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Peach To The Rescue - DS

11th November 2005, 5:14pm
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 Bowser's up to no good again, but this time it's Peach to the rescue. After so many failed attempts, he's finally gotten wise and kidnapped Mario, figuring that since he's the guy who normally does the rescuing, no one will be around to rescue him. He's in for a big surprise, though, because Peach is armed (with a parasol) and dangerous.

Besides whacking Bowser's minions with her parasol, Peach can channel emotional vibes into special abilities: floating through the air when she's happy, burning through bridges when she's mad or making vegetation grow with her tears. Players join the princess as she runs, jumps, floats and fights her way through eight worlds to where Mario's being held.

After Bowser gets hold of something called a magical Vibe Wand, he kidnaps Mario and Luigi and heads back to his castle on Vibe Island with an emotional troop of minions in tow. Intent on rescuing the Mario Bros., Peach gives chase, only to find herself affected by the emotional vibes given off by the island. Using these newfound vibes to channel special abilities, she sets off to rescue Mario and Luigi. Of course, these area and items names aren't finalised yet.

Players play through eight areas, each composed of several stages and a boss, as they search out imprisoned Toads and collect coins. While running and jumping through stages, players must use Peach's vibes to break through impediments, conquer impossibly high cliffs and defeat enemies. To build up Peach's vibe powers, players collect gems or pick up enemies with her magic parasol and absorb them.

Peach can run, jump and slide, not to mention use her parasol to whack things, pick items up and even float across water. Besides that, she has four vibes that give her special abilities. First is joy, where Peach whirls about like a cyclone, creating air currents that will spin windmills, clear away enemies or even lift her high into the air. Next up is rage, with which Peach can catch fire to burn enemies and wood impediments.

When things get down, Peach has gloom at her disposal. With the vibe, Peach weeps and runs incredibly fast, during which time she's invincible. Her tears can cause plants to grow, among other things. Lastly, there's calm: Peach becomes invincible and slowly regains health.

This has caused a storm in Japan. With this, and New Super Mario Bros. on the way, Nintendo is returning (successfully) to its old-school roots.
by Nick Schaedel » Author's Blog