Spoiler Alert for those who haven’t played the game yet.
Super Mario Odyssey was released in 2017 to rave reviews and was hailed as a breath of fresh air from a series that had been losing some of its shine with its recent entries. It was not only a return to the open-world exploration of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, but also brought a sense of innovation that Mario needed desperately It is not that the Mario games were becoming bad, but rather were starting to fall into a rut.
When it came to new concepts, Cappy was a great addition to the cast of characters and the ability to possess almost anything opened up so many new gameplay options. Their seemed to be no limit to what players could do, and the controls were some of the finest in the series. It was a game of the year contender for good reason and is held by many to be the best game released in the series so far.
Fans want a sequel very much and, but there is something that is wanted also. Princess Peach has long been a character who needs to be rescued in the main series games, but who has been shown to be a powerful fighter in her own right in spinoffs like RPGs, racing games and her own game Super Princess Peach. Add to that, the princess was shown to be working with Cappy’s sister, Tiara, at the end of Odyssey and going on her own adventures.
Given this setup, it seems almost perfect to have Princess Peach be playable in a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey. While Luigi is traditionally the player 2 for Mario games, it would be a nice change to have the princess herself going on adventures with Mario in the mainline games. She could also possess objects to possess like Mario, thanks to Tiara, and could work alongside him.
The developers could even incorporate ideas from Super Mario 2 or other games and have Peach play a bit differently from Mario to set them apart and encourage players to try both characters. Players could be given a choice of who to play as or could play as both in co-op mode and have fun together that way. There is always room for more female heroes in gaming, and Peach getting a chance to show what she can do would be a welcome addition.