Super Princess Peach

By: Michael Levy

Men have been buying tampons for their girlfriends and wives for decades. However, a game came out for the Nintendo DS that shook the boat of gender purchases. Super Princess Peach. A game which places the everyday gamer in the shoes of everyone’s beloved digital damsel-in-distress: Princess Peach. However, the biggest calamity itself is buying this game.

Purchasing Super Princess Peach in a retail store such as EB Games or Gamestop is the first time one can compare purchasing games to purchasing something like tampons or pornography. It’s the equivalent of a woman buying vaginal itch cream. It’s embarrassing for a grown man to walk into a store lined with cardboard displays of Lara Croft in all her busty glory firing handguns off into the distance, or a heavy weapons mercenary running from an explosion, the look on his face: pure intense adrenaline, or even a vampire coated in a tight dark latex outfit, ready to show off more than just her evil glare or blood covered “assets”. However, for a game of this high caliber, one must ignore all of this and just say “Oh, what the hell, why not?” After all, the clerk is just doing his job. Who cares what he thinks?

Despite the nervous yelp after being asked if you need help, you ask for the game as if you were asking to look at the latest Tera Patrick DVD. Scared, confused, embarrassed, timid, whatever you are at this point, you must get this game. Once it’s in your slimy grasp, you pay for it, leaving as quickly as you came in, and you open it immediately and pop it in your DS.

A soft voiced “Nintendo” from the Princess fills your car, and you look around, wondering if anyone within 5 miles heard you. They didn’t. The coast is clear. Move onto the intro screen. The colorful worlds that fill this game are proudly shown below the logo. You press start, and Peach grabs the weapon you’ll be using on this adventure, an umbrella named Perry. As she floats to the island below her she says in her sugary sweet voice, “Peachy!” This is enough to make the entire gaming community blush, but for all the right reasons.

The game starts out with a cut scene depicting Mario and Luigi’s capture. It’s up to Peach to save the brothers Mario from Bowser. It’s what psychology majors call a role reversal, and in this case it’s a very good one. Peach goes from damsel to hero. The story isn’t complex, and often derives the importance of back-story onto Perry. Repetitive cut scenes after each world completion can tend to be annoying, but the gameplay makes up for it. Peach is the almost-silent hero, and she does it well.

The controls are amazingly tight in this game. The bottom screen on the DS shows a picture depicting Peach’s moods. The concept of the game is that Bowser has used a wand that changes emotions, and Peach uses her own emotions to get past various puzzles. She can float when she’s happy, cry when she’s sad (to freeze platforms) and burn bridges with her anger. Control is responsive, quick, and also has an almost Kirby-like feel to it. Perry can swallow enemies and transfer them into vibe magic. The vibe magic can then be used to access Peach’s abilities. She can even restore her health with her powers! This power makes the game, at times, too easy, and with no real Game Over screen possible, the player can sometimes wonder where the challenge is. If you’re looking for an extreme platforming challenge, look elsewhere. This adventure is more about style and fun than complex puzzles and intense button pressing. One could even argue that your 11 year old sister could beat this game easily. Despite the game being incredibly easy, it looks and plays like a classic Mario adventure.

The graphics are cotton candy for the eyes, rich with bright colors and cheerful atmosphere. The game is reminiscent of Yoshi’s Island for the Super NES, especially when jumping through the hoop at the end of each level to get coins. Coins can be found all throughout the game, and can be used to purchase upgrades for Perry, musical tracks from the game, and even mini games. Surprisingly, the game has quite a bit of unlockables, and spending extra time to find all the hidden toads in the game is extra incentive to go back after completion. Music is always bubbly and cheery in this game to an almost cavity-inducing level. Cavities of the ear, that is. If you’re in a bad mood, this game will cheer you up.

While the game is short, the time spent playing the game is enjoyable. Nintendo can turn this spin-off into a franchise if they wanted. It has unbelievable potential and can be enjoyed by people of almost any age. Don’t let potentially awkward looks at the game store stop you from playing this game, especially if you’re a fan of classic platforming action that takes some advantage of the touch screen aspects of the Nintendo DS.

3.5 star(s) out of 5

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