When the June 2023 Nintendo Direct teased that they were making the second-ever Princess Peach game, the excitement was palpable from the very fabrics of the internet. After all, it’s been the summer of Barbie. It is, at long last, time for the girlies.
Just a few months later, during the September 2023 Nintendo Direct, we learned the game is called Princess Peach: Showtime! and got a full trailer. And friends, it does not disappoint. Princess Peach gets to wear so many outfits during this game. Swordfighter Peach! Patissier Peach! Detective Peach! Kung Fu Peach! The delights keep coming!
Each new outfit alters her abilities, which is incredible news, because kicking someone as Peach outside of Super Smash Bros. sounds like a dream. But also—damn, the girl can rock a petticoat! Get ’em, girl.
Let’s tie everything we know about this upcoming game with a sentient ribbon, hm?
The odd timing of Princess Peach: Showtime!
You don’t have to wait too long to decorate cakes as Princess Peach, especially considering that Super Mario Wonder and Super Mario RPG will keep you plenty busy in the interim. And that’s just in Mario games releasing before the end of the year! Princess Peach: Showtime! comes a little later, releasing on March 22, 2024. Pre-orders are currently rolling out on the Nintendo Switch e-shop, so you can already put your money behind our princess.
The only peculiar aspect of the timing is the ever-increasing volume of credible rumors that Nintendo has their follow-up to the Switch and is demoing it to developers. Many experts and pundits are estimating a late 2024 release for the new console. This would make Princess Peach: Showtime! a twilight release in the Switch’s lifetime, perhaps even the last non-remastered major title they develop for it.
Beyond the fancy outfits
Like the vast majority of Mario games, Princess Peach: Showtime! was developed in-house at Nintendo. (Not every Mario game, though—for example, the original Super Mario RPG was famously developed by Square right before they broke their deal with Nintendo to release Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation.)
The game kicks into gear when some Toads invite Peach out for a lovely night to the theater. But their outing is spoiled by Wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch, who take over the theater because they are mean. Peach and a flower with a magical ribbon named Stella have to save the day with ribbon slaps and magical costume changes. Nintendo is fun.
Ostensibly, Wicked Grape is hard to stamp out, and the Sour Bunch keeps popping up in other locations around the Mushroom Kingdom. And Peach keeps taking it upon herself to stop them, as the dedicated princess she is. Also, Wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch is the name of my new jam band.
Mario, Luigi, and Bowser are nowhere to be seen in the trailer. Which is fine—this is a girls’ outing.
(Featured image: Nintendo)
