I have thoroughly enjoyed super smash bros over the years playing with friends and family, but must admit I’ve rarely, or likely never, played as Princess Peach. I was interested in playing with this characters to visualize the new perspective that it would bring, since I often play as either Luigi or Mario.
Firstly, Peach is an unlockable character in the more recent Super Smash Bros games which could be perceived in two different ways. It may represent the creators’ view of Peach as a special character, which is why she must be unlocked and is not readily available on the starting roster, and this can in some ways be viewed in a positively as holding a female character in relatively high regard. On the flip side, all of the default roster characters are male, which may be a result of a long-established bias towards the game being developed for boys. By having to unlock Princess Peach, the game is already making it difficult to play with a female character if that is what the user would like.
While not in my most recent play as Peach, I have noticed that in other versions of Super Mario Bros or Super Smash Bros, whenever the Princess does appear, she is characterized as somewhat of a damsel in distress that Mario, Luigi, or some of the other characters must save. This associates the princess character with stereotypical notions about women who must “rely” on other “masculine” characters in order to reach safety or attain certain goals. Obviously, this limits the self-determination of Peach and also may have negative consequences on girls who may be playing as the character.
With that said, recent versions of Super Smash Bros, including Super Smash Bros Ultimate, provides Princess Peach with more agency and independent in her choices and decisions during gameplay, leaving behind the characterization of being tied to a Mario or Bowser-like character. In this newer version, the Princess character embraces her feminist personality traits by expressing a flirtatious and sassy persona during gameplay, while being more adventurous and open to competition. This is definitely a more positive characterization of Princess Peach that doesn’t treat her as a side-character supporting the more “adventure-ready” characters in the Super Mario Bros roster. More aspects of these types of qualities in the Princess Peach character (along with just adding more female characters on the roster) would allow for more equality in male and female representations in the video game.
Ultimately, by building a more diverse and inclusive roster that allows for more empowering female characters, you are allowing for a greater range of people to enjoy and feel included in the game. You can foster this inclusive environment and community by not necessarily making the female and male characters in the game the same, as they all have unique characteristics that are key to highlight. But those unique personality traits should not compromise the adventure, fun, and challenge-seeking qualities that are essential to the gameplay and that drive players to keep playing the game.
