Summary
Princess Peach: Showtimebrings players to the charming world of Sparkle Theater, where the Theets who inhabit the venue perform various plays across the theater’s stages. Not all is peaceful at Sparkle Theater, as shortly after Peach arrives, the theater is taken over by the nefarious Grape and the Sour Bunch, who trap the theater’s star Sparkla performers in the basement. While the premise ofPrincess Peach: Showtimeis fairly tame given that it’s a game in theMariofranchise, there is one boss fight that seems to draw inspiration from a much more mature title outside of Nintendo’s sphere of family-friendly IPs.
Each floor of Sparkle Theater is guarded by one of Grape’s minions, whom Peach will have to face in a boss battle after freeing the other stages on that floor from the Sour Bunch. These bosses tend to utilize unique gameplay mechanics, such as the first boss,Disco Wing, using gravity-shifting abilities to disorient the player during the battle. However, the second boss, Light Fang, features one of the most interesting mechanics in the game and feels eerily similar to Scarecrow’s Nightmare levels inBatman: Arkham Asylum, which would be a strange source of inspiration for such a cute and charming title asPrincess Peach: Showtime.
Princess Peach: Showtime May Have Taken Inspiration from Batman: Arkham Asylum’s Scarecrow Levels
Within the gritty world of Rocksteady’sBatman: Arkham Asylum, players will have to battle many of the Dark Knight’s most infamous villains, including Jonathan Crane, better known as Scarecrow. Throughout the game, Scarecrow will inject Batman with his signature Fear Toxin, inducing hallucinations of the monstrous foe known asScarecrow Nightmares. During these segments of Scarecrow Nightmares, players have to traverse a series of crumbling environments while avoiding the gaze of a massive Scarecrow using walls and other objects for cover.
Scarecrow returns inBatman: Arkham Knight, this time upping the fear factor by gassing the Dark Night with his Fear Toxin early on, leading to hallucinations akin to Scarecrow Nightmares throughout the game.
In a segment similar to theScarecrow Nightmares ofBatman: Arkham Asylum,Princess Peach: Showtime’s Light Fang boss also requires players to traverse a series of obstacles while avoiding the giant snake’s gaze. Players will need to break each of the light bulbs during this fight to stun Light Fang and reveal the boss' weak point. However, getting caught in the boss' gaze will rewind time, forcing Peach to restart the segment of the level she is attempting to complete, meaning players will have to use cover wisely to succeed in this fight.
How Princess Peach: Showtime’s Light Fang Boss Compares to Arkham Asylum’s Scarecrow
An obvious difference betweenPrincess Peach: Showtime’s Light Fang andBatman: Arkham Asylum’s Scarecrow is the overall tone these two villains have.Batman: Arkham Asylum’s dark tone is a far cry from the quainttheater aesthetic ofPrincess Peach: Showtime, so the Scarecrow Nightmare levels are going to be far more unsettling for players. While Light Fang might be one of the more sinister-looking bosses inPrincess Peach: Showtime, nothing in the game can compare to the mature, seedy world ofBatman: Arkham Asylum.
The other major difference between these two levels is the consequence of failure that players will have to face.Princess Peach: Showtimegives players a much gentler punishment for failure, simply having them restart the segment of the boss fight they were caught in. On the other hand, Scarecrow Nightmares takes a darker, more difficult turn, with Scarecrow killing Batman if he is caught, heightening the tension in a game that is designed to put pressure on the player more so than acasual experience likePrincess Peach: Showtime.
