This is a game made for speedrunners, and I mean that negatively. If you're someone who has the time and energy to perfect the movement and learn every little trick there is, I'm sure it's a blast. I'll probably love seeing speedruns of it at GDQ. If, however, you're a more casual player, you're probably going to find it okay at best, and a nightmare at worst.

The controls are far from intuitive. They lack responsiveness. They're slippery when you don't want them to be, stiff when they shouldn't be, and obtuse in a way that keeps the game from ever really being fun. And when you finish a level and see a score pathetically trying to fill up a bar, the game might as well laugh at you for moving so badly according to its arbitrary whims.

Hopefully they patch it up, too, because it's a bugged out mess, and not in a silly or avoidable way. It would eat my inputs, or completely refuse to acknowledge me trying to activate an ability. I fell through the same solid floor twice. In the middle of a platform. Why is there a hole there. When I'm barely enjoying your game as is, these things only exacerbate the problem.

There is something here that could have been really good. The art style is charming and vibrant. The soundtrack is way better than it has any right to be (seriously, go listen to it). When the movement is actually flowing and behaving as it seems it should, it's quite enjoyable. But it isn't enough to salvage the rest.

I was really excited for a new, stylish 3D platformer that wasn't just another Mario entry. Guess I'll have to keep waiting.

One of the things I often commend the teams at Nintendo for is how they're unafraid to experiment. Sometimes those experiments lead to groundbreaking innovations in gameplay, other times they lead to the occasional disappointing entry. But regardless of the level of success, they tend to learn from the experimentation and use that going forward to craft even better games.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is a mixed bag because it is a game of experiments. It dares to pose many questions: What if Peach was a superhero? What if she was a detective? A cowgirl? A mermaid? And so on and so forth. Some of these questions lead to really interesting answers. Others probably didn't need to be asked.

With such wide variety of mechanics and level design, it's only natural that some power-ups shine while others fall behind. Some are really fun and made me wish I was playing an entire game designed around them. Others were just plain boring. There are a few that are strikingly similar, with one being the clear standout, leaving me to wonder why the others were included to begin with. And still others were refreshingly innovative but lacked the opportunity to be fleshed out in any meaningful manner. As there are only three levels per power, there isn't much room for depth or challenge.

Don't get me wrong — this game is a lot of fun. It has possibly the best boss fight designs for any platformer in the Mario universe (why Mario can't seem to get good boss designs of his own is beyond me). The different transformations keep any one from growing stale, although the game's runtime is rather short to begin with. But at the end of the day, this game feels very much like an experiment. A test to see if there is any interest in Peach as a protagonist, and if there is, this is a chance for them to figure out what to do with her. It's a really good experiment, but I'm hoping whatever comes next for her is more finely tuned and focused.

If we're being honest, this is really a dress-up game. And Princess Peach is a fashion icon. I love it.

Maybe I'm being harsh with this score — I am having trouble discerning my feelings for this game — but I really don't have a lot of good to say about this game. I don't have a lot of bad either, so I guess that's just it. This game is very middle of the pack. It hardly left an impression.

I think the hype did it in, unfortunately. After years of hearing how this is The Definitive Mario RPG (if not Thousand Year Door), I was expecting so much more. The art style of this remake is adorable, and there's some fun music tracks, but once those charms wear off you're left with very little in terms of substance. The combat system is pretty mindless. The story meanders all over the place, never building or releasing any tension. It's charming, and definitely has its moments, but if pressed to think of any specific ones I enjoyed, I find it hard to recall any standouts.

This is a game best enjoyed with a full glass of nostalgia and rose-tinted glasses. There are many better RPGs, and Mario RPGs at that, already available on the Switch.