TThe ending of 1985’s Super Mario Bros., soundtracked by the iconic 8-bit NES beeps and blips, sees Mario finally find the princess who’s been in a different castle throughout the game. As her mustachioed hero jumps to her side, a speech bubble displays the digitized name of the damsel in distress: Princess Peach. She expressed her gratitude, her credits rolled, and we bid her farewell.

As anyone who saw Anna Taylor-Joy’s performance in last year’s Mario movie will know, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom has become rather less one-dimensional these days – the past 40 years have seen the rise of video games and feminism. You guessed it, considering how far we’ve come in the years. However, this is the second game in which she plays the leading role, after the 2005 DS game “Super Princess Peach.” On Showtime, Nintendo’s Pink She Princess literally takes the spotlight. When her trip to the theater goes awry, she must take to the stage to save theatrical art from…the evil vines.

It’s a strange but fun setting, allowing Peach to dive into a series of genre-themed side-scrolling levels. Each new setting provides a new starring role for our heroine, whether she’s traversing through grass, running across rooftops, riding a horse through railroad tracks, or lassoing bandits as the dagger-wielding ninja Peach. All of them are impressively handsome. Showtime’s colorful visuals are a joy, with well-animated bosses that fill the screen and attractive cakes. Still, it only takes a few minutes of play before you figure out the repetition.

From pressing buttons to stir cake mix as Patisserie Peach to the simple jumps and combat that define everything from swordplay to superhero fistfights, Showtime’s gameplay is thinner than Paper Mario. An unusual highlight here is his level of ice skating as Peach, wearing a leotard, races through a whimsical winter wonderland. There’s even a few smiles during the action-packed kung fu scenes, and the visuals lend an enjoyable level of kitsch to the rudimentary fisticuffs pastiche.

The problem is that while Mario’s House usually strikes a good balance between depth and accessibility, Showtime feels shallow. Whether it’s the demonic mermaid level or Detective Peach’s hilariously incomplete investigation, many of these potentially fun ideas feel like prototypes that prematurely escaped from Nintendo headquarters.

While last year’s Super Mario Wonder entertained all ages, Princess Peach: Showtime has little to offer those of us who have mastered the multiplication tables. Brilliantly scripted cinematic moments and visual variety provide color and flourish, but it’s a great shame that the inventive animation and narrative setting aren’t accompanied by the same level of gameplay innovation. is.

Despite a fun premise and high production values, Peach’s long-awaited turn to stardom feels disappointingly condescending, one-dimensional and forgettable, compared to the more capable heroines of the Super Mario Bros. movies. It is the exact opposite. As the Nintendo Switch enters her final years, this was the perfect moment to give the monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom the celebration she deserves. But whereas in The Forgotten Land Kirby received an Iliad-esque epic worthy of Mario, this one is more of a flimsy pop-up book.