We played Princess Peach: Showtime for an hour, a demo that showed us once again how intelligently and creatively Nintendo knows how to manage its IPs linked to the Super Mario universe. In a historical moment of great importance for the character (even in the review of Super Mario Bros Movie it was told of a pleasant rereading of Peach, much more stratified than the stereotype of the princess in danger), the solo adventure of Mario's historic ally it struck us with the originality of its concept, which presents itself as an action adventure set on the stage of an extravagant theater piece (here is the review of Mario vs Donkey Kong).
The show begins!
The “story” of Princess Peach: Showtime begins when the princess finds herself hunted inside an immense theater after the attack of the Company of Musts, determined to conquer the structure to infest it with brambles and vines. Our improvised heroine is therefore called to collaborate with the inhabitants of the theater to restore order, drive away the Musts and escape imprisonment, exploring the various areas of the building and exploiting the spaces to her advantage.
The demo we tried gave us the first floor of the Shining Theater, in which it was possible to access the first 4 levels of the game. Before examining the structure of Peach's epic in detail, we will briefly explain how its gameplay formula is configured, which amazed us with its changing and constantly evolving nature.
As shown in the recent trailers for Princess Peach Showtime, the playful mix is fundamentally based on transformations, which allow the protagonist to take on very different forms. Each of them corresponds to a specific ability, which grants our Peach a series of powers never before appeared in the Super Mario franchise.
The game offers a command scheme that is as essential as it is immediate: in its basic form, Peach can jump and attack using the power of Stella's ribbon, also useful for interacting with the environment and revealing possible hidden opportunities such as coins to collect or mechanisms to activate. But it is precisely with the transformations that the protagonist gives the best of herself, developing skills that adapt to the scenario in which she finds herself: specifically we were able to try Peach in the Swordswoman, Ninja, Cowgirl and Pastry Chef versions. However, we have known for some time that the final version of the game will include many other camouflages, including a new ice skater outfit. Given the playful variety offered by each of these disguises, we can therefore deduce that Showtime will be a rather colorful and diverse adventure.
A “theatrical” game
In any case, even when transformed Peach simply jumps and attacks. It is the disguises, and the way in which they allow you to interact with the levels, that change the approach to gameplay from time to time, effectively making each stage a minigame in its own right. Princess Peach: Showtime is therefore an extremely transversal title, based on a simple and accessible formula, but also layered enough to offer a certain level of challenge to the most demanding players.
Each scenario presents a fair number of secrets, including collectibles and access routes to special levels useful for delving deeper into the mysteries of the Shining Theater. What makes the difference, in addition to the skills provided to each form of the protagonist, are precisely the stages, designed to recreate a “theatrical” experience in all respects. In fact, our Peach is nothing more than the star of a series of shows, during which she must make her way through very different scenarios to defeat the advance of the Monsters.
It is precisely thanks to its settings that Showtime showcases a brilliant and evocative artistic style, which changes from level to level. Each stage is practically the reworking of a different theatrical context, within which Peach is the undisputed star: not surprisingly, the protagonist is constantly highlighted by a classic “bull's eye”, typical of stage lighting . Of the many scenarios that will be available in the full game we have visited four: the Castle of Brambles, Ninjutsu Technique – River in Flood, Cowgirl in the Wild West and Festival of Sweets.
If the first brings to the stage a sort of elegant chivalric poem, in which the princess takes on the guise of a skilled swordswoman, the second offers a context inspired by the fascinating atmospheres of Japanese theatre, complete with themed music and revolving stages for change quickly set design, with Peach in the role of an expert and highly skilled kunoichi. The western-style level instead parodies the clichés of the frontier epic, including brawls in the saloon and horse chases, while in the Cake Festival we will be faced with a series of minigames focused on the creation of delicious cakes. Just by going through these first four stages we were able to notice how, despite its simplicity, the gameplay of Nintendo's title is varied and fun. In Swordswoman form, Peach becomes a real fencing ace, agile and sinuous, and her attacking actions trigger action-oriented situations; from Ninja, however, the girl takes on the ability to move silently and blend in with the environment, pushing us to adopt a stealth approach. Even a different story for the Peach Cowgirl, equipped with a whip useful for hooking barrels and throwing them at enemies or objects.
In short, at the basis of Princess Peach: Showtime there is an ever-changing play structure, which shows all its character during the fights with the bosses present at the end of each stage, which push the princess to make the best use of all the peculiarities of the disguise.
The armored knights who keep the Brambles Castle in check, for example, require a strategy based on continuous dodges and counterattacks, while the beefy bandit who threatens the Far West required us to use the lasso to send some shots back to the sender before placing it KO. Ultimately, all that remains is to wait to enjoy the title in its final version, to evaluate during the review how rich and varied the solo adventure of our intrepid princess really is.