Super Princess Peach

Super Princess Peach is a platformer title for the Nintendo DS. In this game, the roles are reversed, as Mario, Luigi, and Toads have been kidnapped by Bowser, using the magical Vibe Scepter, and taken to Vibe Island. Princess Peach must save them, using a talking umbrella called Perry and her powers of emotion. This is the first adventure installment for the Mario franchise in which Peach appears as a stand-alone playable character.

Story
While Princess Peach is on a stroll, Bowser and the Koopa Troop, with the Vibe Scepter take over her castle, capturing Mario, Luigi, and Toad. Upon Peach's return, she finds her castle guards in a variety of emotions ranging from crying, happy, or angry. Peach then decides to rescue Mario, Luigi, and Toad, who have rescued her in many occasions before. Before she leaves, Toadsworth gives her what he remarks a strange umbrella. Later, Peach discovers that the umbrella is sapient and named Perry, and he has a small story behind him. Regardless, as Peach travels throughout Vibe Island, Perry is known to be a very useful ally in many situations.

Vibe Island Locations
Vibe Island is the World Map for Super Princess Peach, consisting of eight locations (or Worlds):


 * Ladida Plains: A normal grassland world, with generic enemies being common.
 * Hoo's Wood: A forest-themed world, with generic enemies being common.
 * Shriek Mansion: A Mansion-themed world, with ghost and sad enemies being common.
 * Fury Volcano: A volcano/lava world, with fire and angry enemies being common.
 * Wavy Beach: A beach-themed world, with generic enemies being common.
 * Gleam Glacier: An ice world, with sad and angry enemies being common.
 * Giddy Sky: An aerial, sky-themed world, with calm and glad enemies being commmon.
 * Bowser's Villa: Bowser's Castle, with all types of enemies.

Peach's Vibes
During the course of gameplay, the player is able to help Peach trigger one of four vibe abilities - provided she has an adequate amount of energy in the Vibe Gauge to pull it off (located on the Nintendo DS' top left screen below her main health meter). In order to do this, there are four colored Heart Panels on the Nintendo DS' bottom screen that represent a certain vibe; the player can touch them to allow Peach to proceed with the related action for each vibe ability.

The four vibes are as listed on the following chart:

To refill the Vibe Gauge, Peach is able to collect blue gems that are scattered around each stage. Perry is also able to eat most basic enemies to achieve the same result (by picking them up while they're upside down and stunned, then pressing "Down" on the Control Pad to swallow them).

Perry's Assistance
Perry can form into several different objects to aid Peach's travels as well, from a boat to a submarine, from a cable car to a laser weapon. More details about each strategy are listed below:


 * Bowlbrella
 * Floatbrella
 * Poundbrella
 * Chargebrella
 * Slidebrella
 * Subrella
 * Dashbrella

Worlds 1 through 7
Upon completion of the main five levels in each world, Peach is able to proceed to the boss area. The first seven bosses are as listed below:
 * World 1: Petey Piranha
 * World 2: Hoo
 * World 3: King Boo
 * World 4: Wiggler
 * World 5: Gooper Blooper
 * World 6: Blizzaurus
 * World 7: Giant Kamek

The Final Showdown (World 8)
This procedure has the same layout like the previous boss battles. However, in order to face the final showdown with Bowser, all the Toads prior to this level have to be rescued. When this criteria is met, Peach and Perry are able to proceed toward the final showdown with Bowser.

Unlike previous boss battles themselves where Peach and Perry only fight one major boss at the end of each world, the final showdown is split up into three confrontations, consisting of:


 * Army Hammer Bro (Bowser uses the Vibe Scepter, transforming the black-shelled Hammer Bro into this state.)
 * Bowser (After defeating Army Hammer Bro, Peach and Perry give chase to the next floor for their first real confrontation against Bowser.)
 * Bowser 2 (Bowser uses the Vibe Scepter once again, resulting in him growing up to enormous proportions. Peach and Perry's final confrontation is held at this point.)

Game Extras
During the course of gameplay, there are extra unlockable materials that players can obtain upon meeting certain criteria. These unlockables can be accessed by pressing to open up the menu when the player is on a map screen.

Glossary
Every time the player defeats an enemy (or, in the case of an invincible enemy, first visits its stage), the enemy's description will appear in a bestiary-like glossary. Blindfold Boo, blue Podoboo, Big Thwomp, and Beach Koopa are not included.

Minigame
Three minigames can be unlocked by playing through the course of the game: Toad Jump, Toad Tote, and Toad Shot. Initially, there is only one level that can played for each upon unlocking the minigame. Additional levels can be found hidden in stages or by purchasing them from the shop. Each minigame has ten levels.

Puzzle
Eight puzzles are assembled by collecting the puzzle pieces hidden throughout stages and by purchasing them from the shop. Only upon finding all the pieces to a puzzle can the player actually attempt to put it together.

Music Room
The Music Room for Super Princess Peach is where the player is able to listen to the game's musical score and some of Peach's voices. In order to unlock this extra, the player has to find or purchase at least one soundtrack. The tracks are shown to be played by the band to the left of the screen, called the Peach Hit Five. Initially, it only consists of Peach and Toadsworth, but once more soundtracks have been unlocked, three Toads will join. There is a total of 60 soundtracks in the game, five of which are Peach's voice overs.

Bonus
After each boss battle, Peach and Perry rest before continuing on to the next area in Vibe Island. During each rest period, Perry has a recurring dream that seems to reveal more and more about his past. Perry's story shows that he was originally a human boy, but was taken from his grandfather by a pair of evildoers who transform him into an umbrella, trapping him in that form. The story itself is completely separate from Peach's main tasks in her adventure. There are a total of seven sequences in all. At least one "Perry's Dream" sequence has to be viewed in the main game itself in order for this option to be available.

Additionally, if the player has purchased the Endless Vibe item, the player is given the option to turn it on or off here.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros. 2: One of Peach's primary ways of defeating enemies, by picking them up and throwing them at each other to defeat them, is reused in this game. Also, the Floatbrella move works like Peach's gliding did in this game.
 * Mario is Missing!: Bowser once again abducts Mario in Super Princess Peach as in this game.
 * Donkey Kong. The final boss fight against Bowser bears some resemblance to the final battle against Donkey Kong in the 1994 Game Boy remake, including his becoming giant and also the protagonist using some weapons he knocks down against him to defeat him by throwing them to his face (Mario using barrels on Donkey Kong, and Princess Peach using Bob-Ombs against Bowser, respectively). Similarly, both Bowser and Donkey Kong's transformations occurred due to contact with an item earlier (Donkey Kong due to landing on several Super Mushrooms, and Bowser using the Vibe Scepter in a last ditch effort to defeat Peach).
 * Super Mario World: Most of the enemies in this game and its sequel reappear in Super Princess Peach. Most of the Brick Blocks resemble Rotating Blocks.
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: The lamps in Shriek Mansion 3-2 resemble the Spooky enemy from this game. Some of the Brick Blocks resemble Egg Blocks. The Bowser battle has a second phase where the player must throw objects at his face, like with his younger self in this game.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: Toadsworth returns in this game.

References from other games

 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Perry appears as a trophy.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: Spinners swing like pendulums in this game.

Trivia

 * This is the last Mario game where Jen Taylor records any new voice clips for Princess Peach and Toad. Nicole Mills would be the voice actress who would record new voice clips for Peach until she was replaced by Samantha Kelly. Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games would reuse voice clips from other Mario games where Jen Taylor voiced Peach.
 * This is the only game where Peach's role name is translated into its katakana form as プリンセス (Purinsesu) rather than the kanji form 姫 (Hime). The katakana is only officially used in this game's title.