Paper Mario: Color Splash

 Wii U
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 475 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 291 out of 475
  2. Mixed: 84 out of 475
  3. Negative: 100 out of 475
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  1. Fireriku546
    Oct 7, 2016
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let me be clear here, this is not "mindless bashing" on a game that isn't Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64 or Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Gamecube. This is telling it like it is.

    Paper Mario: Color Splash is an improvement over Paper Mario: Sticker Star in many ways, for one you can actually level up your character's paint meter and progression is good to have in an RPG. The game is also still the turned based battles that we've been seeing for 4/5 games of the series, so at least it feels like a Paper Mario game in that sense.

    However then we go into the flaws, first off the character development for Toad is nice; however seeing him over and over again or shy guys over and over again just gets really redundant and makes the character development for Toad and Shy Guy null and void, especially considering Nintendo is just going to forget about it in the next game anyways. Also Peach gets "color drained" only to be immediately brought back to life and Huey leaves Mario and his friends behind in a scene that really isn't that impactful considering we only got one game to see him develop and he didn't develop all that much anyways.

    But enough about story, despite the fact that the original Paper Mario game was called "Mario Story" in Japan that isn't the main concern of someone who would play a Mario game. Gameplay consists of going around the world looking for Big Paint Stars and you don't really need to battle anyone but the bosses to really get most of them. Add this to the fact that "thing cards" are the only reasonable way to defeat the bosses without battling them futilely for hours on end and something still feels off about this game that could easily be fixed. Just have the thing cards for casual players who struggle with the boss fight but allow hardcore players to use strategy and wit to defeat the bosses normally. Add that on to the fact that if you do end up in an encounter which I wouldn't really call random since you can see the enemies on the map, you end up fighting the slow, clunky card system as well, and you can see why I gave this game a 4 out of 10.

    This game is not bad by any means, but the truth of the matter is that it is a mediocre RPG with pretty graphics that we learned to expand from in 1997 when we learned that graphics aren't what makes an RPG good in Final Fantasy 7 (that is still a great game by the way don't get me wrong) and Paper Mario has already done the concept of Mario going on an adventure looking for stars with better partners (counting Huey as one), better gameplay mechanics, and with greater stakes 16 years ago    … Expand
  2. Genericdewd
    Oct 7, 2016
    4
    Good presentation, but ultimately bland uninteresting gameplay with tons of pacing and padding issues, and lazy uninspired character design. Better than Sticker Star as a whole, but definitely doesn't live up to the quality of the first 3 games.
  3. REDMAN_GAMING
    Apr 9, 2022
    4
    the game is okay, its ruined by the battle system, a worse version of an already bad battle system from sticker star makes me actively not want to fight anything

    go play the old ones, this one made me pissed off playing it
  4. Chell_R
    Jul 21, 2020
    2
    Play the games that came before it...

    --This game is sh*t, compared to the ones that came before: it.
  5. ToadallyGaming
    Aug 16, 2020
    4
    Paper Mario Color Splash is The worst Paper Mario i ever played. The Art Style of The Game is very Nice. But this Game is so boring. I needed 2 Years to finish!
  6. BeeSting1
    Jan 1, 2021
    2
    The fall from grace continues.

    How does Nintendo mess up a once critically acclaimed series like Paper Mario? EVERYONE loved Paper Mario on the N64. EVERYONE loved The Thousand Year Door. They did a two story drop kick right onto all their fans' faces with Sticker Star. Alright. Fine. Nintendo likes experimenting with new ideas. Fan reception to sticker star was terrible. Mixed at best.    The fall from grace continues.

    How does Nintendo mess up a once critically acclaimed series like Paper Mario? EVERYONE loved Paper Mario on the N64. EVERYONE loved The Thousand Year Door. They did a two story drop kick right onto all their fans' faces with Sticker Star. Alright. Fine. Nintendo likes experimenting with new ideas. Fan reception to sticker star was terrible. Mixed at best. Surely, they would return to their original formula, and give fans what they want right? NO. We get a big **** YOU! in the form of Color Splash.

    GONE are the diverse species and inhabitants in the first two games. All we get are TOADS, TOADS, and MORE BORING ASS TOADS. A professor? A yellow toad. A merchant? A red toad. A barista? A green toad. Where is the variety?? I had ZERO anticipation going into the next area, because I knew I was just going to meet another ****ing toad. Aside from toads. The game would have shy guys talk sometimes, maybe a koopa here and there, and that's it. It's so horrendously bland. Characters are completely forgettable.

    THING stickers make a return. Omfg. WHY? I hated this in Sicker Star, and they bring it right back. Though, there was a Toad in the main town I could ask if I needed a thing card. But he wouldn't tell me what to avoid cause it would be futile without the thing card. So, I went into a boss fight with Iggy, thinking my reward would be the thing card I needed. BUT NO, turns out I needed that thing card for the fight. I wasted like 10 cards to fight him up to the point where Huey warned me that I didn't have the required card. WELL **** YOU, give me back my cards AND my time! Don't ALLOW the player to go into a fight IF they don't have what's required to win the fight. SIMPLE CONCEPT NINTENDO, ****! Now the only option was to flee the battle, or restart my console. THEN return to the battle with the required Thing card. **** that.

    After this, I just gave up. I wasn't going to have my time wasted further with these trial and error **** gameplay mechanics. Want me to have a thing card before a boss fight? Sure. Tell me WHERE to find it, and WHO I need to use it against, BEFORE I accidentally stumble into that fight because I didn't ****ing know. Or at least make SUPER **** CLEAR. Don't force me to travel back to the main town after every area JUST to ask that toad in the trash can to see if I need a thing sticker for the next area.

    This game is a huge waste of ****ing time. 10 step backwards from where the series started. Don't call your paper mario games "Paper Mario". Call it Puzzle Mario or some s***, cause this AIN'T the Paper Mario I knew and loved. Why can't you be on the same page as your fans Nintendo? Stop turning your good games to s***.    … Expand
  7. Frost_Cube
    Jan 30, 2021
    4
    od presentation, but ultimately bland uninteresting gameplay with tons of pacing and padding issues, and lazy uninspired character design. Better than Sticker Star as a whole, but definitely doesn't live up to the quality of the first 3 games.
  8. canisMayoris
    Oct 9, 2016
    1
    ups:
    -the art is gorgeous.
    -everything is 100% paper. it actually uses the paper related "puzzles" (if you call them that) some are actually creative. -humor/writing is pretty good as TYD, but the story is your typical mediocre Mario story. aka eh.. downs: -The game is extremely easy. -there is no strategy in battles -there is not much to explore. -the puzzles are joke. even    ups:
    -the art is gorgeous.
    -everything is 100% paper. it actually uses the paper related "puzzles" (if you call them that) some are actually creative.
    -humor/writing is pretty good as TYD, but the story is your typical mediocre Mario story. aka eh..

    downs:
    -The game is extremely easy.
    -there is no strategy in battles
    -there is not much to explore.
    -the puzzles are joke. even easier than the main pokemon games puzzles.
    -the battle system is is extremely easy as well. it gets way too repetitive
    -is a "slightly bit better" sticker star.
    you get so much coins, you can get many cards with out a sweat. no joke.    … Expand
  9. rnamoon
    Oct 10, 2016
    3
    Color splash honestly looks pretty good graphically sometimes, but the story is mediocre, the game-play is tedious and lacks replay value, puzzles and dialogue contain no substance, and the game decides to randomly punish the player for things out of their control with game overs.
    It manages to have the same issues as Sticker Star, but somehow found a way to create even more glaring flaws    Color splash honestly looks pretty good graphically sometimes, but the story is mediocre, the game-play is tedious and lacks replay value, puzzles and dialogue contain no substance, and the game decides to randomly punish the player for things out of their control with game overs.
    It manages to have the same issues as Sticker Star, but somehow found a way to create even more glaring flaws that makes me question the awful game design choices made by the development team.    … Expand
  10. Unfunlife
    Oct 12, 2016
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. + points
    1. Fantastic Graphics.
    2. Some charming characters. ex) boss npcs, shy guy in sunset express.
    3. Nice story.
    4. Great Easter-eggs. ex) Super Mario Bros. 3 easteregg, Flip moments from Super Paper Mario.
    5. Much better than Paper Mario Sticker Star.
    - points
    1. Not much improved card battle system.
    2. No unique npcs. Only toads & common enemies.
    3. Boring game play caused by easiness.
    4. No unique puzzles.
    5. Stupid Fanboys.
    (+5)+(-5)=0    … Expand
  11. Dionisos
    Oct 27, 2016
    3
    Este juego sin puntos de experiencia, compañeros y estrategias en el combate no tiene ningún sentido.
    Es un insulto a la saga y a los que amamos los dos primeros paper Mario de N64 y GC.
    Sólo se salva el diseño artístico.
  12. RawkHawk
    Oct 11, 2016
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don't even know where to start. This sorry excuse for a Paper Mario game is so covered with flaws, you could drown in them. This horrible trash-heap of a game should be rotting with Drake and the 99 Dragons, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. This game gives an illusion that it has improved over Sticker Star, when it really hasn't.

    Let's start with the artstyle. It may appear epic and beautiful, but if you look closely, you can see the utter lack of concern for the franchise's reputation. Every single character has a white outline as if they were made of paper, which is hammered into your head EVERY MINUTE OF THE FLIPPIN' GAME. If you look at the original Paper Mario, you can see this is just a way of making the characters come to life, an artstyle.

    Let's get to the story. This story is just so horrible... u gotta get da paint stars and defeat big bad paint bowser. That is all it is.... Nothing more nothing less. However, Huey, Mario's partner, sacrifices himself to defeat "big bad paint bowser" by making himself a card. But, if you 100% the game, you are treated with a cutscene that shows Huey falling back into the fountain. I hate this so much. It shows how much Nintendo thinks we are complete idiots to begin forming a relationship with a floating garbage can with no personality whatsoever.

    Speaking of the characters and the writing, they suck too. Every NPC in the game is a Toad. A boring, plain Toad. They have no personality and have the most ridiculous dialogue ever. Stupid paper puns! This game is insulting everything the Paper Mario series stood for! Unique characters and personalities are completely thrown out the window for boring FLAT (see, not funny) characters. Not even one "joke" made me close to chuckling.

    The battle system... Yeah... It's the exact same as Sticker Star, but worse...

    I hate this game so much, I hate the people that support it. DO NOT GET THIS GAME! EVER. It is a disgrace to the real Paper Mario games, like the original and The Thousand Year Door. If you want to have an RPG adventure, play those games.    … Expand
  13. SuperMatt777
    Oct 10, 2016
    4
    I went into this game thinking it'd be like a 5 out of 10 based on all the footage I've seen since E3. Now that I've played it, I can safely say I was wrong. Feels more like a 4 out of 10 once I was actually in the game. So let me get into my thoughts.
    I guess I should start with the positives; the most glaring positive point here is those outstanding graphics. Like wow, it looks amazing.    I went into this game thinking it'd be like a 5 out of 10 based on all the footage I've seen since E3. Now that I've played it, I can safely say I was wrong. Feels more like a 4 out of 10 once I was actually in the game. So let me get into my thoughts.
    I guess I should start with the positives; the most glaring positive point here is those outstanding graphics. Like wow, it looks amazing. The worlds are so vibrant in their looks and Nintendo took the "everything is made of paper" idea and kicked it into high gear. The worlds look amazing and the art style is fantastic. It's really something nice. I know there are people out there who think the paper style take away from the charm of Paper Mario, but I disagree. I think it looks great. And it's nice to see that the locations are actually unique this time around, unlike the bland world themes seen in both Sticker Star and Paper Jam. Another thing the game does great is the dialogue. The writing in this game is also great; it's legit funny at times. There are even some points in the game where you're likely going to think to yourselves "Nintendo actually approved of this writing?" And I say that in a good way too. The soundtrack is pretty decent too, no hate, but no real love for it in my eyes or ears. So yeah, amazing visuals and outstanding dialogue are the tops of this game.

    Yeah, the visuals and the writing are about the only things I can really praise here, cause I'm not fond of a lot of the elements about this game. Let me summarize it simply; it is way to similar to Sticker Star and I honestly hated that game. So making a sequel to a game I hate is already going to get bad thoughts brewing. And it really doesn't help that almost every problem Sticker Star had returns in this game too. The gameplay is still overly flawed. Inventory based gameplay that forces you to waste potential attacks on enemies that can be killed with even the weakest of cards. You are still forced to attack the first enemy in the line, meaning you can't take out attack heavy threats waiting behind without taking the tiny meat shields in front out first. The enemies themselves are still the most genetic enemies we've seen in any mainstream game. The bosses are once again "roam around, find the thing card you need and win the battle", only it's made worse in this game as they're flat out required to have and if you don't, the battle is impossible to win. And the NPCs are still just Toads. Risa said in an interview that they all have unique personalities, but that really isn't the point; all Toads is still boring. A "level up" system was added to make it seem like battles weren't pointless, except that they are still pointless. The game's level up system is hammer scraps which lets you hold more paint. Except you're rarely going to run out of paint and in order to get more paint, all you have to do is hit trees, flowers or stuff like that to get more. Or defeat enemies to get more paint needed to defeat more enemies. It's the same, pointless and endless cycle that Sticker Star had. Let me compare this problem to a broken screwdriver. The handle is completely snapped off; you can tape it back together and make it look fixed, but realistically it's still broken. That's exactly what this level up system is; it supposed to make it seem like battles are worth it, but they still aren't. The story is still bare bones and unimaginative, with Bowser being the main villain and kidnapping Peach. There are a few twists to it, but at the core, it's still the same deal. The first game can get away with it, but not so much the fifth game.

    In the end, Color Splash's graphics and writing are it's prized features, but the fact that it's too close to Sticker Star bogs it down so much that I can't even give it a 5 out of 10. The combat system is still flawed, there are still no unique characters in the game and every problem they "fixed" was not actually fixed, just covered up to convince us that they were fixed. If you liked Sticker Star, no doubt this game will suit you, but for anyone who's just starting the series, here's my advice: play the first three games first; you can get both Paper Mario 64 and Super Paper Mario on the Wii U eShop for cheaper than this game and you'll get a better experience for it. In the mean time, I honestly hope that Nintendo stops goofing around with Paper Mario and returns it to the RPG roots everyone wants. Risa still said they'd consider a TTYD remaster if fans wanted it enough, now it's time to see if she's telling the truth or just lying because interviews were there. All we can do is wait.    … Expand
  14. Review-Z
    Oct 17, 2016
    0
    same as it ever was
    same as it ever was

    if you wanted a PM game that's just a polished edition of Sticker Star with memetic jokes that you on twitter, this game is for you.

    seriously, just like the last game all you need is a wealthy amount of coins (which isn't so hard to gain), max paint, and you can skim through game like if it was nothing.
  15. NuVanDibe
    Jan 29, 2017
    1
    This is not a successor to Paper Mario 1 or 2. This is Sticker Star 2. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Great visuals, great presentation, great sound, decent jokes, completely ruined by a bland story, shallow characters, and frustratingly disappointing gameplay. The story has lots of decent one-off jokes but no real substance. I found myself laughing from time to time, only to goThis is not a successor to Paper Mario 1 or 2. This is Sticker Star 2. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Great visuals, great presentation, great sound, decent jokes, completely ruined by a bland story, shallow characters, and frustratingly disappointing gameplay. The story has lots of decent one-off jokes but no real substance. I found myself laughing from time to time, only to go right back to frowning as I slogged through the game. Every single step I took felt meaningless and repetitive. The battles are more annoying than fun because they waste finite resources and do not progress your character in any meaningful way. You're better off watching a video compilation of the funny moments because the hours in between are a complete waste. Nintendo took a chance modifying the main gameplay features with Sticker Star, and when the modifications failed horribly, they tried to bring the exact same modifications again, only they tried to change more of the game around the modifications. Overall a 9/10 for polish, minus 8 points for the base game still being a turd.… Expand
  16. MrTupins
    Jan 12, 2017
    1
    Pros:
    - The dialog has many moments that will make you crack a smile
    - Visuals are crisp and colorful, art in general looks very good Cons, I will go into more detail after listing these: - The battle system a chore, takes too long, and is unrewarding, "Things" make regular attacks pointless - Coins and paint are far too abundant, making them a useless resource, especially as a    Pros:
    - The dialog has many moments that will make you crack a smile
    - Visuals are crisp and colorful, art in general looks very good

    Cons, I will go into more detail after listing these:
    - The battle system a chore, takes too long, and is unrewarding, "Things" make regular attacks pointless
    - Coins and paint are far too abundant, making them a useless resource, especially as a reward
    - The game is full of back tracking for certain items
    - Much of the menu navigation and world navigation takes way too long, which makes back tracking all the more painful
    - Random quick time events in cut scenes that will more than likely kill you which typically means you have to back track 5 minutes
    - Mundane enemy spam happens in some areas is extremely frustrating especially due to how slow combat is
    - The cut out system has some creative uses, but overall just serves as a source for much of this game's back tracking issues
    - Game overall is painfully easy, which makes the gameplay feel unrewarding

    Some elaboration about the battle system issues:

    The time it takes to complete a battle is unacceptable. You have to sift through 100 cards to find a move, select X number of cards, color them in if necessary, accept the colors, play the cards, execute the moves. I don't mention the enemies attacking because they did a pretty good job with making enemy attack sequences quick; if there are a ton of enemies they attack in groups. That doesn't seem so bad until you factor in all the other stuff you have to do every turn, such as:
    - Sift through your 100 card deck, not a huge deal
    - Try to make some kind of best guess as to what the best move is because
    1) Enemies have unknown HP
    2) Your attacks have unknown damage values, you never really know how much affect your coloring the cards will have on damage output
    3) Any extra cards you play after defeating an enemy will be wasted
    4) You can only attack the target in front and due to you not knowing whether your attack will 100% kill the enemy, you could then auto-target an enemy behind and get countered or your attack will miss
    - Sit through Kamek's nonsense, where your reward is just useless coins, and the risk is using a really good card you've been saving for a special occasion
    - Hitting the roulette wheel for extra cards, which is necessary at times, takes 10 seconds it you want to try to get the actual card you want out of it.
    Which is another joke, because any chimp who can count to 10 can land a "Thing" (or whatever you want) almost every time. On top of that you can pay 20 coins to show all the faces anyways making it a guarantee.
    The battle system, over time, just becomes an absolute chore because of this. You get all the different styles of cards early on in the game as oppose to pacing them out to you to keep things fresh. The only way they've really paced new cards out to you is by offering "Thing" cards, but the majority of the "Thing" cards take so long to play that you only ever really want to play the quickest ones. They offer some different cards other than "Things", but you never really have any reason to play those cards anyways, aside from very few boss battles, because you can just drop a "Thing" on enemies and one shot them.
    The only reward for battles are cards, coins, and paint. Coins and paint are too abundant, and cards still pretty abundant. Your "level up" is letting you have more max paint, which again is worthless.

    Some elaboration about back tracking and wasting time:

    The world overview takes forever to traverse, and you have to traverse it very often. Often you get this random shy guy event which leads to a battle, which is again a time waster. You will often go into a world, hit a brick wall because you needed a certain "Thing", and have to back track to retrieve that thing. This entails getting back to the world overview, which if you're in certain maps, you will have to walk back to the entrance of the level to go back. Then you have to walk across the world overview. Then you have to go to the guy in town that sells "Things". Then you have to buy and squeeze the "Thing". Then go back to the world overview and walk to the level. Then play the level over again from the beginning with whatever shortcuts you unlocked, which usually don't shave off much time.
    There are quick time events that happen maybe 4 times in the game which, when you fail, you get a game over and go back to the menu. They often happen randomly when you have your hands down your pants, and often the time it takes to get the controller back into your hands will get you killed. That means you have to sit through all that animation, wait for the main menu, open your save back, redo what you did to get to the QTE, and then try again.

    I just don't understand how a AAA company can make such poor, flawed decisions about core gameplay elements.    … Expand
  17. SuperLuigi
    Jul 16, 2020
    0
    The Paper world is trash go back to the classic style like ttyd, no exp in battles, consumable attacks, no unique character designs, trash story.... Garbage dissapointment
  18. Classico
    Jul 23, 2020
    0
    Pure garbage, should be avoided at all costs. I really can't think of anything redeemable about this game.
  19. SuperIsaias64
    Oct 25, 2016
    2
    After the dreadful game that was Sticker Star, Nintendo though it would be a good idea to continue the terrible game play and somehow made it worse in Paper Mario: Color Splash. I never intended to buy the game because I knew what I was getting into, but the Paper Mario fan in me really wanted a good Paper Mario game. It didn't happen.

    I want to start with the biggest criticism I have    After the dreadful game that was Sticker Star, Nintendo though it would be a good idea to continue the terrible game play and somehow made it worse in Paper Mario: Color Splash. I never intended to buy the game because I knew what I was getting into, but the Paper Mario fan in me really wanted a good Paper Mario game. It didn't happen.

    I want to start with the biggest criticism I have with the game. The game play itself. Battles become incredibly tedious and frustrating after each battle due to the battle system. Battle Cards are one-use items that let you perform Jumps, Hammer attacks, etc. With many cards stock piled, you'll have to scroll all the way to the left if you want to perform a simple Jump attack. I wouldn't have a problem with this if they didn't start you at the far right of your deck where all your powerful cards are at. You gain no experience points when you defeat an enemy but rather "hammer scraps" that allows you to carry more paint to paint more cards to attack more enemies with decent attack power. I find myself running away from battles more often than not because I just don't want to waste time and fight.

    "Things" unfortunately make a return from Sticker Star. Many of the game's puzzles stem from the use of "Things". They're not clever, fun or add any real substance to game play. The puzzles are just annoying. Also, boss battles are as annoying as they were in Sticker Star. It's clear when a boss can kill you with one hit that they want you to use these stupid "Things" in order to exploit a weakness. At which point, the boss battles become extremely easy yet annoying. When you don't have the right "Thing" you'll be forced to run away and find the right "Thing" to defeat the boss. The last boss won't allow you to run away so it's just a bunch of trial and error.

    Characters are bland and forgettable. About 97% of all NPCs are just generic Toads. Some have different colors or maybe some glasses if you're lucky.

    I can say however that the music is very nice. Nothing to write home about, but I found myself enjoying some of the tracks. Especially the battle theme for the juggling Hammer Bros. Look it up!

    The visuals are also amazing. Everything is made up of paper or cardboard. It really has a crafty feel to it. Although I prefer not to draw too much attention to the whole paper theme as the N64 or TTYD did. It can get obnoxious. Like, I GET IT. IT'S MADE OF PAPER.

    The one moment I flipped out on and yelled "F*** THIS GAME!!!!" was the "Snifit or Whiffit: Seabed Edition" mini game. Let me explain: I arrive at a base and I see a lone Snifit offering me 30ish cards for money. I had plenty of cards so I figured I didn't need it and pressed on. I fall through a trap door and find myself in a game show that I cannot run away from or else I die. They challenge you on memorizing cards passing in the screen. Now I wouldn't have a problem with this except in order to buzz in your correct answer, you also need to have the correct cards to answer with. Which I did not. It is extremely unfair and annoying.

    I honestly did not have fun with this game. The battle system and lack of EXP made this feel flat. I felt like I was wasting my time with this game and I was hoping it would be over soon so in some way I felt justified with my purchase. The battles where I kept wasting cards through trial and error, having to go back to town to find the right stupid "Things" and backtracking to areas I thought I was done, it was all a waste of time. I have never felt so much buyer's remorse since Epic Mickey. And this is a Mario game! I forgave Nintendo with Star Fox Zero's terrible control scheme, but this game pushed me over the edge with its tedious game play that felt like a chore to play.

    If this is what the future of Paper Mario will be, stupid input from Miyamoto on changing something that wasn't broken for the sake of being "innovative", then consider me no longer a fan of this series.    … Expand
  20. WetShoelaze
    Oct 7, 2016
    3
    Seems interesting on the outside, but the game has almost the exact same problems as Sticker Star, and is ultimately a total bore in gameplay and story.
  21. Shadow1
    Mar 4, 2017
    4
    76? This is joke?! What the **** is this? This is worst Paper Mario game, not to mention Sticker Star. Graphics isn't upgrade, story is terrible, if remember wonderful story in The Thousand Year Door or amazing story in SPM, gameplay isn't upgrade and isn't downgrade, but this isn't main, in Paper Mario storyline is main, but in last PM not interesting, full **** New PM isn't good, new PM is Suck
  22. Kenryck
    Oct 20, 2016
    0
    This game is the 2nd worst paper mario game in the series, it has a new michanic that's the worst, and I hate it's dumb stupid face because this is not a PM game
  23. antonijames
    Apr 15, 2018
    1
    A tiny step up from the utter trash that was Sticker Star. Yes there's some funny dialogue and the art design is beautiful but that is all that even made me half-smile. You can upgrade a bit in this one, but it's so small and unimportant that I still had absolutely no interest in anything. I love Nintendo, but for this game they basically took paper mario's designs, made them all sharp, HDA tiny step up from the utter trash that was Sticker Star. Yes there's some funny dialogue and the art design is beautiful but that is all that even made me half-smile. You can upgrade a bit in this one, but it's so small and unimportant that I still had absolutely no interest in anything. I love Nintendo, but for this game they basically took paper mario's designs, made them all sharp, HD and beautifully coloured and then took out every single cool character, story and battle element and replaced them all with Toad. Yes, toad is pretty much the only other thing in this game.… Expand
  24. OriginalPoster
    Oct 7, 2016
    0
    Paper Mario: Color Splash is a game that gives the illusion of having improved over Sticker Star when it really hasn't.

    Gameplay: People argue that regular battles have a point now even though you still use "Thing" items to defeat the bosses and outside of battle despite needing paint to solve certain puzzles you can hammer a variety of different objects in any room to give you back    Paper Mario: Color Splash is a game that gives the illusion of having improved over Sticker Star when it really hasn't.

    Gameplay:
    People argue that regular battles have a point now even though you still use "Thing" items to defeat the bosses and outside of battle despite needing paint to solve certain puzzles you can hammer a variety of different objects in any room to give you back paint free of charge. This means despite the game trying to lure you into battles with the promise of increasing your paint gauge, by the time you meet the first boss and have to use a "Thing" card you realize all of those battles were pointless since bosses are a one solution puzzle. Color Splash even undoes some positive changes Sticker Star made such as the inventory grid that allowed you to organize and customize which items went where, and provided some extra depth to carrying items by making different items take up a different amount of space meaning you would have to use your head, of course that would be if the inventory wasn't goddamn gigantic. Also the action commands were closer to that of Super Mario RPG in that they had little to no visual prompts as to when you should hit the action command button to increase the damage of your attack. In Super Mario RPG you had audio cues that told you after you made a button press wether it was spot on or not. Sure, in Sticker Star while you still had that little spark to help the player it wasn't nearly as braindead as a button prompt, even if the first 2 Paper Mario's had a greater variety of button prompts than just 'A'. Color Splash has regressed from this by having an easily identifiable circular meter more akin to the button prompts of the first 2 Paper Mario titles but without the variety of button prompts from those Paper Mario titles meaning it has the worst of both systems and strays further from Super Mario RPG yet again. These things in Sticker Star were actually superior to the first 2 Paper Mario games and they took them away. Adding to that it's now much more of a pain to go through your items in battle even if you chose buttons only since there's a "Ready cards" prompt. Since all of the regular enemies in this game are just spam 'A' to run away quick time events lets get to the major bosses. The major bosses are as follows: Morton, Iggy, Petea Piranah, Ludwig, Wendy, Larry, Big Lava Bubble, Kamek, Lemmy, Roy, and Black Bowser. 8/11 of the bosses are New Super Mario Brothers bosses. The only exceptions are Petea Piranah in which Nintendo developers in all of they're creativity just made him come out of a tea pot with a string attached, and then there is a lava bubble except bigger. Bosses after being defeated will boost Mario's maximum Heart Points giving you even less of a reason to battle enemies. The dreaded world map returns making everything feel even more disconnected and also serves as instant gratification quick travel just like Sticker Star. Just like Sticker Star due to the lack of multiple partners instead of having a variety of puzzles using different abilities you now have one type of partner puzzle using scissors to snip parts of the level. This is at least not like Sticker Stars put the round peg in the round hole mechanic with Kersti. Most of the puzzles themselves have the opposite problem of Sticker Star. With Sticker Star a majority of puzzles were trial and error in which you threw whatever thing item or sticker you had and hoping it would work, get lucky, or just use a guide. One particular occurrence of this was when you had to stick mushroom shaped stickers onto a wall. The problem? It wanted specific mushroom stickers and all mushroom stickers were the same shape. There were no hidden messages on a wall either. In contrast Color Splash will all but give you solutions to the puzzles outright, sometimes even in straight up dialogue. This leads to sleepwalking through the game doing brain dead puzzles, running away from enemies that give you the illusion that they have something you want when you really don't, and then getting to bosses that you use around 5 'things' on and kill them.

    Plot/Writing: It's plot is about as basic as sticker stars with Bowser gaining some new power, scattering stars to 7 different locations and then kidnapping princess peach and bringing her to his air fortress. Although it doesn't rip off the first Paper Mario quite as much as Sticker Star did. There are actually subplots to be had in Color Splash though they are not even remotely on the level of the old Paper Mario's subplots. The characters in the world unfortunately are mostly basic Mario enemies again and although the toads have a little bit more variety with different colored dots and the Rescue Squad is reminiscent of old Paper Mario, it still has only half the charm. It also has a twist at the end concerning Bowser that gives no background to why the actual twist is there and changes nothing about his character. Worse game than Sticker Star.    … Expand
  25. gusman
    Jan 12, 2017
    1
    El peor paper mario de toda la historia, aburrido como el solo, un sistema de combate patetico, una historia sin interes... El broche de oro para matar y enterrar la wii u.
  26. Marionintendero
    Jan 6, 2019
    0
    Es El Peor Paper Mario De La Historia. Hasta El Paper Mario La Puerta Milenaria Le Gana Y Ademas,Es Como Sonic Boom:Rise Of Liryc Pero Con Paper Mario,Tiene Bugs Y Glitches,Jugabilidad Mala,Quitaron Las Mecanicas De La Puerta Milenaria,La Historia Es Súper Aburrida Y Quitaron Los Compañeros De Mario Que Tenia,Aun Así El Peor Paper Mario
  27. TheMarvelousMrL
    Jun 2, 2021
    0
    I can not describe how disgusted I am with Nintendo for creating this good for nothing sorry excuse cringe inducing sludge fest for a Paper Mario Game and for a video game in general, This is basically Sticker Star 2 but now with more cringey memetic joke's, annoying overused paper pun's, uninteresting character's consisting yet again of unlikable generic Toad's, a horrible and tediousI can not describe how disgusted I am with Nintendo for creating this good for nothing sorry excuse cringe inducing sludge fest for a Paper Mario Game and for a video game in general, This is basically Sticker Star 2 but now with more cringey memetic joke's, annoying overused paper pun's, uninteresting character's consisting yet again of unlikable generic Toad's, a horrible and tedious gameplay mechanic that is even worse than the previous game and an artstyle that is so over emphasized on the paper aesthetic that it is to the point where it is visually unappealing to look at. and if you thought the bosses were uninteresting in Sticker Star, this game up's the bland scale to a whole new level by reusing the god dang overused and uninteresting Koopaling's for the millionth time in a Mario game, Sticker Star's bosses may not have been anything to write home about but at least there was a small amount of variety with those bosses compared to the bosses in this game. I could go on and on listing every terrible thing implemented in this game from the biggest flaws i just listed down to the lazy 2 frame per second character animations. In conclusion don't even bother with this game If you want to play a good game in this series go check out one of the first Three title's Paper Mario 64, Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario. Heck I would even say take your chances with the mediocre Sticker Star over this one, because this game is a pure rancid piece of filth and it is by far the Paper Mario series at it's absolute worst and the developers should be ashamed for creating this pure trash heap of a game and letting it be released upon this world.… Expand
  28. TreasureOrTrash
    Sep 8, 2023
    0
    Trash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best Wii U Game of 2016
2
#2 Most Discussed Wii U Game of 2016
2
#2 Most Shared Wii U Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 74 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 51 out of 74
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 74
  3. Negative: 1 out of 74
  1. Vooks
    Apr 8, 2017
    80
    It will be entirely up to you whether the writing and redeeming elements of the battle system suit your preferences, but I am absolutely glad I was able to give Paper Mario: Color Splash a chance.
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  2. CD-Action
    Jan 12, 2017
    85
    Wow, so it is possible to make a genuinely funny game after all. I can’t recall another game that made me laugh so often and occasionally so hard. [13/2016, p.72]
  3. RPG Fan
    Dec 1, 2016
    70
    It's not exactly Sticker Star, but the change isn't necessarily for the better. Still, despite its flaws, there is fun to be had here.
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