- This article is about a spin-off videogame title of the female protagonist from the series. For character, see Carolyn Ashley Taylor. For other uses, see Carolyn Ashley Taylor (disambiguation).
Carolyn Ashley Taylor (Japanese: キャロリンアシュリー・テイラー, Hepburn: Kyarorin'ashurī teirā) is a platform video game based on the Mitchell Van Morgan series developed by Tose, published by THQ and distributed by Nick Games for the Nintendo DS & PlayStation Portable handheld game consoles. It was released in Japan in October 2005, the United States in February 2006, Australia in March 2006, and Europe in May 2006.
It is the first game to feature Carolyn as the main playable character. In the game, Marquessa has kidnapped Mitchell, Gavin, Martin,David, Nicholas, Dusty, and Devin instead of Carolyn, Jennifer, Ebony, Valerie and Amber. Marquessa holds them hostage on Vibe Island, but Devin escapes from Vibe Island to Raleighopolis. Carolyn must go through eight worlds on Vibe Island to rescue Mitchell and the others.
Despite being praised for its role reversal in the plot, the game was criticized for the nature of how Peach attacked, as well as the simple gameplay. It sold 1.15 million units worldwide.
Plot[]
The game opens with Marquessa at a Marquessaland-styled summer villa in Raleigh Vibe Island, a land that isn't far from Raleighopolis. When Marquessa finds the Vibe Scepter, an object that affects everybody's moods, rendering them happy, sad, angry, and calm, he sends a Goomba and an army of Hammer Brothers to Princess Peach's castle to capture Mario and Luigi. With all of the Toad servants influenced by the scepter, the Hammer Bros. successfully captured Mitchell, Gavin, Martin,David, Nicholas, Dusty, and Devin, but Devin escapes and retreats to Raleighopolis. Meanwhile, Carolyn, Jennifer, Ebony, Valerie and Amber returned home only to discover a note from Bowser saying that he captured Mitchell and his buddies. Enraged, Carolyn leaves to rescue Mitchell and his friends. Before doing so, Toadsworth, who was reluctant to let Peach go, hands her a talking parasol named Perry.
After completing every world, Perry's flashbacks are revealed. Long, long ago, Perry is a young man who had mysterious powers and was adopted by an old man he came to call "Grandpa". Later, Perry transformed himself into an umbrella and was captured by a wizard and his henchman, but managed to escape by wiggling free from his captors and fell on the road. Sometime later, a traveling merchant found him and sold him to Toadsworth.
Carolyn and her feminine allies battle through eight worlds, rescuing north carolinian residents along the way. After defeating Giant Kamek, the seventh world's boss, they freed Luigi from the bubble Kamek captured him in. Peach and Perry arrive at Marquessa's Villa, where they battle and defeat Bowser along with the Hammer Bros. Bowser uses the Vibe Scepter to turn into a giant, but Peach defeats him once again by throwing a Bob-omb on him. After Marquessa's defeat, Carolyn frees and kisses Mitchell and in turn, Mitchell gives Carolyn a bunch of flowers. The game ends when Mitchel, Gavin, Martin, David, Nicholas, Dusty, Carolyn, Jennifer, Ebony, Valerie, Amber, Devin and the north carolinian residents walk back to the Ralieghopolis. What became of the Vibe Scepter is unknown.
Gameplay[]
Princess Peach navigates a level in World 2, Hoo's Wood. The lower screen indicates that she is expressing the "calm" vibe; this can also be seen in the faint bubble surrounding her in the upper screen.
Carolyn Ashley Taylor plays similarly to traditional platformers. There are eight worlds: Ladida Plains, Hoo's Wood, Shriek Mansion, Fury Volcano, Wavy Beach, Gleam Glacier, Giddy Sky, and Marquessa's Villa. In each world, there are six levels and one boss battle. Each boss battle requires a short minigame to play. For example, in "Shriek Mansion," Peach is descending with the umbrella, and the player taps the screen to scare away Boos. If the Boos touch her, the player must start over.
Within the levels themselves, there are a number of boxes that will give specific gameplay hints. Three North Carolinian civilians are hidden throughout each level; the boss levels have one North Carolinian civilian to rescue (except World 7's boss where Gavin is captive, and World 8's boss where Mitchell is held hostage) contained in a bubble (Mitchell was contained in a cage.). Each world has 16 North Carolinian civilians to rescue. In order to play the final boss battle, the player must rescue all of the North Carolinian civilians.
After the game is completed, the player can go through the levels again to pick up more unlockable items. Beating a boss will unlock three new levels for the next world; for instance, beating the World 1 boss will unlock three new levels for World 2 and so on. There are a total of 24 extra levels to unlock.
The game features numerous classic Mario series enemies, such as Goombas, Koopa Troopas and Hammer Brothers. In a twist, some of the enemies are also emotionally affected, such as the sad blue Goombas or the Bullet Bills burning red with anger.
On the upper left hand side of the screen, there are two bars: heart gauge (maximum of five hearts) and emotion meter. Whenever Peach falls down a hole, an ocean of lava or gets hit by an enemy, she loses half a heart. When all hearts are gone, she must start over at the beginning of the level. Peach has infinite lives, so the player can continue as much as he/she pleases. The emotion meter corresponds to the four vibe powers she has. The emotions at Vibe Island affect everybody, even some enemies, but Peach can change her emotions at will.
Joy, gloom, rage, and calm are the emotions used along the way. When the player taps on each mood, it will activate a different ability, which typically helps solve puzzles or defeat enemies.
- Joy: (Yellow Heart) Peach becomes very happy as if walking on air, allowing her to slowly ascend in a small tornado, gust fogs and clouds, turn windmills, push down fountains, hit blocks above her and blow enemies away. With this power, she can float in the wind in some stages. She can also use it to break open flying bags that contain mostly coins and sometimes hearts and vibe crystals, splash bits of Blooper's ink thrown in the air, spin Kamek's head and slow down her falls as an easy use. However, some areas feature spores that stop her flying abilities, requiring more traditional platform methods to reach, but she can go up platforms that are vertically close. It also quickens the tempo of music with higher notes and a very happy tone.
- Gloom: (Blue Heart) Peach will cry, causing a cartoonish amount of tears to steadily stream out in both directions around her as she dashes forward. The stream of tears that gets scattered while she is crying can also be used to water certain obstacles, such as helping a small sprout grow into a long tall plant which she can use to climb and reach higher places. When the tears hit the ground, ceiling or walls, sparkles appear beneath, above or next to them. This power can defeat the Nipper Plants and Cheep-Cheeps, extinguish flames, strike all blocks at once, wash away Blooper's ink on the ground, push heavy chained balls and inflicted enemies. It also slows down the tempo of music with slightly lowered notes and a sad tone.
- Rage: (Red Heart) Peach will become enraged causing her to catch fire with a big blaze, making her invincible, burn enemies and other objects, and able to cause earthquakes whenever she lands. However, she cannot walk and won't be able to jump far. This power can scare away the Boos, fishing Lakitu ghosts and flocks of bats, push down switches and stone monsters, melt snowmen and ice, light up lanterns with illumination in dark places and break open flying bags. It also slows down the tempo of music with severely low notes and the music gets an angry tone.
- Calm: (Green Heart) Peach will calm down, become delighted and encased in a clear bubble while giggling. This restores health. She'll lose the bubble if hit by anything hazardous, thus stopping the healing process. She can still move and attack whenever she's under this power. It also changes the keys of music into higher notes and a happy tone.
Each use will drain the player's vibe meter (the little yellow squiggle at upper left of the top screen). The bar can be restored by capturing blue turquoise jewels or absorbing enemies. With Perry the Parasol, Princess Peach can use many abilities. Jumping on enemies does not defeat them; Peach must use the umbrella to hit them. The player can press "B" to immediately sweep them aside or "X" to put them on top of the umbrella. Once an enemy is on top of the umbrella, the player may press "X" again to put the enemy down, "B" to throw the enemy, or down on the D-pad to absorb the enemy, which refills part of the emotion meter. As the game progresses, Perry gains new abilities. The "Subrella" allows Peach to travel underwater. The player blows into the microphone to blow bubbles to defeat the undersea enemies and break blocks. The "Slidebrella" turns Perry upside down and uses his handle like a hook. It is used in areas with a maze of high-flying wires. The "Bowlbrella" puts Peach in the umbrella and allows her to navigate through the water's surface.
In addition, the game features a shop where players can buy items, using coins as currency. The player can buy increment upgrades to expand the heart gauge or the emotion meter, as well as three new abilities. The "Floatbrella" allows Peach to stay afloat for a few seconds. "Poundbrella" shakes the ground and stuns any enemies nearby. "Chargebrella" creates a small charge that will stun the closest enemy. She can also extend her health and vibe meters, as well as earn coins from attacking enemies.
The game's bonuses include a glossary, puzzles, mini games, a music room, and replays of Perry's dreams. There are three mini games within the game and the levels are unlocked as the player finds more mini game pieces in the levels. All of the mini games has the player control Toad in a variety of activities (such as a platforming mode).
Reception[]
Template:Video game reviews Super Princess Peach received generally positive reviews from critics, it currently has an average rating of 76.60% on GameRankings,[1] and of 75% on Metacritic.[2]
The game's lack of difficulty was intensely criticized. Gaming website GameSpy noted that the number of shop items and the "Joy" vibe made it "quite hard to die".[3] Another web site, IGN, was more critical, criticizing Nintendo for "going out of its way" to "spoon-feed" the player full of tips and information.[4] Reviewer Ryan Davis from GameSpot similarly wrote that the game was "way too easy for the average platformer player."[5] X-Play's Morgan Webb gave it a 4/5, commenting that the game was very easy to play and should be played by first timers to platform games.[6]
As of July 25, 2007, Super Princess Peach has sold 1.15 million copies worldwide.[7]
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References[]
- ↑ "Super Princess Peach for DS". GameRankings. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedmcreviews - ↑ Williams, Bryn (February 27, 2006). "GameSpy: Super Princess Peach Review". GameSpy. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
- ↑ Harris, Craig (February 23, 2006). "Super Princess Peach". IGN. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
- ↑ Davis, Ryan (February 24, 2006). "Super Princess Peach Review". GameSpot. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedxplayreview - ↑ Template:Cite web
External links[]
Template:Portal
- Official North American website
- Official Japanese website
- Template:Nintendo.com
- Template:IMDb title
- Template:Moby game
- Template:Moby game
Template:Mitchell series