Super Princess Peach

Super Princess Peach (Japanese: スーパープリンセスピーチ) is a Mario series Nintendo DS platformer game produced by TOSE and Nintendo that was released in Japan in October 2005. As is true with the majority of games developed by TOSE, TOSE are not directly accredited as developers in the game.

In 2006 the game was localized overseas for North America, Australasia and Europe with added support for the Nintendo DS Rumble Pak.

The game has various similarities and references to The Legendary Starfy series, most explicitly the inclusion of a 'Starfish' enemy resembling Starfy wearing sunglasses.

There are a number of shared staff between Super Princess Peach and past The Legendary Starfy games, including Akio Imai and Azusa Tajima who are the directors of Densetsu no Starfy 2 and Densetsu no Starfy 3.

Gameplay

Super Princess Peach is the first official adventure game in the Mario series starring Princess Peach as the primary protagonist. Princess Peach sets off to rescue Mario and others with the help of a magical umbrella called Perry and her emotions (referred to as 'vibes'). Various enemies on Vibe Island are affected by different vibes.

As Princess Peach, the player can touch one of four heart panels corresponding to the vibes 'Rage', 'Gloom', 'Calm' and 'Joy' for special powers provided that there is enough charge in the Vibe Gauge. These powers are often required to advance through a level. The Vibe Gauge can be replenished by absorbing enemies into Perry and collecting blue crystals. At the end of every stage is a boss level requiring Princess Peach to perform one of her vibes. At the end of each boss battle, Perry recalls an important part of his history.

Plot

Super Princess Peach is set on the mysterious Vibe Island. Vibe Island is a place that is a not far from the Mushroom Kingdom and is said to hold "great power". Found on the island is an item known as the legendary Vibe Scepter that is the source of much power. Bowser heard about the island and built a summer villa there intending to find the Scepter and take control of its powers.

Some time later, Bowser was sitting in his villa while the elite Army Hammer Bro. arrived to tell Bowser 'they' [presumably Bowser's minions] had found the scepter. He exclaimed loudly that they would finally have revenge on Mario and "his annoying pals" but the Army Hammer Bro. had left the door open, so Bowser appears to ask a Goomba and a green Koopa Troopa to close the door. The player must then shut the door using the touch screen, and Bowser laughs about showing Mario and others "who's boss".

The Army Hammer Bro. then asks the Goomba to take the scepter into the Mushroom Kingdom and wave it into the air, believing that a Goomba will go unnoticed. He tracks through the Goomba with the 'Koopa Shellceiver', and the player must indicate when the Goomba arrives at Princess Peach's Castle using the microphone. Afterwards, the Army Hammer Bro. calls many Hammer Bros. to charge into the castle. Mario, Luigi and a Toad are successfully captured and imprisoned by the Hammer Bros. so the Army Hammer Bro. returns to Bowser's Villa to tell Bowser about this news, to the delight of Bowser.

Bowser remarks that the scepter is stronger than he thought and wonders about the true powers of the scepter. Shortly later, the Goomba returns to the villa and the Army Hammer Bro. asks the Goomba to come with him and bring the scepter. The Goomba waves the Scepter back and forth, revealing that it has the power of changing the emotions of others. The sceptre changes the vibes of Bowser and other minions present, making them feel angry, sad, joyous and calm.

At that moment, Princess Peach, Toadsworth and two Toads return from their walk and sense that something is wrong. Various Toads are running back and forth in horror after Bowser left a letter noting that he captured Mario. The two Toads and Toadsworth worry what to do, and Toadsworth asserts that it's 'up to us' to rescue Mario. Princess Peach then runs away from the castle to the dismay of Toadsworth, and Toadsworth orders the two Toads to calm the others down before someone gets injured.

Toadsworth runs back to Princess Peach and orders her to come back to the castle, suggesting that it's dangerous for her to move out alone. Princess Peach replies that she must save Mario this time. Toadsworth accepts this, but insists that she brings the magical umbrella, Perry with her. Toadsworth had recently found Perry at a shop and believes he will come in handy in Peach's adventure. Perry replies that he can help her with beating enemies and that he knows everything about the island.

Similarities and References to The Legendary Starfy series

This section is a list of similarities and references to The Legendary Starfy series in Super Princess Peach.

Shared Staff

• TOSE employee Akio Imai and Nintendo employee Azusa Tajima are both directors of Super Princess Peach. Akio Imai is credited for the conception of Densetsu no Starfy. Both Akio Imai and Azusa Tajima worked together as directors of Densetsu no Starfy 2 and Densetsu no Starfy 3. Azusa Tajima was also an assistant director of Densetsu no Starfy, and the sole director of Densetsu no Starfy 4.

• TOSE employee Yasuhiro Minamimoto and Nintendo employee Hitoshi Yamagami are both producers of Super Princess Peach. Both Yasuhiro Miniamimoto and Hitoshi Yamagami are credited as directors of the original Densetsu no Starfy, and they have since worked together as producers of all The Legendary Starfy series games.

• TOSE employee Shin Kondo is credited as a global producer of Super Princess Peach. He has played a role in the production of the first three Starfy games, and as one of the producers of the original Densetsu no Starfy.

Starfish

Sprite of the Starfish

The "Starfish" is an enemy that has a small chance of appearing in one location in Hoo's Wood (Stage 2-5), Wavy Beach (Stage 5-5) and Gleam Glacier (Stage 6-4).

Perry Blocks are placed nearby where it appears which describe it as a "very odd enemy" shaped like a '☆' that has been 'spotted all over'.

Its sprite closely resembles Starfy wearing sunglasses. This may be relevant to The Legendary Starfy series, where Starfy has a hobby of collecting sunglasses and is seen wearing sunglasses on a number of occasions, such as the post-game title screens of all five games.

In order to register "Starfish" in the glossary, Peach must attack it once in all three locations in order to defeat it. If Princess Peach fails to attack it, there is a chance of seeing it again in the same location. The player can't return to the same location more than once to register the Starfish, as the Starfish won't appear again once attacked in that area.

Behavior

The 'Starfish' acts in similar ways to Starfy from The Legendary Starfy series.

• In Hoo's Wood, the Starfish can be found swimming back and forth in the water. It uses an attack similar to Turbo Swim ability to fly up into the air. Peach must attack it while it is flying.

• In Wavy Beach, the Starfish can be found sleeping on a blue pillow. This behavior happens in The Legendary Starfy series when input for Starfy or Starly is left inactive for a short while. The sprite is similar used in Densetsu no Starfy 4, but with the omission of Mattel on the pillow.

• In Gleaming Glacier, the Starfish can be found standing on top of a slippery ledge. When approached by Peach, it will dash to the ledge in the same way as Starfy and Starly in The Legendary Starfy series. If Peach fails to defeat it, then it will escape by ducking through a gap in the wall.