Princess Peach Showtime!: all transformations, ranked

Yeehaw! Cowgirl Peach lets you live out your Old West fantasies by granting the titular character a lasso that she can use to pick up items and throw them at enemies. It’s nothing terribly special outside of one creative runaway train level, but she does get the ability to ride wooden horses, and we reckon chasin’ down and wranglin’ foes is a purdy dang good time.

Mermaid Peach is an underwater delight, letting Peach sing to fish to solve a variety of simple, but enjoyable puzzles. Her levels even end in a short rhythm minigame that gives those stages a unique musical identity. While it’s a bit more hands-off than many of the other transformations, the nevertheless creative playstyle makes these segments a joy.

Martial arts has never gone out of style, and Princess Peach nails the vibe with this butt-kicking transformation. This one provides nimble movement and the ability to dish out the hurt with a flurry of kicks, making for some action-packed showdowns. Its the weakest of Peach’s combat-focused forms, especially due to some button-timing fights, but this form gets extra points for letting Peach swing around a pole and kick a dozen enemies at once.

Who would have ever thought figure skating could be turned into an attack method? That’s exactly what happens with the Figure Skater Peach transformation, though, as it lets the princess spin to defeat foes while gliding around the ice avoiding obstacles. And it’s a much better time than you’d imagine. Some levels even have Peach performing full ice routines, jumping and spinning at the right time to nab some extra collectibles. Even if its not the most complex gameplay twist, we love the fluid feeling of gliding around on ice.

Working with pastries turns out to be one of the most fun parts of Peach’s adventure. Patissiere Peach offers a unique gameplay challenge as she’s tasked with everything from making cookies to using a pastry bag to decorate cakes. Her levels almost play like Mario Party minigames, with Peach decorating her baked goods in clever minigames. Now if we could only try a bite!

Look, there’s just no denying that Swordfighter Peach is among the most marvelous-looking of her transformations. But not only is her cavalier uniform a sleek getup, but she also gets to mess enemies up with her rapier by using swift slashes and devastating counterattacks. There’s nothing more satisfying in Showtime than hopping over a sprinting enemy in slow motion and poking it in the back. En garde!

Who doesn’t like ninjas? Ninja Peach ranks among the most thrilling of her various transformations, as it grants her the ability to conceal herself, jump along walls, and use kunai to take down baddies (silent but deadly!). This power comes with some of Showtime‘s best visual touches too. When she hides in grass patches, Peach will hold up two cardboard twigs to conceal herself. Now that’s resourceful thinking!

Mighty Peach takes obvious aesthetic inspiration from Metroid, and it provides Peach with superhuman strength that lets her lift massive objects Hulk-style to throw at any enemy that stands in her way. Beating down baddies with this transformation is some of the most fun you can have in Princess Peach: Showtime!

Dashing Thief Peach gives the princess her most intriguing aesthetic in an old-school thief outfit. As she sticks to the shadows and uses a grappling hook to move rapidly across rooftops and beyond, it quickly becomes clear that Peach is having fun being a sneaky nightcrawler. It’s equally fun for the player — so much so that we think it’s worthy of the top spot.