Princess Peach: Showtime is a simple, yet undeniably captivating variety show

Personality, as Samuel L. Jackson once told John Travolta over lunch, goes a long way. Few games demonstrate this as acutely as Princess Peach: Showtime!, a simple yet undeniably captivating variety show that we couldn’t help but fall a little bit in love with.

Walking into a recent Nintendo preview event, we weren’t quite sure what to expect from the Super Mario heroine’s starring role, with pre-release trailers showing a myriad of gameplay styles, and more costume changes than a Taylor Swift concert, but not how it all inks together.

Showtime!, it turns out, starts with Peach being invited to the Sparkle Theatre. However, when she arrives, she discovers it’s been taken over by the witch Madame Grape, and her gang The Sour Bunch, who have transformed each play into a tragedy. With the help of the theatre guardian Stellar and her sparkle powers, Peach is out to return the theatre to its former glory.

Players start in the theatre foyer, which acts as a hub world. Each door in the foyer will take Peach to a different play themed around a unique transformation. Initially, you’re limited to Peach’s primary means of interaction, Stella’s ribbon, which can transform the environment, empower NPCs and defeat baddies. However, once you uncover the stage’s transformation, game mechanics change completely.

Aesthetically, the game sticks closely to the idea that Peach is part of a stage show, with wooden scenery spinning to reveal the next scene, spotlights following key actors, and special effects displayed via projectors or shadows.

It’s not the best-looking Switch game, but the attention to detail is pleasing. Ninja Peach, for example, will hold up a pair of faux branches when hiding in long grass or breathe through a makeshift straw when traversing water.

As its marketing suggests, Princess Peach: Showtime! really embraces the stage theme, with a ton of gameplay variety and charm packed into a tight production. In just an hour, we were able to play through four stages, with each typically comprising a unique mechanic, setpiece and ‘boss’ challenge.

Swordfighter Peach is a hack ‘n’ slash adventure with the Princess carving through armies of enemies on the way to the big bad boss. Ninja Peach, meanwhile, has you sneaking past guards through feudal Japan scenery, before dashing and hopping through fast-paced platforming courses. Cowgirl Peach sees players participating in lasso mini-games and high-speed horse chases. The final transformation stage we tried, Patisserie Peach, has you competing in time-based mini-games to bake cookies and decorate building-sized cakes.

The gameplay in each area is simple and very linear, with neither platforming nor combat offering much in terms of depth. However, the early stages are executed with enough charm, variety and brevity (each is over in around 20 minutes) that, in the opening hour at least, they make up a genuinely delightful variety show, especially for younger players.

“The stages are executed with enough charm, variety and brevity (each is over in around 20 minutes) that together they make up a genuinely delightful variety show, with little filler between each headlining act”

While stages can technically be 100% completed on your first try, it does seem like most players will have reason to revisit them. Each has a variety of collectibles to uncover, such as hidden sparkles uncovered by solving environmental puzzles, such as by turning on every lamp in a scene or healing withering trees. There is also a special ribbon hidden in each level, which can be used in the hub world to customise Peach’s dress.

It appears that the real variety will be in the Peach’s abilities, however. Later transformations we didn’t get to try include a figure skater, a Sherlock-style detective, a kung-fu fighter and a Persona-style ‘dashing thief’.

According to Nintendo, there are ten transformations in total and two main stages for each, in addition to bonus stages, so we’re eager to see how their concepts evolve in the final game, especially since it appears that its success will depend on if it can keep up the mechanical and visual variety of its opening segments. If Showtime! is able to pull it off for the full show, then players could be in store for one charming experience.