Summary
Visiting a Theater, our dearest Princess Peach gets trapped inside as the Madame Grape and The Sour Bunch rewrite the various plays. With the power of Sparkle and help from the ribbon Stella, Peach takes on various transformations to fix the plays and release their stars. While largely I would describe the game as a Platformer, there is a bit more too it than that.
Every Style of Play Features Different Mechanics
While the core of each section is largely the same in terms of controls, each style of play handles differently. Any time you take on a Western Stage for example, you have a Lasso that can grab and throw things, as well as the Horse Chase segments. Then something like the Ninja levels where you can blend in with your surroundings, among other things.
On their own, I don't think this game would have the depth for any one of the mechanics present. However, with three stages split between each one and bouncing around between plays, the game manages to keep itself from getting stale. Every Mechanic is around for just enough time, and the game does just enough with it to keep it fun.
The Detective Plays are stupid, and they think the players are stupid.
Okay, I know Nintendo makes a lot of these games with the fact it has a very young audience in mind. But I take a second and think back to some of the puzzles and riddles from the SNES era, which was also directed at a younger audience. And these... are just not challenging on any level. I'll go ahead and spoil a puzzle here to explain.
You are looking for clues as to where they are hiding a bomb. There is a map on the wall showing a walkway to Big Ben. There is a telescope at the window pointed directly at Big Ben. There is a half finished letter than anyone with two brain cells could piece together said Big Ben. (Okay, it's just a giant clock tower, but I'm calling it Big Ben because it rolls of the tongue better and it's basically Big Ben), and guess where the bomb is going to be? And this is all of them. I'm not saying make some really hard things to figure out, but this feels more like they think the people playing the games are stupid. And I don't like that.
I wouldn't describe the rest of the game in this way though. Yeah, it's really easy, especially for someone who had been gaming for a long time, but it at least requires you to pay attention to what your doing. So long as I feel like a bit of effort is required, that's all I really ask in terms of difficulty.
The Detail in this game is great.
There are so many small details that I love. Seeing the strings on the horse, certain enemies and enviromental objects slowly breaking apart as they take damage, it's just beautiful to look at beginning to end. Even the little movements and the way the environment reacts. If you want an example of better hardware being needed to make things look good, look no further than here. Game is visually stunning.
Overall Thoughts
Princess Peach: Showtime! Is not breaking any new ground, and it's probably not going down as a classic. But what it is is a really fun and charming experience that I'd recommend to just about anyone looking for something simple and fun.
This seems like something I would likely enjoy for an hour or so because I kind of enjoy cute games like this. I don't have a Switch though so I don't need to bother thinking about it :P