Super Princess Peach (DS)

Reviewed by Kit

Finally, a chance for Peach to do something besides get kidnapped. In Super Princess Peach she must rescue Mario and Luigi from the clutches of Bowser. In this installment they are on Vibe Island, a tiny island with a beach, a volcano, a glacier, a forest, plains, some clouds, and of course Bowser's giant castle. As Peach you take a magical umbrella who can affect the emotions of those around him...i.e. Peach. Depending on what mood you are, Peach can do different special abilities.

Graphics: They aren't particularly fancy. I've seen better graphics on the DS. If you really must equate them with something, I would say SNES level. The top screen of the DS is dedicated to the dungeon Peach is in while the touch screen shows Peach looking like an airhead with the four emotions you can transform into. 2/5

Audio: If you've played any mario game then you should know what to expect from the sound. Upbeat tempos that somewhat fit the stage. Peach occasionally makes noise. This is to tell you she has discovered something interesting in the area. So then you must spend time finding this item. 3/5

Story: It's not much of a story. It's a nice change of pace playing as a female instead of a fat plumber, though. Essentially you must rescue the Toads that have been locked into all of the levels and then destroy Bowser. 2/5

Gameplay: As I mentioned earlier, you can change Peach's emotions depending on what is needed at the time. When she is crying you can water plants, put out fires, and run like there is no tomorrow. As angry Peach (and my personal favorite) you become a giant fireball of doom. Wooden bridges tremble at your presence. With calm Peach you heal yourself. It's useful, but slow. And the most used of the moods is joy. You fly or become a whirlwind depending on the need. It drains the vibe meter fastest as well. The vibe meter, by the way, is needed to change her emotions. You can replinish the vibe meter by jumping on enemies, picking them up, and sucking them into your umbrella. You also find coins which you can use to buy things such as mini games or audio tracks, or you can buy useful things like new moves and more life. There are four mini games you can play. None of them are particularly exciting. There are about eight stages to work through. Each has five levels and a boss. There are three Toads in each level, and you need to find all of them to get into Bowser's room. They aren't particularly hard to find, but there are a few that irritated me greatly to get. Also you can put together puzzles as a sort of minigame. These puzzles are easy to do and there is no real benefit to putting them together. 3/5

Replay: After you finish rescuing Mario, you can go through all of the levels again. However, like any Mario game, replay is solely for entertainment value when you're bored. It is not a thought provoking game, but it is fun to waste some time messing with. 3/5

Overall: The game starts out great. It's vastly entertaining, and you don't mind using the stylus too much because it is minimal. However, the levels become more annoying. Nothing is truly difficult, but navigating the dungeons begin to require jumps that don't seem possible and impeccable timing that only the patient have. The game is fairly simple, so it's on par with an NES or early SNES Mario game. I recommend picking up for young people, or people who are nostalgic for the much simple times of games. 3/5