Princess Peach: Showtime!

Did You Know?

• A limited-time Spirit Board event themed around Princess Peach: Showtime! was held in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from March 22 to March 26, 2024.
• A Tetris 99 Maximus Cup themed around the game was held from April 5 to April 8, 2024, offering a special in-game theme.

Gameplay

In Princess Peach: Showtime!, players take on the role of Peach, who uses a living ribbon named Stella to interact with the world. Stepping onto special circular platforms lets her change into forms like Swordfighter, Patissiere, or Ninja Peach, each with its own moves. Her health bar has five hearts, and an optional Heart Charm adds three more for an easier time. New outfits, called Ribbons, for Peach and Stella are earned by saving a Theet named Ribboner, finishing Rehearsal challenges, or spending Sparkle Gems, the game's currency.

Plot

Princess Peach receives a flyer for plays at the Sparkle Theater and attends with two Toads. The wicked sorceress Grape and her Sour Bunch invade, trapping visitors and causing Peach to lose her crown. Peach meets Stella, the theater's guardian, and agrees to help restore the theater. They rescue the Sparklas, the stars of the plays, from the Sour Bunch. Peach assumes the form of Radiant Peach and confronts Grape, who is reduced to her mask but transforms into a giant version, destroying the theater. With support from the Theets, Peach and Stella defeat Grape and restore the theater. During the credits, Peach performs with the Sparklas and reunites with the Toads, who return her crown.

Development

Nintendo announced a new Princess Peach game during the June 21, 2023 Nintendo Direct, with a 2024 release. The September 14, 2023 Direct revealed the title, Stella, early transformations, villains Grape and the Sour Bunch, and a March 22, 2024 release date. The game uses Unreal Engine 4. Box art and key artwork were changed on October 12, 2023 to give Peach more determined facial expressions, compared to her appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed the movie and game were developed around the same time, and Peach's energetic portrayal in the game influenced her characterization in the movie. Good-Feel was revealed as the developer on March 21, 2024, with Etsunobu Ebisu as director; the involvement was leaked from demo code two weeks prior.

Reception

Princess Peach: Showtime! received mixed or average reviews on Metacritic. OpenCritic assessed strong approval, with 60% of critics recommending it. Famitsu gave a total score of 33 out of 40. IGN's Logan Plant rated it 7 out of 10, praising the variety in stage play, story, costumes, music, and bosses, but criticizing the length of levels due to cutscenes, blurry graphics, and lagging loading screens. GamesRadar+'s Dustin Bailey liked the stage design variety and noted low replay value. The Guardian criticized the game as repetitive and shallow, comparing some ideas to prototypes, but praised the ice-skating and kung-fu levels. In Japan, it was the best-selling game for the week of March 18–24, 2024, selling 77,562 physical copies, and remained number one the following week. It was third best-selling in Japan for April 1–28, and ninth best-selling physical title in May. In the UK, it debuted at number three for the week of March 26, 2024, and ranked fourth the following week. In the US, it was the sixth best-selling title of March 2024, excluding digital sales. The game sold 1.22 million copies in 10 days and over 1.30 million by June 30, 2024.