(www.plasticpals.com) The Mario franchise has spawned countless entries in the hop-n-bop platformer genre, but surprisingly Nintendo hasn't made a game specifically starring the series' archetypal damsel in distress until now. She most notably appeared as one of the four selectable characters in the 8-bit Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988), and regularly participates in various sports games, but you'd think Nintendo would have made a game like this sooner given their large female demographic.
For the most part, this game plays like a standard Mario game with side-scrolling levels. The one major twist is that Peach's changing emotions are her secret power, controlled by an enchanted parasol. Players can tap one of four large hearts on the bottom screen, easily accessible by the thumbs, to swing from one emotional extreme to another.
As expected, the levels are fairly well designed and contain a variety of gimmicks that require you to use Peach's abilities in different ways, and feel quite a bit like the 16-bit classics. The Vibe powers do a decent job of mixing things up, but there's not enough of them and they lack the spontaneity of the power suits. It seems like a missed opportunity to have Princess Peach play "dress up" in a variety of colorful costumes for added effects. The standard enemies are also given emotions, which change their basic behaviors based on whether they're happy, sad, or angry, which was a nice touch.
Super Princess Peach starts off very easy – to the point of being somewhat boring – but by the end of the game the levels present a decent challenge.
There are also 8 picture puzzles to complete and 3 minigames with 10 levels of difficulty. They're a nice little diversion from the main game.
Vibe Island is a vibrant place, and each of its areas features its own distinct style. They all look pretty nice, but they do fall into predictable tropes like volcanic mountains, ice-covered glaciers, haunted houses, and so on. Unlike New Super Mario Bros., the game doesn't feature any 3D elements. It's an eye-pleasing 2D affair that would probably benefit from a few special effects like the ones seen in Yoshi's Island. The music suits the cheerful mood like typical Mario stuff, which is hard to fault them on.
In retrospect Super Princess Peach is probably a bit under-rated, as it manages to feel quite a bit like the classic 16-bit Mario games. It's not doing anything too innovative or exciting, but it's nice to finally see Nintendo put out a competent game directed specifically towards girl gamers that is fun for anyone. Unfortunately, the game isn't on store shelves any longer, and picking it up 2nd-hand can be an expensive prospect. It seems this may become a collector's item.
For the most part, this game plays like a standard Mario game with side-scrolling levels. The one major twist is that Peach's changing emotions are her secret power, controlled by an enchanted parasol. Players can tap one of four large hearts on the bottom screen, easily accessible by the thumbs, to swing from one emotional extreme to another.
As expected, the levels are fairly well designed and contain a variety of gimmicks that require you to use Peach's abilities in different ways, and feel quite a bit like the 16-bit classics. The Vibe powers do a decent job of mixing things up, but there's not enough of them and they lack the spontaneity of the power suits. It seems like a missed opportunity to have Princess Peach play "dress up" in a variety of colorful costumes for added effects. The standard enemies are also given emotions, which change their basic behaviors based on whether they're happy, sad, or angry, which was a nice touch.
Super Princess Peach starts off very easy – to the point of being somewhat boring – but by the end of the game the levels present a decent challenge.
There are also 8 picture puzzles to complete and 3 minigames with 10 levels of difficulty. They're a nice little diversion from the main game.
Vibe Island is a vibrant place, and each of its areas features its own distinct style. They all look pretty nice, but they do fall into predictable tropes like volcanic mountains, ice-covered glaciers, haunted houses, and so on. Unlike New Super Mario Bros., the game doesn't feature any 3D elements. It's an eye-pleasing 2D affair that would probably benefit from a few special effects like the ones seen in Yoshi's Island. The music suits the cheerful mood like typical Mario stuff, which is hard to fault them on.
In retrospect Super Princess Peach is probably a bit under-rated, as it manages to feel quite a bit like the classic 16-bit Mario games. It's not doing anything too innovative or exciting, but it's nice to finally see Nintendo put out a competent game directed specifically towards girl gamers that is fun for anyone. Unfortunately, the game isn't on store shelves any longer, and picking it up 2nd-hand can be an expensive prospect. It seems this may become a collector's item.
