While surfing the internet the other day, I randomly came across this game that I had never heard of before called Super Princess Peach. This game reversed the usual premise of the Super Mario games by putting the player in control of Princess Peach on a mission to rescue Mario and Luigi from Bowser. This is interesting because it shows that Nintendo has become aware of how it portrayed gender roles in the Super Mario titles. I think its a sign that the industry in general is becoming more mindful of how it depicts female characters. However, there were some iffy game design choices. Though positively accepted overall, the game was widely criticized for being extremely easy. I can't help but think that Nintendo may have done this because they were aiming at a younger female target audience. Also, Princess Peach's four main powers, that she can trigger at will, were centered around the emotions of rage, calm, joy, and gloom. Some reviews questioned if it was sexist that Peach defeats her enemies by using wildly fluctuating emotions. And it gets worse. Peach uses her gloom power to basically drown her enemies in her giant tear fountain. One step forward, two steps backs.
