Super Princess Peach (Nintendo DS, 2006)

Princess Peach finally gets to kick some Bowzer ass. After two decades of being captured, she has finally found a way to exact some revenge on the Koopa gang. By her side is a talking umbrella which Peach uses to kill all the classic baddies: from goombas and turtles to ghosts who are still when you look at them (or away from them!).

The game is a departure from the Mario Platformer genre in the sense that Peach utilizes her emotions to perform effects like berzerker mode, flight, excessive crying (emo kids beware!), and hp increases. Each time Peach uses an emotion, her "Vibe Meter" depeletes. Her vibe meter can be restored by catching enemies on her umbrella and "swallowing" them. These abilities help Peach on her quest and are invaluable in fighting each area's boss. There are eight areas in all, ranging from a volcano to a glacier, to a forest, to Bowzer's castle and are complimented by their own range of enemies.

The environments themselves are colorful, and run very smoothly (as what can be expected from a first-party game). The use of the touch screen is limited for the most part to performing the various emotions, but the microphone is also used to shoot bubbles from Peach's submarine (apparently Mario never taught her how to breathe under water).

This game is truly a fun and addicting platformer with a few minor hangups. You must find and free three toads per level or you will not be able to fight Bowzer at the end of the game. The toads can sometimes be difficult to find, but an alert appears whenever you are in the same room as them. Coins are no longer used to gain extra lives (you have unlimited continues) and instead are used to buy enhancements for your umbrella, extentions for your vibe meter and hp, and a myriad of in-game scores. You can also buy puzzle pieces for 7 different puzzles and 3 mini-games for Toad.

Though it appears to be aiming for the six year old girl market, this game can be tough at times even for a seasoned gamer. The single player alone will entertain you for a few days. Then, after beating the game, you can unlock new levels by going back and beating harder versions of the area bosses.

Overall, the game will be locked in your DS for the better portion of a week. Once you have completed the extra levels and mastered the mini-games, there is no real reason to go back for more. Princess Peach is a great first effort for our beloved "Damsel in Distress" and can be equally enjoyed by kindergarten girls and keg-stand loving frat boys.

Reviewed for Big Boss Games by: KBN

I've been looking forward to Super Princess Peach ever since those first leaked screenshots started spreading around the Internet. I've always loved the Mario franchise, sans the Mario Sports series, but more than that, I've always thought that Peach deserved her own game, and for it to come to one of my favorite game platforms since the Super Nintendo is a bonus treat!

Super Princess Peach follows the oft-abducted Princess and her Parasol "Perry" on the mysterious Vibe Island. Bowser has stolen the Vibe Scepter, and with it, not only captured Mario, Luigi, and the Toads, but also has sent both the Mushroom Kingdom and Vibe Island into chaos.

Through the game, you'll battle with traditional Mario-style game play, i.e. jumping on baddies, smashing blocks and the like, but you'll also harness the Princesses' powerful emotions; Rage, Joy, Sadness, Calm, and...er...Doc... via the Touch Screen. Most often, you'll find yourself using them to solve in-game puzzles that will lead you to a captured Toad, but in later levels, you can use them to explore large hidden areas and save yourself from death.

If you get sick of playing through story mode, Super Princess Peach also features a few stylus-based mini-games akin to Super Mario 64 DS. There's a set of puzzles, the pieces of which are hidden mostly in-level, and a few Toad harassment games (is it wrong to purposely lead them into a wall of fire?). There is also a 'Concert Room' where you can replay any of the music or sound bites from the game. Again, some are hidden in-level, but most can be purchased at the store, and unless you are attempting to avoid coins, you'll have plenty to waste.

Overall, Super Princess Peach proves itself to be not only a great addition to the DS' already formidable game library, but a great 2D platformer as well. Even though the game is a little on the easy side, the overall experience isn't hindered much and there are bonus 'harder' missions for when you are done with the game. And guys, don't shy away from this one because the word 'Princess' is in the title. After all, it's not made by Disney and if you ever played Super Mario Strikers then you know that Peach can be a major.... well, suffice it to say that if you
own a DS and a Y chromosome, don't let pride make you miss this one.

Super Princess Peach is a quality 2d sidescroller in the Mario tradition. Nintendo did a wonderful job in creating quality levels with interesting challenges, a very easy learning curve, and awesome gameplay.

What Nintendo failed to do was to present a game that could be played universally by guys and girls. Guys will be turned away from this game by the lower screen, as when you use the 4 peach powers, she makes faces and dances. Not exactly something guys want in a platformer. Girls will be turned away by a fatal design flaw in this game. In order to face the last level in the last world/area, Peach MUST rescue EVERY SINGLE Toad from the previous levels. Every level. EVERY Toad. This design flaw puts a humongous hamper on the gameplay, as you beat the next to last level, only to discover you will need to put hours of gameplay in on previous stages just to advance.

Is this game fun? Yes, surprisingly. It even has features that make it superior to New Super Mario Brothers (the ability to save at any time) and Yoshi's Island DS (the fact that this game is not as terrible). But this game has a few issues that I hope will be fixed before they release a sequel (because it WILL happen eventually)

Although this game has been out for some time, my 11-year-old daughter had read about it and wanted it to play on her DS. The game arrived just in time for her to take along on a long family vacation road trip. She absolutely loved the game and played it in the back seat of our van for several hours straight. It captured her interest, and she found it very entertaining. Needless to say, she was not disappointed, and neither was I.

I bought this game for my young daughter. I like playing it with her because we can work together to solve the puzzles presented in some of the easier levels. The lower levels of the game do not require a lot of reading so this is nice for a child who is just learning to read. I look at it as a creative way to spend time reading to my daughter. After a while, the picture books get to be too much for me. Unlike some video games, there is not any really graphic violence although there is the "destroy the enemy" type game challenge found in the Super Mario games. I love the graphics and the music background. I like that the player sometimes has to be very persistent to figure out how to get through a task or puzzle. I found that this provided me with an opportunity to talk to my daughter about how to solve problems in real life. Okay, so I'm guessing not too many parents play video games with their children but I'm here to say that Super Princess Peach is a fun way to relax with your young child on a rainy afternoon. I eventually bought my own DS and now we play other interactive DS games together when we are traveling.

My only complaint is that the instructions that come with the game don't provide a lot of detail on the characters and objectives of the game. I had not play many similar games before so it took a lot of effort to figure some of the tools in the game. I wish there was a guide book for this game but it is still doable even without such a book.