Princess Peach: Showtime Hands-On Preview

What begins as a pleasant evening trip to the Mushroom Kingdom’s Sparkle Theater soon becomes a frantic production in Princess Peach: Showtime. Nintendo’s leading lady must retake the venue from Grape and The Sour Bunch, villains determined to steal the spotlight. To restore each show, Peach visits the theatre’s many stages and helps its resident performers by changing into special costumes for entertaining tasks including cake decoration, ice skating and sword fighting.

Princess Peach: Showtime at the Sparkle Theater

My hands-on demo opens on the first floor of the Sparkle Theater, where four doors can be entered in any order, with each one leading to a differently themed stage. On the first route, I encounter several Theets - the shy caretakers of the theatre - grieving over the theft of their baked treats. A guardian called Stella gives Peach a magical ribbon, allowing me to turn the Theets into sous-chefs as they devise a plan to make a new batch of pastries.

I head to a nearby farm set to fetch the ingredients needed for confectionery, but upon returning to the kitchen, I discover that the head baker has vanished and Peach has to fill the role. With Stella’s ribbon, Peach changes into a patisserie outfit and takes part in a string of enjoyable Mario Party-style mini-games. In one challenge, you repeatedly press the action button to leaven the dough and produce the fluffiest bread possible, although overmixing can spoil the dish. My favourite is the following game, which asks Peach to decorate cakes to progressively more intricate specifications before the timer expires. Following the directions correctly turns the confection into an attractive display, providing a pleasing payoff.

Transformations and stage challenges

Once the production is back on course, Peach moves on to other theatres that follow a familiar structure: save Theets from The Sour Bunch, assist with rebuilding set pieces, unlock additional transformations, then face boss battles and other third-act encounters. Princess Peach: Showtime is particularly strong in the variety provided by these transformations.

Cowboy Peach is great fun to use, as she lassos and hurls barrels at bosses while avoiding incoming projectiles. Swordfighter Peach is less imaginative than more unconventional forms such as Figure Skater Peach, who enters an ice-skating contest against athletes under mind control. Ninja Peach, meanwhile, must slip past watchtowers and roaming guards using camouflage and wall-running skills, an unusual concept against the Mushroom Kingdom setting.

Sparkle Theater navigation and collectibles

Although the Sparkle Theater’s sets look appealing, they can occasionally be awkward to navigate. This is most noticeable in smaller platforming sections, where the 2D camera clashes with the freedom to move Peach through a 3D space. Missing the odd jump is irritating, but it is even more frustrating when the fixed camera angle prevents you from collecting an item - particularly as some collectibles require replaying the level if they are missed.

I am keen to try further transformations, including Dashing Thief Peach and Mighty Peach, the latter of whom resembles Proto Man from the Mega Man series. However, I am still interested to see how long players get to spend with each form. Overall, Princess Peach: Showtime appears to sit comfortably within Nintendo’s catalogue of mascot action games, seemingly combining gameplay from Kirby and the Forgotten Land with Mario Party mini-games for an energetic return to the spotlight for Princess Peach.