Nintendo Australia Super Princess Peach

It's up to the Princess to save the Mario Brothers, and she does so with finesse.

Nintendo executes yet another adventure game starring a character from the Mario series, except this time, it's not a male character ... it's Princess Peach! Super Princess Peach, to be exact. While fans have been wondering if this heroine in pink is self-sufficient without her knights in shining armour, Nintendo's been working on the answer: she's very capable of kicking butt, with or without them.

Don't hurt my feelings

Bowser and his minions have finally obtained the Vibe Wand, a magical item that changes the vibe of every inhabitant around them. Using this marvellous new weapon, Bowser thus finds it in his minimal intelligence to kidnap Mario and Luigi instead, figuring no one would be left to save them. Girls certainly wouldn't step up to the plate, would they? Wrong! Bowser didn't figure into his calculations the possibility of the damsel in pink frills coming to the rescue. Princess Peach is up and ready to go, travelling through different stages to find the brothers and saving Toads at the same time. The plot is so simple that it would make any gamer turn their head and ask, "Why didn't they think of this before?"

The game itself is a side-scrolling adventure and succeeds at it. The environment of the different stages as well as the mechanics of the gameplay are both very well implemented. From luscious greens and sunny deserts to tropical escapes and haunted mansions, the game follows the Mario tradition of presenting to the gamer a fun and colourful variety of stages.

My Princess in shining pink

With the aid of her talking yellow parasol, Princess Peach is Super because of her ability to control vibes, each one bringing different powers out of her. They come in four flavours: Joy, Anger, Gloom and Calm. Joy will produce a whirlwind around her and give you the ability to make her fly; Anger will cause her go to on fire and stomp when she jumps; Gloom will make her shed waterfalls of tears and run quickly; and Calm will help her heal. The vibes use up energy from her Vibe Gauge, but replenishing crystals are abundant, and if you can't find one, there's always the option to pick up an enemy and swallow it to fill up your Vibe gauge (similar to Yoshi laying an egg from swallowing enemies). The vibes make for a unique and fun gameplay that makes sense all around.

The way players access Princess Peach's vibes is via the touch screen, where the four hearts representing each Vibe waits readily upon request. The transition from the buttons to the touch screen is a smooth one. Perhaps Nintendo waited to release Princess Peach on the DS because it was the best interface for this game. As the player progresses in the game, Princess Peach will be able to purchase more abilities, life, and increase her Vibe gauge. This is an interesting way to increase her statistics, as most other games will use skill points.

The only ailment of Super Princess Peach is its severely easy difficulty, but that doesn't take the fun away from the game. In spite of its simplicity, Nintendo definitely continues to do well in the adventure/side-scrolling genre with Super Princess Peach.