I love Super Princess Peach. There, I said it.

The game is a refreshing entry into the Mario series and every time I play it, I love it more and more. I’ll admit, I had my reservations as first. It started with the packaging, which is very fitting for a princess, but not so appealing to a 21-year-old male gamer. The first thing that struck me about Super Princess Peach was that there didn’t seem to be any limits to the her powers. Peach didn’t have to “earn” her emotional powers like most games, they were simply sitting on the bottom screen, a touch away. These powers are used mainly for environmental puzzles and boss fights, but are still great addition to the classic “Super Mario” platforming formula.

That’s another great thing about the game, despite all the window dressing and the change in hero(ine)… this is classic Mario platforming, nothing more, nothing less. Don’t be fooled by claims that the game is too “easy”, it’s just as “hard” as Super Mario World or Yoshi’s Island was… which is to say just right.

The game shares more than a universe and gameplay style with the Mario series… it also shares its humor. The game is not as outwardly funny as the Mario & Luigi series, but if you look at the big picture, you cannot help but grin at the irony inherent in the game. You’re controlling Princess Peach, a princess who has been captured by the same villain in the same way an almost infinite amount of times. Yet, somehow, she is a more capable hero than Mario himself.

Where Mario needs mushrooms and external power-ups to survive multiple hits, Princess just uses her own emotional powers to heal herself and defeat her enemies. Where Mario wouldn’t even think about touching a Piranha Plant, Princess swats down them down with ease. These aren’t “normal” enemies either… Peach is not swayed by happy Koopas, is fearless in the face of angry goombas, and unsympathetic to the plight of crying bloopers. Sure… Mario can stomp on an enemy, but the Princess can use ALL enemies as projectiles, absorb their energy to power her emotions, and get coins from them. She can use her umbrella as a boat, a sub, a hovering device, and god knows what else. Unlike Mario, who only rescues a Yoshi or Toad once in a while, Peach rescues THREE Toads each level. The woman even has a slide kick. A SLIDE KICK… like a ninja but in a big frilly dress. Feminist complaints be damned, from my view Mario is the weakling compared to Peach.

Of course, Nintendo does it all with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. And that is perhaps one of my favorite things about the game. It never takes itself seriously. The designers knew they were making a side-story of sorts, so it’s all very unpretentious and just plain fun. So suck it up, let go of your ego, have no shame and pick this game up… it’s great, classic Nintendo platforming goodness (in heels).