Ever since the very first announcement of this game in the June 21, 2023 Nintendo Direct streamed on YouTube, from the little bit of gameplay they revealed to us, I was intrigued. I really, really wanted to play it as soon as it came out. This would be my very first Princess Peach game I’ve ever played, and as someone who’s watched videos on her previous title, Super Princess Peach (I have never played the game ever), I was set on buying it as soon as possible. I’ve gotten my hands on the game recently for a birthday present, and I have to say, it was much more than I thought it would be. From the gameplay to the soundtrack, I enjoyed everything!

Gameplay and Difficulty

Now, Princess Peach Showtime! Isn’t exactly the “hardest” game I’ve played. But as someone who’s trying to 100% complete the game, I’ve had my struggles. Like on the stage, “Welcome to the Spooky Party”, for one of the Sparkle Gems, you had to perfectly complete the wave feeding portion of the stage near the end of the level, while creating 3 special cookies, under a time limit. It took me about 10+ tries to get that one gem. But apart from the game being momentarily frustrating, the gameplay is really fun in my opinion. I wish we had more Princess Peach portions, but after the first stage of each play type, you don’t play as normal Peach anymore (except in boss stages). The bosses weren’t too difficult either. They took a second to catch onto what their gimmicks and such were, but they weren’t too much of an issue.

Customization

Throughout the game in the different plays, you can find hidden bows that unlock exclusive dress designs for Peach and her companion, Stella. There is also a shop on the floor where the game begins that sells different dress and ribbon designs and colors. For example, in the first stage in the Swordfighter play, you can unlock the “Swordfighter dress” design, and from the later stages, the “Swordfighter ribbon”. You even unlock new dresses to buy in the shop prior to defeating bosses. I wish we could’ve customized at least the colors on the different Peaches’ outfits. I’d personally make each and every Peach wear purple.

Finale

After finishing everything else, Peach uses the Sparklas’ sparkle power and spirit to make a final transformation, Radiant Peach, and she goes on to defeat the main villain, Grape, once and for all. The final boss fight itself was in the form of a “fly-and-shoot” kind of boss. It wasn’t the most difficult boss fight in the world, but it definitely was really fun to finally defeat Grape after all the stress and frustration this game put me through just to finish it completely. After finally defeating her after coming back as Grape the Great, Peach becomes Super Radiant Peach and rebuilds the entire theater back from the ground up after Grape had destroyed it.

Final thoughts

Princess Peach Showtime! was actually so much fun to play. It may not be one of the more challenging games, but it was definitely very good for Princess Peach’s second title. I really enjoyed playing this game and I really hope this isn’t the end of Princess Peach Showtime! I hope that it will have some downloadable content or maybe a sequel, but that’s all in the air right now. I wish there was some kind of high score endless modes for certain roles, such as Patissier or Mermaid and I wish we could’ve customized her different role outfits too. But in the end, I love this game, I love Princess Peach, I hope she continues to get more attention in the future.