Peaches debut isn't a bad one, but some might not enjoy it as much as they might think.
The game basically is your Mario platformer from the 16-bit era with the DS touch added to it and some mini-games thrown in the mix. The primary alure to this game is for those Mario fans who really enjoy playing Mario games, and it's not a difficult game so young and old alike can enjoy it.
Princess Peach is the heroine this time around and finally get's to save Mario, Luigi, and Toad for a change. She does this by using her umbrella as a weapon and utility device, in additon to letting her emotions flare. She can go from her normal state to very happy (allowing her to fly aka Wind Power), very sad (making her cry rampantly and running about very quickly), get extremely mad (surround herself with fire and stomping very hard on the ground), or becoming passive (healing herself with a regen ability). Some people may see this as an asscociation with the female anatomy and may think it's rather sexist in some ways, but even though that might seem the case it's all just in good fun.
The game is very easy as far as challenge goes and it's going to seem like a real cake walk compared to other Mario games. There are some fun mini game which are also pretty easy that some might enjoy.
The touchscreen in Princess Peach is used to change her emotions and used for mini games. The gamplay with the emotion change is best played by just tapping the screen with your thumb since it's really inconvienient to keep your stylus out for it and having to use platformer controls at the same time, biggest downside here is that you may be cleaning yoru DS screen failry often to get rid of the fingerprints. The concept is nice however because it lends to other possbilites for other games using the touchscreen in the same way for other control options.
Since the game is easy, it's also pretty short, but there are some decent replay options after you beat the game that might make you want to come back and play it. With this games game play scheme, it could have been much more difficult if Nintendo wanted it to be and been every bit as challenging is not moreso than some of the previous Mario titles, however Nintendo probably made a good choice for this game because they know their audiance pretty well and a lot of the gamers out there playing Nintendos game don't always want a tough game or something overly complex. While this next statement may sound sexist to some, it's not intended that way and it's true. There aren't nearly as many female gamers (in the US) as there are males, but they are on the rise quickly because there are games out there now that are more alluring to female audiances that aren't just about competition or extreme challenge. Personally I grew up with many female gamers, but they were still far outnumbered by male gamers and Nintendo realizes that there are many females out there who would play games if there were things for them to play and this title (while not specifically aimed at females) is a title that will find it's way in many DS's owned by the female gaming audiance, some of which just want to play a fun game and not something as daunting as Unreal, Devil May Cry, or other similar titles on other platforms. Nintendo is about making games fun for family and a broad audiance, and this is a great step on their part.
The implementation of the new Rumble Pack is also a nice feature since it can be a very sublt but helpful tool in the game. It will let you know when you're running low on health if you don't catch the low health sound, and is active during her emotional abilitiies and is a great cue when you're out of magic.
The nice thing about this about this game is that it's one of those games that nice to play if you've had a hard day and just want to sit down and play something simple that's not going to challenge you too much, just nice and relaxing, and hey, it's Peaches first solo same!