Super Princess PMS

Although many of my friends recommended Super Princess Peach for DS to me, I hesitated for a long time before buying it. Partly I had my doubts about how well a side-scroller would work on the tiny DS screen, where you had to be able to see what was happening clearly, but mostly I was offended by the sexist overtones of the game. In this game, Princess Peach is the heroine rescuing Mario, but her powers derive from – wait for it – her moods. Her rage, gloom, joy, and calm are her special talents for defeating enemies and solving puzzles. Cue teeth-gnashing and surly muttering.

The story, insofar as there is one, involves the ever-evil Bowser, who has discovered something called a Vibe Scepter (hee) – located, naturally enough, on Vibe Island – which he takes and uses to capture Mario and Luigi. Princess Peach just happens to be in the vicinity with her creepy talking carnivorous umbrella, Perry, and off they go to rescue everyone's favorite Italian brothers.

This is a platformer in the time-honored Super Mario Bros. Tradition, and you'll find plenty of familiar enemies from previous games, ranging from goombas and Koopa Troopas to those annoying walking bombs and the shy ghosts that only move when you're not looking at them. Perry the umbrella is your constant companion, and he is pretty useful in a pinch: he can be a boat, a weapon, a shield; he can be hooked over rails and used like a gondola; he can help you float down gently or devour enemies and absorb their life essence for magical power. He's also a very disturbed little umbrella who, despite his cheery facade, has creepy cut-scene flashback nightmares at night, from which he wakes up screaming, unable to remember his past. Yeah, fun.

In addition to your life meter (measured in hearts), you have a vibe meter, or a mood meter, I guess. You access Princess Peach's powers by tapping one of the colored hearts on the touch screen, and it activates the corresponding power. Joy makes the Princess waft into the air, crying "Wheeeee!" – this also helps you reach inaccessible places you can't jump to. Gloom makes her weep uncontrollably, which also puts out fires and powers water wheels. Rage sets her on fire, which allows you to burn through obstacles and pound the ground. Calm doesn't do anything really, other than restore your health, but that in itself is pretty powerful, considering that you basically have an endless power supply thanks to your meat-eating magic murder umbrella.

Which leads me to the biggest problem of the game: it's too easy. Each of the levels has a handful of sub-stages, which are short and involve finding three hidden Toads before you work your way to the end. The boss stages involve a little agility game with your touch screen (most of the game is played using the D-pad and buttons), and an easy boss battle. Since you can restore your health anytime using the Calm vibe, and hearts and power-restoring jewels are scattered liberally throughout the levels, you're basically invincible. Even things that would kill you in any other SMB game – like falling into lava – aren't necessarily fatal here.

However, the game is awfully cute, with candy-colored worlds and fun, playful backdrops in each level. There's a cartoony, kawaii style that's appealingly goofy, and (I hope) a certain tongue-in-cheek over-the-topness about Peach's moodiness that makes it more silly than sexist. The game is clearly designed for casual gamers, though, and there's such an episodic feel for each self-contained sub-stage that you feel almost no sense of continuity or wanting to push on toward a goal. Although I enjoy the game and find it entertaining, I've put it down for multi-week intervals several times now, because I just don't feel driven to finish – it's more and more of the same. Visually appealing, with a short learning curve and some fun uses of the touch screen, Super Princess Peach is a cute game that will be fun to casual gamers, those new to DS, and little girls, but not so much for experienced gamers or those who don't like pink.