Summary
The core gameplay ofPrincess Peach: Showtimerevolves around the different transformation abilities Peach gains when entering a new stage. Each of the stages inPrincess Peach: Showtimeis designed around the unique mechanics afforded by the stage’s specific transformation, which coincides with one of the 10 Sparklas whom Grape has imprisoned in the theater’s basement. While most of these stages involve some combination of battling the Sour Bunch, solving puzzles, and navigating each stage’s layout, there are a couple of transformations that subvert the game’s standard level design with mixed results.
Of the10 primary Sparkla transformations inPrincess Peach: Showtime, there are those that focus on combat abilities, such as Swordfighter, Kung Fu, and Mighty Peach. On the other hand, there are those that focus on beating baddies through puzzle-solving and level traversal, like Mermaid, Figure Skater, and Dashing Thief Peach. However, there is a third category of transformation inPrincess Peach: Showtimethat flips the script on the established stage designs, with both Detective Peach and Patissiere Peach stages featuring gameplay completely devoid of combat and action-platforming segments.
Detective Peach and Patissiere Peach Break the Mold for Transformations
Unlike the typicalaction-platformer stages in the rest ofPrincess Peach: Showtime, stages like The Case of the Missing Mural and Welcome to the Festival of Sweets introduce Detective Peach and Patissiere Peach, respectively, along with their transformation-specific gimmicks. Detective Peach stages play out almost like classic adventure games, where players have to interact with the environment around them to uncover clues to solve the stage’s mystery. Once they think they have enough information, players can use Detective Peach’s Strike of Intuition ability to deduce the culprit behind that mystery.
Similarly, Patissiere Peach’s stages don’t feature combat, platforming, or puzzle-solving, and instead have players participate inmini-games reminiscent of series likeMario PartyorCooking Mama. These mini-games usually involve having players correctly place frosting on cakes to match a given pattern or produce enough cookies to meet the required quota before time runs out. While these stages provide their own unique set of challenges, they feel like a drastic departure from the rest ofPrincess Peach: Showtime’s stages, introducing concepts not seen in the rest of the game and breaking the expected pattern for this type of title.
The cake-decorating segments of the Patissiere Peach stages are very similar to the Sugar Rush mini-game fromMario Party 8, where players must correctly decorate a cake according to the given picture before their opponents can do the same.
Detective Peach Stages Succeed Where Patissiere Peach Stages Struggle
Despite both of these transformations bringing something new and interesting toPrincess Peach: Showtime, they highlight both the best and worst aspects of subverting the expected action-platformer gameplay.Detective Peachstages present a solid, self-contained narrative that challenges players to think outside the box and explore their surroundings in more detail than is required in other stages. While each stage is essentially a watered-down version of a mystery-adventure game, it’s still satisfying to solve the case without feeling like anything is lost by not having any platforming or combat sections.
On the other hand, thePatissiere Peachstages feel a bit lacking in comparison with their mini-games, lacking as much robust gameplay as the Detective Peach stages. Rather than encouraging players to explore their surroundings, these Patissiere Peach stagers usher players from one mini-game to the next with very little need to engage with the stage otherwise. While some players might enjoy the more simplistic distraction these stages provide, they tend to feel hollow in a game that already is on the easier side, especially when compared to the solid gameplay of other levels.
