You have already clicked the download link. If you need to download again, please click here to reset the link.

Super Princess Peach: Reviews

Select Author:

Game Score: 9/10

Visuals

Nice, simple and appropriate. Although most of the sprites are essentially redesigns from previous games, there is still a fresh feel to the visuals with all sprites oozing with character. Koopa Troopas have larger wings, (almost) all enemies have variations suited to the game (I'm not saying what it is, its kind of a spoiler), and Peach herself has ample animations for all her moves and abilities. Can't complain on this category, unless you were hoping that the game would push the DS' 3D capabilities... better wait for New Super Mario Bros. then :).

Audio

Again, appropriate is a good description here. There's nothing ground breaking, but the tunes all perfectly suit where they're placed. Also worth mentioning is that there is a playback option where you can listen back too all the songs you've unlocked throughout the game. There's over 60 tracks in this option, admittedly a few of these are voice samples. If there's a way to describe the style of music, I guess a cross between Kirby, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island and even Pokemon (boss battle tune reminds me of the Pokemon battle theme) would be accurate.

Gameplay

Pure 2D old-school platforming goodness. At first the game feels a little like Kirby in its level design; but after a while it gets more like Super Mario World's wide open areas with an emphasis on just making it to the end (or just finding it in some cases).

Peach has an array of moves at her disposal, most of which are just different takes on previous Mario games. Sliding, gliding, whacking - you're standard array really. What separates this from other platformers is the use of her emotions as abilities. This is truly unique, and really adds to the game's charm.

At the touch of the icon on the bottom screen, Peach will summon up an emotion which will embody certain abilities. Yes, that was plural. Each emotion (except for Happy) will have more than one function. For example, the crying ability has the elemental power of flowing water, but also enables Peach to run really fast.

Speaking of fast, the faster you run, the higher and further you can jump. The way this is done though, makes it feel like there is a little more to the physics engine. The game uses this for some areas too, so its not just a superficial feature.

In addition to the main game, there are also some mini-games suitable for short bursts of entertainment. These rely on the stylus, similar to those from Super Mario 64 DS. Nothing great, but not bad either.

The boss battles have a nice touch too. Some are from other games, but none of them have ever been done this way in a 2D Mario platformer before. Very nice, and very welcomed.

DS-ness

As far as using the DS features go, there's not really too much in this game that couldn't be done on another system. The touch screen is used for Peach's emotions, but it could still be selected from some other button combination. Some of the cut scenes span 2 screens, but they would still work fine on one. Even the visual and audio isn't pushed so far as not to be a glorified GBA game.

However, in saying that, I'll have to admit that being able to see Peach's expression at all times on the bottom screen does add to the game's charm. Although this is purely an aesthetic thing, it is much more satisfying to see a prim and proper Princess in furious anger with lowered brow and clenched fists then just some simple 16 x 16 emoticon that it would've been if this was a GBA game.

No wireless multiplay, dual/touch screen barely used to a unique ability, and the microphone only used for a simple mini-game; even with all this against it, it is still a very welcome addition to the DS library.

Conclusion

Finally, Peach gets a staring role. Even though I've completed my first run through the game, there is still more to unlock from this point, I am (and can see myself doing so in future) returning to this just for the fun of it. It takes you back to the days of Super Mario World in its simplicity, yet still has that Nintendo magic of being fun to play. I'd probably like to give this game a score just under 9 because of its lack of true DS features, but I'm happy to round it up to 9 on account of it being Peach's first outing as a protagonist.