Based on what I’ve played, Princess Peach: Showtime is wholly its own thing, decoupled from the traditional Mario game entirely, and throughout my time with it I found myself really impressed with how different and special each stage looked and felt. More importantly, I didn’t find myself asking questions like “where is Mario?” or “when is Bowser going to show up?” because I didn’t need them to be there for this game to work despite Peach being inextricably connected to those characters for decades. I’m excited to see the rest of her unique transformations, or if some of my favorites like Swordfighter and Ninja Peach will get additional levels. Or, uh, second acts. Pun intended.