% is a frustrating mess of a labyrinth where you will be wandering the area multiple times over in hopes of finding the weird little happenstance you need to pull of to find a Toad, or having a good old trial & error fest in a room that is exclusively pipes that only exist to drag you back to the beginning of the room. One of them takes you to the end of the level, have fun guessing.
The game doesn't do much to make these levels feel special, either. Peach's entire gimmick is her four emotions (stellar concept really), or three, given that one of them does nothing but heal Peach, in a game where dying is not only extremely difficult, but goes practically unpunished on the off chance it does happen.
The three emotions that actually are utilized are never for any more than a couple purposes. Being happy makes her spin windmills or blow away large clouds, maybe float at a snail's pace if you don't feel like platforming; being sad makes her run faster and grow plants; being angry makes her burn bridges and light torches, up until the end of the game where they just do that for you anyway. Very rarely will a new opportunity arise for one of Peach's abilities, but chances are you won't be seeing it again after a couple more levels.
Making it to the end of each world will reward you with a boss fight that follows a quick and easy touch screen minigame. Every boss in the game has one weakness that you will be told about just before fighting them, and they will hardly change anything up the whole time. Pick their favorite feeling and hit them five times with it, win game. Hell, you don't actually need to use any of the emotions for the final boss of the game except for one very brief instance of Rage just before the final hit.
The story is nothing I'm crazy for, either. I didn't care for Perry, and I guess Nintendo didn't either. Bowser and the gang find a Vibe Scepter (good one) that makes everyone very emotional, giving them similar abilities to Peach herself. This doesn't matter, SPP is more focused on giving you quick glimpses into the talking parasol's past at the end of each world, something something evil magic something something old man. It's your job to help reunite them. Or don't. You won't.
I was content on giving this game maybe a low 6/10 if it weren't for that final world. Genuinely appalling decisions made there.
Oh well, I don't have to play it anymore. Still looking forward to my Game of the Year tomorrow. Stay tuned for that one.
5 Comments
@RedBackLoggd --- when i feel i have a valuable response to somebody, i try my best.
LOL, you liked one of my reviews and I've been gazing over your work and want to follow you as I think you do a good job. But I only follow reviewers who respond to their commentators, hence the inquiry.
@RedBackLoggd --- thank you ,, i just have trouble responding to people, i've always felt like a simple "thank you for the comment" or an "i agree!" sorta deal just feels a bit empty coming from me, though i realize that could just be a bit of an overthink on my end lol
Yeah I see where you're coming from, but I tend to ask additional questions about the game or review itself, so don't worry, you won't get just empty platitudes haha.
RedBackLoggd
1 month ago