It is the first game to feature Princess Peach as the main playable character. In the game, Bowser has kidnapped Mario, Luigi and Toad instead of Peach and holds them prisoner at Vibe Island. Peach must go through eight worlds at Vibe to rescue them.

Super Princess Peach was praised for the role reversal in the plot, but criticized for the nature of how Peach attacked, the marketing campaign, and the simple gameplay. It sold over a million copies worldwide.

According to the instruction booklet and in-game introduction, Vibe Island (a land adjacent to the Mushroom Kingdom) has been rumored to hold hidden powers. Bowser builds his summer villa there in hopes of harnessing the rumored power. His efforts are rewarded when one of his underlings finds the Vibe Scepter. He sends a Goomba and an army of Hammer Brothers to Princess Peach's castle to capture Mario. The Vibe Scepter changes the emotions of those around them – they will become calm, happy, angry or sad. While all of the Toad servants are distracted, the Hammer Brothers seize Mario, Luigi and Toad. Shortly after the capture, Princess Peach, Toadsworth, and another Toad come back to the castle to find them gone. Toadsworth attempts to convince Peach to not go after them, but relents and gives her Perry, a talking parasol that has magical powers.

Perry's backstory is revealed through in-game flashback sequences. He remembers his origins as a young boy who had mysterious powers and was adopted by an old man he came to call "Grandpa". He was changed into an umbrella and kidnapped by a wizard and his henchman, but managed to secretly escape by wiggling free from his captors and falling on the road. Sometime later, a traveling merchant found him and sold him to Toadsworth.

In the game, Peach and Perry battle through eight worlds, rescuing Toads along the way. They rescue Luigi from the evil wizard Kamek and later Mario at Bowser's Villa. Peach and Perry then confront Bowser, who uses the Vibe Scepter to grow enormously. Peach prevails and Mario is saved.

Super Princess Peach 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 Bowser'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 down on the umbrella, and the player taps the screen to scare away Boos. If the Boos touch her, the player must start over. After the player has finished the minigame, the player does not need to replay it to attempt to battle the boss again.

Within the levels themselves, there are a number of boxes that will give specific gameplay hints. Three Toads are hidden throughout each level; the boss levels have one Toad to rescue (except World 7's boss where Luigi is captive, and World 8's boss where Mario is held hostage) contained in a bubble.(Mario was contained in a cage.) Each world has 16 Toads to rescue. In order to play the final boss battle, the player must rescue all of the Toads.

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 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 powers she has. The emotions at Vibe Island affect everybody, even some enemies, but Peach can change her emotions at will.