Princess Peach Zaps Enemies

The June 2023 Nintendo Direct included many exciting announcements, including Pikmin 4, the return of Super Mario RPG, and a new 2D Mario Bros. game in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. However, one small teaser stood out amongst the rest, featuring Princess Peach. The teaser depicted Princess Peach using magic to zap enemies and make flowers bloom, before stepping onto a stone platform and undergoing a magical girl-esque transformation, with the camera panning around her as a pink ribbon twirled around her, with her pink dress beginning to glow a bright white. The teaser ended before showing her final transformation, but fans are already speculating about what the untitled game will be like. 

Many are drawing comparisons to Super Princess Peach, the first (and only) game where Peach appeared as the main protagonist. Some are wondering whether the new game teased for the Switch is a possible sequel, as many fans have been eagerly hoping for a followup game. In the 2005 platformer, Peach wielded her emotions as magical power-ups, using these abilities alongside her magical talking parasol/friend/weapon Perry to battle through 8 worlds to retrieve Mario and Luigi who had been kidnapped by Bowser, freeing captured Toads along the way. While there has been criticism over making emotional outbursts a woman character's superpower, the game was still widely loved for its reversal of the typical Super Mario Bros. plotline, making Mario and Luigi the damsels in distress.

Nothing beyond the details of the teaser have been revealed about the game, but fans are excited to finally have a new Peach solo game for the first time in 17 years. We’ll have to wait to learn more, but the game is scheduled to release in 2024.