Princess Peach: Showtime!

Princess Peach: Showtime benefits a lot from the idea of wearing different costumes, giving Peach a high variety of special abilities. Like usual for Nintendo games, the game brims over concerning loving details. The very low difficulty level and the partly inappropriate performance prevent the game from a higher score.

The first mainline game for Princess Peach in nearly two decades is a charming adventure with some solid ideas and excellent boss battles. Princess Peach: Showtime demonstrates that the heroine is worthy of being a leading protagonist on her own merit, despite a few performance issues.

Maybe this comes off as unfocused or contradictory. I had fun, but Showtime failed to hook me somehow. The stage variety is both a weakness and a strength. I like switching between concepts so frequently. But this comes with a cost, namely a depth deficiency. You’ve got tons of mechanics that take no time to learn. Stages oscillate between easy and enraging. There’s a giant list of collectibles that come in exactly two varieties. Even so, the raw concept is still cool. Giving Peach a whole closet full of roles is a great idea, albeit one I wanted more out of. If you give Princess Peach: Showtime! a chance, who knows? You might have a pretty good time.

It's an experience that delivers just enough, plays on automatic and doesn't quite do a fine job of making itself a memorable video game. It's not a bad start by any means for a new sub-franchise, but it would be ideal if Nintendo decided to bet heavily on the character regardless of how well this game sells and that we already have a sequel in development. Time will tell how committed the Big N is to this cause.

As an empowering journey, Showtime proves THIS princess doesn't need a plumber to rescue her; you sense its intended audience will crush a grape as Peach follows suit. [Issue#397, p.122]

Princess Peach Showtime isn't Peach's solo debut, nor will it be the game she'll be remembered for in the future, but it feels like the ultimate start to a new and promising career for this cherished character from the Super Mario universe. For older players who have grown up with Nintendo and Super Mario, the novelty of Princess Peach Showtime wears off quickly, feeling repetitive and lacking in challenge. All in all, it's still not Yoshi's Crafted World or Luigi's Mansion, but judging by this release, the character and this new world have the potential for more and better.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is short, fun and full of charm. Is it one of the best games on the Switch? Not in the slightest, but it's a nice game for children, getting into gaming for the first time.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is a colorful and fun Nintendo Switch platformer that's best suited for young gamers.

With a focus on style over substance and a lack of any real friction in gameplay, Princess Peach: Showtime! is not going to provide a deeply engrossing experience. However, fans of the character and people looking for a relaxing jaunt into the dramatic arts will find plenty to enjoy.

Princess Peach: Showtime! has so much to offer, but the overall length makes it feel like it’s not reached its full potential. Given its $60 price tag, you would expect more content. If the short playtime doesn’t concern you, though, Princess Peach: Showtime! is a fun and memorable little adventure that is absolutely worth your time.

Princess Peach: Showtime! feels like a safe release from Nintendo, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing: it’s fun, it’s inventive, and it looks wonderful. Its quirky level designs and Peach’s range of fancy costumes will no doubt put a smile on your face but ultimately, there’s little more here than that — a pretty, if shallow, Nintendo adventure that’s best played in 30-minute bursts.

Princess Peach Showtime! is a fun, charming, and well made game. It has its issues, but very few that its intended audience will care about. Hopefully it gets a follow up that gets to iterate on the core ideas.

A fun, playful, and diverse mix of "big mini-games" with good ideas, a pleasant atmosphere, and plenty of strong moments. However, it sometimes suffers from wild inconsistency, poor balance, and unclear vision.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is a great option for young children who want a casual collectathon to sink their baby teeth into without fear of any difficulty spikes halting their progress. The variety of stages and abilities also helps to keep the experience fresh, while simultaneously never becoming so complicated to prove intimidating or confusing. That said, a lot of the inventive mechanics do feel undeveloped, lacking the required time to be fully explored. The low difficulty ceiling, even with collecting every single collectible, will likely put off older gamers – especially with the likes of Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Yoshi’s Crafted World doing a greater job of pleasing multiple audiences.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is a cool game for families and younger players with its charming characters and varied content.

Even with some flaws, Princess Peach: Showtime is worth its price of admission. Peach shows her superstar potential by stepping into nearly a dozen roles and nailing them all. After spending almost four decades as a princess, it's nice to see her show some range.

Princess Peach: Showtime turns the Mushroom Kingdom’s monarch into a digital Barbie, filling any role she’s given with personality and charm. Some levels place you on the edge of your seat, while others leave you praying for the interval. A very good game for a highly specific demographic - adult Mario fans, be warned.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is a good game, but It will not be for everyone and those with decent gaming experience won’t find a challenge here... but that isn’t the point. This foray with Peach into acting scratches that itch of a game that is just a fun little time within minimal stress or worry – something we all need right now. Peach's adventure isn't anything groundbreaking, but the commitment to its theming and spades of the classic Nintendo charm make it worth sticking with until the curtain call.

Princess Peach: Showtime!, even considering the target audience and disregarding the very low difficulty, is a collection of tasty appetizers, lacking a proper continuation of the meal.

Having completed Princess Peach: Showtime! it is not the virtual absence of difficulty that is its main drawback. In fact, it is an excellent game for beginners and we can confirm that children love it. It's varied, has some very original ideas and a number of very good moments, but the more mediocre levels, the corsetting, and the lack of technical finesse prevent our unanimous ovation.

Showtime is completely entertaining from top to bottom, but while it has enough variety to avoid ever becoming boring, it doesn't have the depth for much lasting appeal. But hey, in a world where video games are demanding more and more of my time and energy, there's something to be said for an experience that cuts the filler to deliver polished charm in spades. Princess Peach: Showtime may not be an all-encompassing production, but the entire troupe has given its all to make sure the crowd goes home happy.

Princess Peach Showtime is a friendly, inviting game that's made to be easy to digest. Some of the genres work better than others in this format, but none of them are too tricky or off-putting, and most of it will come down to personal taste. None of these stages are fleshed out enough to support their own game, but they're an invitation for novice gamers to explore a bunch of different game types, with a charming (and apparently polymath) princess offering her gloved hand to welcome them in.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is more closely aligned with Kirby and Yoshi’s simple, cheery romps rather than Mario’s polished platformers and Luigi’s haunted mansions. There’s fun to be found in the Sparkle Theater, as these delightfully simplified takes on some of gaming’s most popular genres are entertaining to blast through, and the whimsical stage play aesthetic gives Peach’s game an identity all its own. I’m also thrilled that Nintendo is finally giving Peach another crack at her own solo outing after nearly two decades, and I hope this is the start of an ongoing spinoff series within the wider Mario universe. Some noticeable performance issues and the frustrating lack of a chapter select means I won’t be returning for an encore, and I wish there were a few extra levels to lengthen the somewhat brief campaign, but Nintendo and Princess Peach at least know how to put on a good show.

It's too soon to tell if Princess Peach: Showtime! will do for the character what Luigi's Mansion did for Mario's brother, but I find myself hoping we'll see Nintendo revisit this concept in the future. Hopefully by then they'll have ditched some of the weaker transformations, and give the graphics an overhaul worthy of royalty.

Despite the fact that Princess Peach: Showtime! has some brilliant elements and is effortlessly fun, it is clear that it feels like a safer and more rudimentary offering from Nintendo. But, for younger folk or those less familiar with gaming or the world of Mario, there is heaps of fun to be had with this game.

Princess Peach: Showtime delivers a fresh and inventive platforming experience, showcasing Nintendo's iconic character in a variety of captivating roles. Despite its engaging transformations and level design, disappointing performance issues and a lack of content compared to other Nintendo titles undermine its overall appeal.

Princess Peach: Showtime! does enough to create a fun, unique experience, even if it remains fairly simple. It's a shame the Switch has a hard time running the game.

In the end, Princess Peach: Showtime! hits the mark way more often than it misses it. Despite not committing to the bit with its story, its aesthetics run wild with the theatrical premise, never failing to evoke glee. And while its shallow gameplay left me somewhat unsatisfied, the moments when it throws caution to the wind for train heists, table-flipping martial arts fights, and full-on space shooter segments are undeniably great. Princess Peach: Showtime’s simplicity and variety make it easy to recommend as a game for younger players. For everyone else, Princess Peach: Showtime! will probably leave you underwhelmed, but it’s still an enjoyable night at the theater while it lasts.

With Princess Peach: Showtime! you get a game that is right up her alley. You play a fun action adventure game in the theater that is filled with variety, making it not easily boring. With accessible gameplay, it is for everyone, young and old, but this also makes the game fairly quick to finish. The difficulty level is simply too low, and the blurry image quality doesn't do much for the gaming experience either. Keep this in mind, but the main thing is that you will at least have fun with it.

Princess Peach: Showtime! had the potential to be much more than it is. It’s upsetting that it’s so simple and easy, and feels like a waste of the sheer amount of creativity that went into the concept of the theater, plays, and costumes. It’s that creativity that’s preventing me from giving this game a lower score. But on the merits of its gameplay alone (and the fact that it’s not a very long game — I completed it in about 15 hours), this isn’t Nintendo’s strongest showing.

Princess Peach: Showtime! aims to introduce young players to gaming with its friendly, accessible, and varied gameplay, featuring different genres. However, it suffers from oversimplification, diluting the experience, especially evident in its lack of depth and overly basic mechanics. Despite this, it offers enjoyable moments, particularly in levels like Peach Thief, with a well-paced rhythm, collectibles, varied gameplay, fantastic presentation, and an excellent soundtrack. It falls short of fully utilizing its mechanics, resulting in a game that could have been much better, but still serves as a good entry point for younger gamers.

Princess Peach: Showtime! does some good things, but in the end it falls short. This platformer is full of good ideas, but the problem is that they remain just that: ideas. It's as if its developers had put together a bunch of proofs of concept in a single game without worrying about the most important thing: that they form a fun product and turn out to be more than the sum of all its parts.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is an experience that will hook you with its magical visuals, but only the first time. The game, which mixes several genres, has slow stages that don't offer much replayability and few extra challenges, making it stand out as a unique adventure in which Peach navigates the most varied nostalgic memories of our childhood.

Princess Peach: Showtime! gives mixed impression. It's the second solo Princess Peach game after the Super Princess Peach, and another game that kind of misses the mark of Nintendo's usual splendor.

What sets Showtime apart is that each level almost feels like its own game.

Princess Peach: Showtime has a lot going for it, but it sometimes comes across as a concept demo for a larger game that will be much better. Peach shouldn't have to wait another 19 years for her next solo outing, but hopefully her next game takes the time to give the Mushroom Kingdom's princess a proper, full-scale adventure.

Princess Peach: Showtime! It is a game that is fun but only for a while. It has good mechanics, concepts, and a mix of genres that only works well when it sticks to the platform genre. Some of the transformations are interesting, others do not fit at all or were not well worked out. Graphically, pretty but it can't maintain a stable 30fps performance.

The game’s performative, vignette-y nature all but forces it to aim for moments of quick spectacle over a slower-burning dramatic substance.

Technically, Peach's Performance leaves a lot to be desired, then. Nevertheless, the lovingly designed levels in small fun-sized bites are a lot of fun. The staging of the plays, the many small design options for Stella and Peach's costumes make this one a charmer.

A beautiful game that gives Peach a multifaceted solo role to match. The moderate challenge and limited longevity are some elements to review and improve in future developments.

Princess Peach Showtime does not reach the heights of the average Mario game. Although the cool princess steals the show with a range of unique power-ups, many levels perform poorly due to the superficial gameplay. Combined with the dated graphics, we are left with the feeling that there could have been more to this.

Princess Peach: Showtime is a very approachable game and tries a lot of different ideas, which makes it perfect for extremely casual players or a younger audience. It's just a shame that it doesn't capture the 'kids of all ages' feeling of Mario's adventures or the aforementioned Luigi's Mansion. It's more like Yoshi's Crafted World, which makes sense as the two games were developed by Good-Feel. Though a significant step up from Super Princess Peach, Princess Peach: Showtime tries a little too much, and that means its best performances are overshadowed by discordant notes from the understudies.

While Super Princess Peach on the DS was criticised for reducing a female lead to being very literally controlled by her emotions, Princess Peach Showtime only works to allow her to embody so many different roles because there isn’t really a defined character underneath it all. For all its faults, 2023’s Super Mario Brothers Movie at least gave us a Peach who was driven, confident and capable – if Nintendo needs tips on how to build a Princess who could helm a game on her own, they should just ask Anya Taylor-Joy for tips. For now, I don’t see Showtime making it to Broadway – but I might still check out the matinee if there’s nothing else going on.

Princess Peach: Showtime! takes an iconic character and tries to do too much with her. The ambitious game is a brilliant introduction to the colourful world of gaming but is frustratingly straightforward, despite the madcap situations you’ll find yourself in.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is a charming start to a new series, even if it feels like a dress rehearsal for the real show.

All the way down, the theme of “not enough” pervades Princess Peach: Showtime! The costumes Peach wears look cute but their gimmicks are limited both in terms of their abilities and the game’s implementation of them. The lack of imagination is unbecoming of Nintendo, and it’s a real shame because Peach deserves a much better game. It’s like nobody’s heart was in the making of this, and while there are some entertaining moments, Showtime! simply has very little to show for itself.