Paper Mario: Color Splash

Paper Mario: Color Splash is an upcoming action-adventure title in the Paper Mario series for Wii U. It will be the fifth installment of the series.

Story
On a dark stormy night, Mario finds Princess Peach and Toad at his door. Surprised, he lets them in and receives a mysterious letter. In the letter is a Toad drained of his colors. The stamp on the letter points to Prism Island and Mario and co. quickly head there on a boat, even traveling through a storm. Upon arriving, the town square is deserted and much of the color has been drained. Toad then heads off, while Mario and Peach soon meet Huey, a mysterious 3D talking paint bucket. A scream is heard and Mario, Huey and Princess Peach quickly head over to the sound only to find a Slurp Guy draining the color from Toad. After Toad is returned to color and Huey is squeezed by Mario into a 2D object, they head off to find the culprit.

At Bloo Bay Beach, Mario and Huey find themselves participating in the Ocean Fest in their research for the Paint Star.

Later at Crimson Tower, the duo runs into Morton who is guarding the red Big Paint Star. They fight him and return the star to the town square, and learn that Morton was sent by his master to also find the Big Paint Star.

At Dark Bloo Inn, Mario and Huey attempt to solve the mystery of paranormal incidents happening in the building, which ends up being related to a tea party that ghostly Toads are throwing. They must head to Plum Park to retrieve a teapot for the Toads after obtaining the Paint Star in the inn.

Gameplay
Paper Mario: Color Splash is an action-adventure game that appears to elaborate on the mechanics of Paper Mario: Sticker Star. It is based on Mario using the Paint Hammer to paint colorless elements, characters and parts of the environment in order to progress in the game and collect Mini Paint Stars and Big Paint Stars. These colorless elements and characters appear to be connected to Shy Guys with a straw called Slurp Guys. Furthermore, Bowser is involved as well, since Bowser's adhesive tape from the same game is returning. When a level is completed, several new levels may become available at once, and the number-based level naming that was seen in Super Paper Mario and Paper Mario: Sticker Star is gone.

Super Flags are returning as well, this time found in the main square of the town where Mario arrives. The battles are based on cards that have to be painted in order to increase their effect. Once used, cards are discarded, it is however possible to buy them directly in battle. There are three types of cards. Battle Cards are used for various purposes including attacking, healing and replenishing paint. The hammer attacks now have a charging sign indicating at which point an "Excellent" attack can be obtained. Things cards, which do not deplete Mario's paint, are used to summon Things , both in battle and in the course to solve puzzles. Such cards can be obtaiend by directly squeezing Things into Things cards. Finally Enemy cards, dropped by defeated enemies, are used to summon an enemy into the battle as an ally. Only one ally can be present at a time. Such an ally will attack other enemies and, when the enemies attack, position itself in front of Mario to protect him, and will stay in battle until defeated. However, it will run away in front of bosses.

Both the use of the Paint Hammer and the painting of most cards requires colors, whose levels are indicated by bars. Even though only coins are obtained when winning a battle, after winning it the defeated enemies drop various items, including colors, cards, coins and, most importantly, special hammers that fill a bar. Once such bar is fully filled, the maximum amount of colors that can be carried is permanently increased. Furthermore, it is possible to use a move similar to paperization called cutout power in order to cut part of the courses, and to replace specific parts of the environment with cards similarly to how stickers could be used to affect the environment in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Key items also return.

Playable

 * Mario

Allies

 * Princess Peach
 * Toad
 * Toads (red, green, blue, yellow, and ghost)
 * Luigi
 * Yoshi
 * Huey: a paint bucket character (in 3D and paper form)
 * Five Fun Guys
 * Rescue Squad V (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple)
 * Rescue Squad Chief

Bosses

 * Koopalings
 * Morton Koopa Jr.

Enemies

 * Red Shy Guy
 * Blue Shy Guy
 * Green Shy Guy
 * Pink Shy Guy
 * Yellow Shy Guy
 * Red Slurp Guy
 * Yellow Slurp Guy
 * Red Spike Guy
 * Yellow Spike Guy
 * Blue Spike Guy
 * Snifit (blue)
 * Koopa Troopa (green)
 * Koopa Paratroopa (red)
 * Fire Bro
 * Shady Sledge Bro
 * Spiny
 * Cheep-Cheep
 * Scaredy Rat
 * Fuzzy

Other

 * Draggadon
 * Spike

Locations


The game is set on Prism Island and on three nearby islands, which have been drained of its color. Locations include:


 * Ruddy Road
 * Bloo Bay Beach
 * Château Chanterelle
 * Mondo Woods
 * The Crimson Tower
 * Port Prisma
 * Dark Bloo Inn
 * Plum Park
 * A waterwheel course
 * A train course
 * A plains course
 * A ruins course
 * A colosseum course
 * A course with warp pipes
 * A radio station course
 * A circus course
 * A volcano course
 * A course set in a crater filled with lava

Key Items

 * Tea Recipe Book
 * Caged "Bird"
 * "It"
 * Fresh Sheets

Battle Cards

 * Worn-Out Jump
 * Worn-Out Jump ×3
 * Jump
 * Jump ×2
 * Big Jump
 * Hopslipper
 * Hopslipper x2
 * Line Jump
 * Iron Jump
 * Spin Jump
 * Worn-Out Hammer
 * Worn-Out Hammer ×3
 * Hammer
 * Hammer ×2
 * Eekhammer
 * Big Eekhammer
 * KO Hammer
 * Hurlhammer
 * Blazehammer
 * Fire Flower
 * Ice Flower
 * Mushroom
 * 1-Up Mushroom
 * Spike Helmet
 * POW Block
 * Frog Suit

Thing Cards

 * Fan
 * Fan Replica
 * Electric Battery
 * Fire Extinguisher
 * Cat-O-Luck
 * Lemon
 * Lemon Replica
 * Piggy Bank
 * Piggy Bank Replica
 * Ice Pick
 * What appears to be a bottle opener

Enemy Cards

 * Shy Guy
 * Red Spike Guy
 * The Shy Bandit
 * Goomba
 * Bone Goomba
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Buzzy Beetle
 * Swoop
 * Spiny

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros. 3: The Angry Sun is mentioned by one of the Five Fun Guys during Toad and Go Seek.
 * Luigi's Mansion series: One of the Toads in Dark Bloo Inn references Luigi's role in these two games.
 * Mario Party 8: The Five Fun Guys troupe name originates from the Mario and Toad team name featured in this game.
 * Mario Party 9: Toad and Go Seek is named after a mini-game from this game.
 * Paper Mario: Sticker Star: Photographs of the Yoshi Sphinx, a location in World 4, and Hither Thither Hill can be seen on the left wall in Dark Bloo Inn's lobby.