"Sorry Peach, but you are not a video game hero. Wait don't cry!"

In any Mario game, the premise is the same. Princess Peach is kidnapped and it's up to Mario to save her. Bowser has kind of figured out this pattern and instead decides to kidnap Mario instead. Princess Peach decides to save Mario in a cruel twist of fate. However, is Super Princess Peach the next great Mario platformer, or is it a total dud. Neither really. The game has its bright spots but also some very dark ones as well.

As I said before, Bowser has kidnapped Mario this time around (as well as Luigi and many of Peach's Toad servants), and it's up to Peach to save them. While Peach was out on a walk, Bowser found the Vibe Scepter and sends an army of Hammer Bros. and Goombas to use it on Peach's Toad servants. The Vibe Scepter makes their emotions go crazy allowing Bowser's army to kidnap everyone. When Peach gets back, she decides to return the favor and save Mario. I say why not? Luigi already saved Mario in Luigi's Mansion. Before she leaves, Toadsworth gives Peach an umbrella named Perry.

What does Perry do? Well, it allows Peach to use her emotions to help her on her quest. The gloom vibe makes her cry, the joy vibe makes her fly, the rage vibe makes her angry, and the calm vibe restores her life bar. Each of these are used to solve puzzles, such as using gloom to make plants grow, or rage to burn ice or wood. Aside from that, the basic gameplay is to enter each stage, rescue three Toads, and complete the stage. Meanwhile, Perry can be used to attack enemies, let Peach glide after jumping, swim underwater, or glide along a rail. The funny thing is, while Peach is the main character, Perry steals a lot of her thunder.

The graphics are very colorful and nice. However, New Super Mario Bros. are way better. All of the characters like Koopa Troopa and Hammer Bros. look great, although Peach kind of looks weird. Why couldn't the producers have used her sprite from Paper Mario instead? The music is good at times especially Fury Volcano, although some of the stages have music geared towards kids.

My review seems like Super Princess Peach is a great game right? Now it is time to talk about what is actually wrong with the game. First off, the game is way too easy. Peach has a massive life bar, plus she can refill it with the calm vibe. Another problem is that while there are some nice puzzles in the game, there is usually a clue that tells you what to do anyway. Also, the minigames right before the bosses have nothing to do with the gameplay.

The two biggest problems are the controls and the backtracking. While Peach's vibes are a nice addition, using the stylus is so difficult and annoying that you are actually forced to touch the DS touch screen with your fingers. I know that I don't want fingerprints on my DS, but what choice do I have. The backtracking is completely annoying and un-called for. While most platform games have optional things to pick up in the stages (New Super Mario Bros. has three golden star coins in each stage), Super Princess Peach has you rescuing three Toads per stage. Like a lot of people, I rescued the ones that I saw, but simply went on playing the game, completing every stage up to Bowser. The problem is, you actually need to rescue every single stupid Toad in every stage before you can beat Bowser. As I said, that is totally un-called for.

As for replay value, the game takes about ten hours to complete. After beating the game, you can unlock three new levels in each world. While Super Princess Peach has the classic Nintendo charm in some areas, it is lacking in others. Tomorrow I'm going to return this game to Gamestop and pick up Mario Kart DS instead.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/07