The biggest thing Super Princess Peach has going against it is its “cute” look. The game absolutely screams “Girl Game!”. Anyone willing to go a little deeper will find another of the solid platformers Nintendo is known for.

Super Princess Peach is immediately recognizable as a Mario-related game. The art style resembles Super Mario World, if a bit simpler. Several familiar enemies, including koopas, goombas and boos are all present, though in a more realized form. The artwork has been redone for each and show off a little more detail; more noticeably the animations. In keeping with the game’s “emotions” theme, some enemies will even stomp around in anger or run with tears in their eyes. Not only does this add variety to the game’s look, but also brings in a few minor gameplay changes (crying enemies are faster than non-crying ones…)

Music is also typical of games in the Mario series. Jazzy, upbeat tunes make up most of the soundtrack. One of the more interesting aspects of sound is that the song will change depending on which emotion Peach is currently showing. When entering a happy mood, the music becomes more uplifting and, well…happy. Get mad, and it gets mad…

After Bowser comes into possession of a magic wand capable of controlling people’s emotions, he once again storms the Mushroom Kingdom in yet another takeover attempt. Using the wand’s power, not only is Bowser able to take over the kingdom, but he also captures Mario, Luigi and “…some little short mushroom guy.” Upon returning from a walk in the woods, Peach resolves to travel to Bowser’s Castle to rescue the Mario Brothers. Once she arrives at the island, she discovers that the wand’s powers are causing emotions to run rampant on the island.

For the most part, Super Princess Peach is your standard 2D platformer and follows many of the same conventions that made past 2D Mario games so popular. Each of the game’s eight levels have their own theme and feature their own unique obstacles. The ice levels are slippery, fire levels have boiling pits of lava… the list goes on. Layouts are straightforward, though a few have hidden paths. These paths usually lead to collection items before wrapping back around to the main path. This helps to act as encouragement for players to search out secrets since you never feel like you’re being penalized for wanting to stray off the beaten path.

As sexist as it sounds, Super Princess Peach revolves around Peach’s wild, emotional mood-swings. Throughout each level, Peach has access to four different emotions, or Vibes – Joy, Rage, Gloom and Calm – granting her special abilities. Joy lets Peach float and turn wind mills. Gloom allows her to run faster, water plants (causing them to grow) and turn water wheels. Rage, which envelops Peach in fire, lets her burn through wooden areas. Vibes also have special level-specific uses, like using Joy to clear poison gas from a room or using tears to freeze a platform in a cold area.

Vibes don’t last forever and are managed by a vibe meter that slowly depletes as a power is used. There is rarely a time you are not using one vibe or another, which means you will constantly have to keep an eye on the meter as well as ways to refill it. Early on, this isn’t much of an issue, though it does require you to do a little backtracking in later levels. Boss fights also require use of a specific Vibe power, though the exact power is spelled out for you before the fight.

After completing the game, additional levels and items open up, nearly doubling the game’s playtime. The new stages are more challenging than the original ones, though the word “challenge” is a relative term since the game isn’t that challenging to begin with.

With the exception of some boss battles, Super Princess Peach is way too easy. Peach has infinite lives and an expandable heart meter, making death a rarity. This becomes near invulnerability when you throw in the Calm vibe, which heals her. The trade-off with using the power is that you’re losing Vibe energy, though this becomes less of an issue since Vibe energy is abundant and easy to acquire. If you do manage to die, there’s no real consequence other than having to restart a level.

Any challenge comes from uncovering the Toads, puzzle pieces and musical notes hidden in levels. Most are in easy to find areas, though others will have you replaying a level more than once trying to find that one secret path.

Peach can run, jump, break blocks – really anything you’d expect from a good Mario game. Peach can also use her magical umbrella, Perry, to perform various other tasks. She can bop enemies, float and even use him as a submarine in sequences reminiscent of Marioland. As if that wasn’t enough, additional moves, like a ground pound or fireballs, can also be purchased in the Toad’s Shop between levels.

Super Princess Peach makes limited use of the DS’s touch capabilities. The bottom screen’s main use is for quickly switching out emotions by pressing one of the four hearts. Touch and voice functions are worked into areas where they make logical sense. I can see some players complaining that the DS’s capabilities weren’t used more. Personally, I would rather smart, limited use rather than the forced functions seen in some DS games.

Anyone looking for the next big Mario game should probably wait for the May release of New Super Mario Brothers. Still, anyone looking for a good, solid 2D platformer to hold them over until then (and can look past the game’s “cute” look) will still enjoy Super Princess Peach.