By: M. Ahmadad

During the Mario segment of the June 2023 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo had unexpectedly announced and teased a brand new Mario game, which wasn’t a follow-up or remake of an older one, for once. Another game where Princess Peach was the main character was unexpected, but pleasant enough to the point it was actually almost worth watching a Nintendo Direct in 2023.

‘Princess Peach Showtime!’ is the next upcoming spin-off title from the main Mario Brothers franchise, and it is not a sequel to ‘Super Princess Peach’ that was released in 2005. Showtime has settings, characters, and a new villain that were created for this game’s plot, instead of branching off from the cast and goal often reused for the majority of the Mario games…Bowser.

Though we don’t have much beyond a teaser and the 1st trailer, we see that the game is about theater. A basic description of the plot is that Princess Peach attends a show, only for the institute to be hijacked by some grape villain (who asked for someone called “The Wicked Grape” to be the next Nintendo villain?). The theater’s guardian, a magic ribbon named Stella, asks for Peach’s help to take back each performing arts set, in which Peach would need to become the main actress in each one.

From a martial artist, to a swords-woman, to a detective, or to a baker, Peach takes on a very versatile role as a main character, allowing players multiple game mechanics so they won’t easily be bored.