For my critical play, I chose to play Super Smash Bros as Peach. Super Smash Bros, created by Masahiro Sakurai on Nintendo, is geared towards players 6 and up, making it a fun an inclusive game for everyone from tweens to adults. The game brings together a roster of characters from various Nintendo franchises for PvP style fights in which each character’s unique attributes and backstories are translated into the punches, combos, and powerups they throw as you attempt to defeat your opponent.
I found Peach a particularly interesting character to analyze through a feminist lens since she has traditionally been the subject for much criticism given her roots as Mario’s “damsel in distress” and extremely traditionally feminine appearance and mannerisms. Thus, considering Peach as a character who challenges traditional gender norms was a novel perspective to take, and one that gave me the opportunity to critique and analyze how femininity is represented in video games.
While the game makes strides in presenting Peach as a powerful female character, it still falls short in fully embracing feminist theories and could benefit from a deeper integration of feminist perspectives. Super Smash Bros seems to make genuine attempts at balancing Peach’s feminity with power and grace, but effort should be put towards revamping her backstory, or rewriting her as a standalone character from Mario.
Princess Peach’s character design is steeped in traditional femininity: she wears a pink dress, uses hearts and “soft” actions, and embodies a non-aggressive, elegant fighting style. Her distinctive power is her ability to float, allowing her to execute powerful combos in a graceful manner. When Peach floats, she is not just avoiding attacks; she is positioning herself to unleash powerful combos from a vantage point that other characters cannot easily achieve. This ability aligns with a more traditionally feminine approach to combat, emphasizing agility and grace. It challenges the notion that power in games must be expressed through physical dominance, offering a different narrative where elegance and strategy are equally formidable.
At the end of the day, it’s a lot of fun to watch a feminine character embrace her femininity while also beating up on massive gorillas and other scary, aggressive male characters from the Nintendo Universe. Thus, there’s definitely an implicit power in Peach remaining extremely feminine. This combination of power and elegance presents a compelling image of femininity that is both strong and traditionally feminine.
Despite these positive aspects, there are notable critiques. Firstly, the premise of Peach’s character, originating from the “Super Mario” series, positions her as a damsel in distress, reinforcing the trope that women need rescuing by male heroes. While “Super Smash Bros.” allows her to fight and win against male characters, this backstory cannot be entirely ignored. Moreover, her victory animations and mannerisms, such as emoting hearts, can be seen as reinforcing stereotypical gender roles by emphasizing her “softness” even in victory. This contrasts sharply with the more aggressive and traditionally masculine animations of her male counterparts.
Princess Peach using her “floating” abilities.
However, Super Smash Bros does far better than other popular fighting games such as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. While other games often present female characters in hyper-sexualized or overly aggressive manners, “Super Smash Bros.” offers a more nuanced representation through Peach and other female-identifying characters. However, this nuance may sometimes border on reinforcing traditional gender stereotypes rather than challenging them.
From a feminist theoretical perspective, as discussed in Shira Chess’s “Play Like a Feminist,” games have the potential to either reinforce or challenge societal norms about gender. Chess argues for the importance of creating and playing games that promote feminist ideals and provide diverse representations of women. In this context, Super Smash Bros makes a partial effort through Princess Peach by making her an incredibly powerful character that also embraces her femininity. However, the game falls short of fully embracing feminist principles and entirely challenging societal norms about gender. The overly feminine actions like winking, blowing kisses, and sending hearts could be seen as slightly demeaning to female gamers, as their character never truly revels in their victory, a luxury that is only afforded to their male counterparts.
Integrating feminist perspectives more deeply into the game could involve reimagining Peach’s backstory to eliminate the damsel in distress trope and providing her with animations and moves that emphasize her strength without relying on traditional gender norms. Additionally, including more diverse female characters with varied expressions of femininity and strength could further enhance the game’s feminist credentials.
In class, I’d love to continue this discussion with this question: How can game designers balance the portrayal of traditionally feminine traits with feminist principles that challenge gender stereotypes? Is it more feminine to show Peach as an extremely feminine character who is still powerful, rather than changing her aesthetic? What are some examples of games that successfully achieve this balance?
