Super Princess Peach

[Alienblue]

Super Princess Peach / Nintendo DS ; A-

I don't get all the criticism about SPP. Because Of the negative reviews, I held off getting it, but since few good platformers have come the DS way since New SMB, I finally gave in and plunked down $34.99 at Wal*Mart for it....and am SOOO glad I did!

SPP rocks! It is pretty faithful to the general Super Mario type gameplay, more so I think than Yoshi's Island, and I think it could even be considered one of the SMB games (It stars peach, sure, but Yoshis Island stars Yoshi and is subtitled Super Mario World 2!). The game play is very familiar and fun to we SMB players. Yes, you will smash blocks, collect coins, go up and down pipes and fight familiar enemies like Goombas, Turtles, Spikeys and more...

There are several new elements and a couple of changes though. Like Mario, Peach has "Super" powers, but rather than collecting mushrooms and fireflowers -being a woman, you see- PEACH uses her EMOTIONS as weapons! It sounds strange, but the end effect is not much different than SMB. Touch "anger" and shoot out flames, "sad" makes you cry and "happy" makes you fly...for a short time! There is an emotion gauge that must be refilled by collecting gems or engufing enemies. Peach also has a versitile umbrella she uses mainly to WACK enemies, but it can also float on air or water and has other uses.

Boss fights take place in the open, not in castles, and most require properly timed use of an emotion to beat. Hint blocks give these away, but the bosses are still tricky. You must also play a mini game before each FIRST boss encounter, but once beaten you can skip them. Some mini-games are fun, but most are more tedious. (Thus the 'minus" point in the grade... that and slippery controls.)

The biggest thing about SPP is the collection aspect. You are supposed to find and save the trapped TOADS in each level, but fortunately do not HAVE to clear all to advance. You can also take the time to collect pieces to a jigsaw puzzle and even find mini-games! SPP is loaded with secrets.

SPP is also loaded with FUN FUN FUN! I always loved playing Peach in SMB2, and am stoked that she finally has her own game. I HIGHLY reccomend SPP to all SMB fans who have a DS, have beaten New SMB already and are looking for another great platformer! (By the way I am convinced the main reason SPP was considered avarage or worse by most reviewers is because it came out too close to New SMB...the old Super Mario World / SMB 3 problem!)

[a1]

Gonna have to break something to you Alienblue. You need every toad to get into the final level. Better you find out now than later like I did.

[Alienblue]

I kinda figured the toads were important and have been collecting as many as I could find (I think I've only missed 3 levels so far)... but as I've stated before, in my old age of 40, it's getting rarer for me to have the patiance to actually BEAT a game anyway, if I can get through most of the levels, I have fun!

Right now I'm kinda stuck on level 2 Owl boss,a. Like the first boss, I can get him ALMOST dead but not quite. My main problem is at the end, he breaks through the branch and you fall? You are supposed to fly up and hit his head, but I am having great difficulty "flying" here and run out of energy!

Any tips (before I get lucky and beat it anyway?)....

[Alienblue]

...as you all probably guessed, I got by the Owl boss IMMIDIATELY after I posted this. D'OH!

The controls on SPP really seem strange to me, I'm starting to wonder if it is my copy or my DS. I could NOT get Peach to fly to the owls head the first dozen tries, then, suddenly, she can do it! I didn't get hit ONCE! Weird....

I forgot to mention that SPP is Rumble-pack compatible. Not a big deal, but if you have METROID PINBALL, try it out!