Princess Peach Showtime review: Super fun, even though it's for kids

That being said, Showtime is definitely the first Princess Peach solo outing on Nintendo Switch, and for that alone it really is worth celebrating. On top of that, it’s a super fun game and it does an important job at the same time.

In terms of the fun factor, that’s baked into the game’s core concept, which sees Peach visiting a theatre that’s in trouble. A whole load of different stage plays have been taken over by an evil force, and Peach has to take on a variety of roles in order to save the day.

If you enjoyed seeing Mario turn into an elephant in last year’s brilliant Super Mario Bros Wonder, you ain’t seen nothing yet! The game designers on Showtime have come up with a whole raft of fun transformations for Peach to go through.

Sometimes, Peach will need to be a Zorro-like swordfighter to slash her way through baddies. At other points, she’ll need to be an ice skater, a ninja, a patisserie chef, and a bunch of other things that we don’t want to spoil for you here.

The upside of this is that the game never sits still for a minute. No level you play will be quite the same as the one you just finished.

And if you use this game to introduce a young child to gaming, they’ll actually come away with an understanding of all sorts of different gameplay genres, with the ninja segments being stealth-based and the swordfighter bits being more action-focused, and so on.

That being said, more savvy players might begin to notice that, whichever outfit Peach is wearing, there’s only really one or two buttons you ever need to worry about pressing to dispense her varied skills.

The control scheme has been simplified to such a degree that grown-up players might not feel much of a challenge as they progress through each brightly coloured stage, with the occasional boss fights being the only major exceptions.

The thing is, though, adults do not seem to be the target audience here. This is a game for kids, and there’s something super important about showing young audiences that there’s nothing a young woman like Peach can’t do. No role she can’t master. No job she can’t complete if she puts her mind to it. That seems like a great, important message to put in front of all young people right now.

If you stop wishing for a properly challenging platformer, you’ll begin to enjoy Princess Peach: Showtime! for what it actually is. A really charming adventure with lots of fun surprises, as well as delightful music and eye-catching levels to boot.

The central theme of exploring a theatre will also be something of a boon to long-term Mario fans, who will know that Nintendo's developers have often imagined the Italian plumber’s adventures to be little stage plays that he puts on with his friends. That idea has now been brought to the forefront, and Peach has gotten a great game out of it.

There’s a whole new generation of Mario fans coming up the pipe now thanks to the Super Mario Bros Movie, and they’ll probably have a great time with this. Peach had a major role to play in the film, and it feels totally natural for her to follow that up with her own game franchise.

Voice actor Samantha Kelly does fine work breathing some life into the character with her little snippets of dialogue, although it would’ve been nice after Anya Taylor-Joy’s movie performance to see the story side of the game beefed out with more proper scenes and a greater number of full sentences recorded. Maybe next time, eh?

Older gamers will probably be left wanting more, especially with the rumoured Switch 2 on the horizon. But we’d encourage you to go along for the ride, embrace the wacky changes to Peach’s powers, and let the little ones enjoy it to the full. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another 15-plus years for another Peach game!

Princess Peach: Showtime! launches Friday 22nd March for Nintendo Switch. You can order your copy from Amazon.

Read more on Nintendo:

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• The very best Nintendo Switch games
• Best Nintendo Switch games for kids
• Nintendo Direct - when is the next live stream?
• Best Nintendo Switch micro SD cards to buy
• How to charge Nintendo Switch controllers
• The best Nintendo Switch Lite games - take these on the go
• How to connect Nintendo Switch to TV

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