Princess Peach: Showtime! has just launched on Switch, and the credits have thrown up a surprising fact – the game marks the directorial return of Etsunobu Ebisu, who last fulfilled that particular role on 1997's Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (thanks, Tokyo Game Life).
Ebisu started his career as a programmer at Konami, working on games such as The Adventures of Bayou Billy, Kid Dracula and Batman Returns.
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon was his first game as a director, after which he then served as a producer on titles such as Castlevania, Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Konami Krazy Racers.
In 2005, he left the company and co-founded Good-Feel along with other ex-Konami staffers; he currently serves as the company president. Good-Feel has worked closely with Nintendo since then, producing titles such as Wario Land: Shake It!, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Wii Play: Motion and Yoshi's Woolly World.
Ebisu has acted as producer on all of these titles, as well as many more – but with Princess Peach: Showtime! he has finally stepped back into the director's seat, as well as assuming his usual role as producer.
"Princess Peach: Showtime! sees Nintendo finally give everyone's favourite imaginary princess the rollicking adventure she deserves," said our friends over at Nintendo Life in an 8/10 review. "There's creativity, style, and fun to spare here, with levels packed full of secrets, cool outfits, and enough new mechanics to ensure nothing ever outstays its welcome. Come for the fashion, stay for the boss battles, slo-mo bullet dodges, and cardboard horse chases. Besides a few niggling performance issues, this is Nintendo on rather cracking form. Encore!"