Princess Peach Showtime!

Princess Peach: Showtime! is a 2024 action game developed by Good-Feel and published by Nintendo. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch on March 22, 2024. It is the first game to feature Princess Peach as the main protagonist since Super Princess Peach (2005). Princess Peach: Showtime! received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its story, gameplay, and soundtrack but criticized its low difficulty and technical issues. The game sold 1.22 million copies in 10 days.

One of Princess Peach’s Toads receives a flyer advertising plays at the Sparkle Theater. Intrigued, Peach decides to attend the theater, accompanied by two of her Toads. As they arrive, a wicked sorceress named Grape and her minions, the Sour Bunch, invade and take over the theater, trapping many visitors inside the building, including Peach, who loses her crown during the commotion. Peach then meets Stella, the Sparkle Theater’s guardian, and agrees to help her restore the theater.

Making their way throughout all of the different plays, Peach and Stella work to rescue the Sparklas, who are the stars of all of the theater’s plays. After rescuing all of the Sparklas from the Sour Bunch, Peach assumes the form of Radiant Peach and confronts Grape at the theater’s bottom floor, where the latter is eventually reduced to nothing more than her mask. However, Grape regains power and transforms into a giant version of herself, destroying the theater in the process.

With support from the Theets, Peach and Stella resume battling Grape and eventually defeat her before restoring the theater to its original state. During the credits sequence, Peach performs with the Sparklas and reunites with the Toads, who give her crown back. The player controls Princess Peach and has the ability to interact with objects and characters with the help of a sentient ribbon named Stella. By standing on a circular platform, Peach will gain special abilities to fit each play’s setting. 

Peach’s transformations include Swordfighter Peach, Patissiere Peach, Ninja Peach, Cowgirl Peach, Figure Skater Peach, Detective Peach, Dashing Thief Peach, Mighty Peach, Mermaid Peach, and Kung Fu Peach, each with unique abilities. Peach’s health is measured through five hearts, but an additional three hearts can be granted for easier difficulty by equipping the optional Heart Charm power-up. It is also possible to unlock skins (called “Ribbons”) for Peach and Stella by rescuing a Theet named Ribboner in each of the game’s levels, playing a “Rehearsal” challenge, or using Sparkle Gems, which act as the game’s currency.