Paper Mario: Color Splash

Paper Mario: Color Splash is a 2016 action adventure role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Wii U and is the fifth game in the Paper Mario series. It is also the last Mario game to be released for the Wii U.

Plot
Mario and Princess Peach receives a letter from Prism Island that is actually a color drained Toad. To find out what's going on, they sail to Prism Island with another Toad to investigate. Upon arriving at Port Prisma, the three travelers find the town deserted and notice colorless spots and objects.

Good Qualities

 * 1) The graphics are beautiful and very nicely done, resembling a film animated by DreamWorks or even a high-budget animated series.
 * 2) The soundtrack is pretty good and catchy and also fits in each situation like the scene where Mario encounters the bent shy guy.
 * 3) Paper Mario is still a likable character, as usual, alongside other characters. Also, Mario's partner, Huey, is more likable than Kersti from Sticker Star.
 * 4) The controls are really comfortable, and are even fluid as usual, especially for a Paper Mario game. Selecting cards during the battle with the Wii U GamePad is also pretty cool.
 * 5) Nice and colorfully animated designs for the characters and the worlds, even the backgrounds are also nicely made.
 * 6) * Not to mention, the game also uses traditional art for some 2D sprites.
 * 7) Despite being still generic, the story is a massive improvement from its predecessor.
 * 8) The humor is pretty good, as typical for a Paper Mario game, and also for an RPG Mario game. Basically, Mario RPGs can suffer from good humor, much like the Mario & Luigi series by AlphaDream.
 * 9) The Koopalings make their debut in the Paper Mario series, and their personality is just as good as in the normal Mario games''.
 * 10) It was a major improvement from Paper Mario: Sticker Star, as it went back to the roots of the series for a bit after the previous game used a very lackluster tactic and finally using a few original characters.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The part where Mario encounters the bent shy guy, while funny, is somewhat out of place in a Mario game and is better suited for a horror game.
 * 2) The story, despite being an improvement from Sticker Star, is still generic, as it uses the "character goes to an island and rescues friends from fiends" cliche.
 * 3) The game also has a lack of character variety, even when compared to the previous games, including Super Paper Mario.
 * 4) Like Sticker Star, the battles lack EXP, and you only get coins if you will defeat an enemy without taking a single damage.
 * 5) The game, like Sticker Star, relies on excessive backtracking just to acquire certain Things or items just to continue the game.
 * 6) For every Koopaling boss battle, you need to find a certain thing in order to defeat the boss, but you never get a hint on what the thing you need is unless you go back to Port Prisma and talk to the Know-It-All Toad who will give out a hint on what the thing is. Even then, his hints are very vague. If you don't have the specific thing needed to defeat a Koopaling, then the battle against them will become impossible as all of them will use an attack that will either defeat Mario in one hit or an extremely powerful attack that they will use over and over again.
 * 7) * For Morton, you need a Fire Extinguisher.
 * 8) * For Iggy, you need a Bone.
 * 9) * For Ludwig, you need the Balloons thing.
 * 10) * For Wendy, you need an Instant Camera.
 * 11) * For Larry, you need a Cork.
 * 12) * For Lemmy, you need a Disco Ball and an Ice Pick.
 * 13) * For Roy, you need a Washing Machine.
 * 14) ** Additionally, you might need to have several things to defeat the boss (like the steak boss) and you might not know the order. It's made even worse that if you don't defeat it on the first three attempts, you have to pay 1000 coins just to try again.
 * 15) The infamous plunger attack, which was extremely inappropriate even for Mario standards, while other games did have adult humor, however, this one is extremely notable, especially since it uses saxophone music that came from a romance film.
 * 16) There are no save files, so if you want to play the game from the start, you'll have to either set up a new account or delete your game data.
 * 17) The Shy Bandit enemy, which runs to a random spot on the world map and sucks away progress with a straw. You have to stop him on time, but depending on his position, there may not be enough time to even reach him.

Reception
Despite being criticized for still having a generic story, the game received mixed-to-positive reviews with praise for the graphics, soundtrack and the game’s improved dialogue though the combat system and the lack of character variety was criticized.

Conor McMahon of Nintendo Life gave the game 8/10, concluding that “Paper Mario: Color Splash isn't just painting by the numbers. The series still straddles that awkward middle ground between pure RPG and adventure title, but this most recent entry has successfully found a comfortable niche that has silenced many of our prior gripes. Almost everything has been polished to a papery sheen - showcasing some of the series' best writing and presentation to date. Both the battle system and the overall plot are still some of the weaker aspects of the experience unfortunately, though they're moving slowly in the right direction. Simply put, even when we were left unsatisfied by enemy encounters, Prism Island was always a joy to explore, with diverse environments and an endless amount of catchy tunes to keep you engaged from start to finish. It's a game of memorable moments that we would love to share but wouldn't dream of spoiling on you. Take Color Splash for what it is, and you might just find it to be a messy work of art.”

Videos
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