Paper Mario: Color Splash

Paper Mario: Color Splash is an action-adventure, turn-based role-playing title in the Paper Mario series for Wii U. It's the fifth installment of the series.

Story
Mario finds Princess Peach and Toad at his door one night during a storm. Surprised, he lets them in and receives a mysterious letter. The letter is actually 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, Mario finds a hammer and uses it to reach the town square, that is deserted and full of elements whose colors have been drained. Toad then heads off, while Mario and Peach, after activating an emergency mechanism, 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 Red Shy Guy with a straw, called Red Slurp Guy, draining the color from Toad. Toad gives some Battle cards to Mario and then the Slurp Guy fully drains his colors. Huey then asks Mario to squeeze him into paper form in order to obtain colors from his blood, his sweat and his tears. The colors are used to battle the Slurp Guy and two Shy Guys that came to his assistance. After the battle the colors from Huey are used to return Toad to color using Mario's hammer, then Huey discovers that the Big Paint Stars at Prisma Fountain are gone and asks Mario to find them and return them to the fountain, starting from a Red Mini Paint Star at Port Prisma that he mistakes for a Red Big Paint Star. As soon as they reach the Mini Paint Star, they see an airship carrying a giant bucket of red paint that was stolen by the Slurp Guys. When they reach Cherry Lake they find a Toad, named Justice Toad, that was hanging on the giant bucket but in the end fell off.

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

Eventually, Mario and Huey find their way onto the airship and destroy it, causing the bucket to fall onto The Crimson Tower.

Later at Crimson Tower, the duo runs into Morton Koopa Jr. 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 Red Paint Star.

After collecting the Big Red Paint Star, Mario and Huey return to Port Prisma, where the Red Paint Star reveals that Bowser, while being covered in black paint, has thrown all the Big Paint Stars away from Prisma Fountain. Soon after the reveal, Bowser shows up and reveal to Mario his plan to use the power from the black paint to take on the world and then flies off on an airship with a lot of Bowser tape on it, including a long tape holding Peach. Peach manages to leave an Holo-Peach to Mario, where she reveals that Bowser seems different besides the black paint that covers him, even though he doesn't intend to be harmful toward her.

Later, Bowser is seen using the black paint to add color to his Banzai Bills. Peach is shown hanging colorless above his throne.

Later on, the duo runs into the Golden Coliseum where a gladiator battle is held between Mario and Iggy Koopa, a Hammer Bro and a Snifit, all three on chariots attached to Chain Chomps, while Iggy promises to give Mario the yellow Paint Star if he wins the challenge.

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. Upon reaching Plum Park, they find it in a poisoned state. They eventually find Petey Piranha, under the alias of "Petea Piranha", who is responsible for this. They defeat him and return the teapot to Dark Bloo Inn.

Later, at Fort Cobalt, Mario and Huey find Ludwig Von Koopa guarding the blue Big Paint Star. He fights the duo from atop his Super Ludship, but is defeated. The Big Paint Star is returned to the town square.

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. When a course is completed, several new courses may become available at once, and the number-based course 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 Port Prisma. The battles are based on Battle Cards that can be painted to increase their effect. Painted cards can be bought as well at the Prisma Cardware. Once used, cards are discarded, it is however possible to buy them directly in battle using the Battle Spin and choosing one of the flipped cards. There are three types of cards. Basic Cards are used for various purposes including attacking, healing and replenishing paint. Many attacks are similar to those featured in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, with the hammer attacks now having 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 obtained by directly squeezing Things into Thing cards. There is a shop in Port Prisma allowing the player to directly buy Thnigs to squeeze them into Thing Cards, and there are Replica versions of Thing Cards as well. 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. At the beginning of a battle, Kamek can sometimes appear and either flip all the cards or steal many cards, once the battle is won all the stolen cards are regained and additional coins are obtained as well. The number showing the HP of the enemies as well as the number showing the amount of damage dealt in HP are both missing, while the health of each enemy is shown in the form of color that is gradually drained starting from the bottom.

Both the use of the Paint Hammer and the painting of most cards requires colors, whose levels are indicated by bars. Coins are obtained when winning a battle, as well as the game's Experience System, Hammer Scraps, cardboard hammers that fill a bar. They exist in at least three different varieties with varying amount of glittery parts, and the scraps with more glittery parts fill the bar more than the scraps with less glittery parts. Once such bar is fully filled, the maximum amount of colors that can be carried is permanently increased and the power of the First Strike is increased as well, up to the point that enemies on the course can be directly defeated without starting the battle. The defeated enemies also drop various items, including colors, cards, and coins.

It is also possible to permanently increase the number of cards playable in a turn during a battle by collecting special power-ups. Similarly, the maximum amount of HPs of Mario can be increased by collecting HP-Up Hearts that are obtained when saving a Big Paint Star. Each HP-Up Heart increases the maximum amount of HP by 25 and increases the power of the First Strike as well.

In order to gain additional coins, there are side quests and mini-games that can be played. One of them is finding Luigi who is hiding in some places, another is playing Super Roshambo against several opponents at the Roshambo Temples , a further one is fighting and defeating the Shy Bandit on the world map.

Furthermore, it is possible to use a move similar to paperization called "Cutout" in order to cut part of the courses. Likewise, the Flip technique from Super Paper Mario is returning as well, in a course dedicated to Super Mario Bros. 3 found at the Green Energy Plant. Key items also return.

Playable

 * Mario

Allies

 * Princess Peach
 * Toad
 * Toads (red, green, blue, yellow, purple 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
 * Holo-Peach
 * Rock Paper Wizard
 * Big Paint Stars (Red, Orange , Yellow , Green , Blue , Purple )
 * Chosen Toads
 * Birdo

Bosses

 * Bowser
 * Koopalings
 * Morton Koopa Jr.
 * Iggy Koopa
 * Ludwig von Koopa
 * Wendy O. Koopa
 * Larry Koopa
 * Lemmy Koopa
 * Roy Koopa
 * Petea Piranha
 * Big Spiny
 * Kamek
 * Steak
 * Big Lava Bubble
 * The Shy Bandit

Enemies

 * Shy Guy (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink, Black)
 * Shy Guy 4-Stack
 * Shy Guy 5-Stack
 * Slurp Guy (Red, Blue, Yellow)
 * Shunned Guy
 * Shield Guy (Red)
 * Sombrero Guy
 * Spike Guy (Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink)
 * Soggy Guy
 * Pry Guy
 * Silver Shy Guy
 * Gold Shy Guy
 * Coal Guy
 * Laundry Guy
 * Roller Guy (Red)
 * Unicycle Shy Guys
 * Paint Guy
 * Trampoline Shy Guys
 * Animal Trainer Shy Guy
 * Roller Guy
 * Snifit (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow)
 * Slurp Snifit (Red, Yellow, Blue)
 * Chariot Snifit
 * Whistle Snifit (Blue, Green, Red)
 * Koopa Troopa (Green and Red)
 * Koopa Troopa 6-Stack
 * Koopa Paratroopa
 * Hammer Bro
 * Boomerang Bro
 * Fire Bro
 * Chariot Bro
 * Sledge Bro
 * Shady Sledge Bro
 * Small Hammer Bro
 * Ice Bro
 * Juggler Bro
 * Circus Bro
 * Spike
 * Spiny
 * Buzzy Beetle
 * Spike Top
 * Small Buzzy Beetle Gang
 * Buzzy Beetle Tower
 * Big Buzzy Beetle
 * Small Buzzy Beetle
 * Cheep Cheep
 * Bob-omb
 * Scaredy Rat
 * Fuzzy
 * Dry Bones
 * Dry Bones 5-Stack
 * Boo
 * Boo 10-Stack
 * Chain Chomp
 * Goomba
 * Mega Goomba
 * Small Goomba
 * Bone Goomba
 * Paper-Cone Goomba
 * Accordion Goomba
 * Small Goomba Wheel
 * Small Goomba Gang
 * Rocky Wrench
 * Ninji
 * Blooper
 * Poison Blooper
 * Blooper 10-Stack
 * Pokey
 * Green Pokey
 * Swoop
 * Ptooie
 * Dino Rhino
 * Wild Dino Rhino
 * Banzai Bill
 * Lava Bubble
 * Black Lava Bubble

Other

 * Draggadon
 * Yoshis (Red, Light Blue, Yellow, Pink, Purple and Orange)
 * Giant Bob-omb

Locations


The game is set on Prism Island, shaped like a paint brush, and on nearby islands, similar to drops of paint, which have been drained of their color. Locations include:


 * Port Prisma
 * Blue district
 * Red district
 * Yellow district
 * Harbor district
 * Ruddy Road
 * Cherry Lake
 * Indigo Underground
 * Bloo Bay Beach
 * Daffodil Peak
 * The Crimson Tower
 * Sunglow Ridge
 * Château Chanterelle
 * Mondo Woods
 * Marmalade Valley
 * Kiwano Temple
 * The Golden Coliseum
 * Dark Bloo Inn
 * Plum Park
 * Sacred Forest
 * Cobalt Base
 * Fort Cobalt
 * Violet Passage
 * Vortex Island
 * Lighthouse Island
 * Fortune Island
 * Mustard Café
 * Toad Trainworks
 * Tangerino Grill
 * Sunset Express
 * Redpepper Volcano
 * Redpepper Crater
 * Green Energy Plant
 * Mossrock Theather
 * The Emerald Circus
 * Black Bowser's Castle
 * Roshambo Temples
 * Roshambo Temple #1
 * Roshambo Temple #2
 * Roshambo Temple #3
 * Roshambo Temple #4
 * Roshambo Temple #5
 * Roshambo Temple #6
 * Roshambo Temole #7
 * Roshambo Temple #8

General

 * Coin
 * Super Star
 * ? Block
 * Unfurl Block
 * Save Block
 * Mini Paint Star
 * Big Paint Star

Key items

 * Tea Recipe Book
 * Birdcage
 * Caged "Bird"
 * "It"
 * Fresh Sheets
 * Mountain Climbing Permit
 * Excavation Site Permit
 * Sharp Spike
 * Holo-Peach PR-M4
 * Magma Burger
 * Fishing Pole

Battle Cards
There are more than 150 different Battle Cards in the game.

Basic Cards
There are four categories of Basic Cards: Worn-Out Basic Cards have a striped background with fine colored stripes on a white background, Normal Basic Cards have a checkered background with colored squares on a white background, Big Basic Cards have a checkered background with bigger colored squares on a background of a lighter color, Mega Basic Cards have a striped radial background in which a striped colored slice is alternated with a striped slice of a lighter color, the stripes themselves alternating a stripe of a lighter color with a stripe of a more saturated color. There are also cards that allow to obtain the same effect up to five times, depending on the number of items in the card.
 * Worn-Out Jump
 * Worn-Out Jump ×3
 * Worn-Out Jump ×5
 * Jump
 * Jump ×2
 * Jump ×3
 * Big Jump
 * Big Jump ×2
 * Mega Jump
 * Hopslipper
 * Hopslipper ×2
 * Hopslipper ×3
 * Big Hopslipper
 * Mega Hopslipper
 * Line Jump
 * Big Line Jump
 * Mega Line Jump
 * Iron Jump
 * Iron Jump ×2
 * Iron Jump ×3
 * Big Iron Jump
 * Mega Iron Jump
 * Spin Jump
 * Big Spin Jump
 * Worn-Out Hammer
 * Worn-Out Hammer ×3
 * Worn-Out Hammer ×5
 * Hammer
 * Hammer ×2
 * Hammer ×3
 * Big Hammer
 * Big Hammer ×2
 * Mega Hammer
 * Eekhammer
 * Eekhammer ×2
 * Eekhammer ×3
 * Big Eekhammer
 * Big Eekhammer ×2
 * Mega Eekhammer
 * KO Hammer
 * Big KO Hammer
 * Mega KO Hammer
 * Hurlhammer
 * Hurlhammer ×2
 * Hurlhammer ×3
 * Big Hurlhammer
 * Mega Hurlhammer
 * Blazehammer
 * Fire Flower
 * Big Fire Flower
 * Ice Flower
 * Big Ice Flower
 * Mushroom
 * Big Mushroom
 * Mega Mushroom
 * 1-Up Mushroom
 * Spike Helmet
 * POW Block
 * Tail
 * Frog Suit

Thing Cards

 * Fan
 * Fan Replica
 * Electric Battery
 * Fire Extinguisher
 * BBQ
 * Basin
 * Cat-O-Luck
 * Lemon
 * Lemon Replica
 * Turnip
 * Salt and Pepper Shaker
 * Teapot
 * Piggy Bank
 * Piggy Bank Replica
 * Ice Pick
 * Bone
 * Bottle Opener
 * Magnifying Glass
 * Screwdriver
 * Plunger
 * Hammer
 * Hair Dryer
 * Black Bowser's Castle

Enemy Cards

 * Shy Guy (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink)
 * Slurp Guy (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink)
 * Spike Guy (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink)
 * The Shy Bandit
 * Snifit (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink)
 * Slurp Snifit (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink)
 * Spike Snifit (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink)
 * Goomba
 * Paragoomba
 * Bone Goomba
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Koopa Paratoopa
 * Piranha Plant
 * Fire Piranha Plant
 * Ptooie
 * Cheep Cheep
 * Blooper
 * Lava Bubble
 * Hammer Bro
 * Boomerang Bro
 * Fire Bro
 * Ice Bro
 * Sledge Bro
 * Shady Sledge Bro
 * Bob-omb
 * Ninji
 * Pokey
 * Green Pokey
 * Dry Bones
 * Boo
 * Spike
 * Rocky Wrench
 * Spiny
 * Buzzy Beetle
 * Spike Top
 * Fuzzy
 * Swoop
 * Dino Rhino
 * Scaredy Rat
 * Morton
 * Iggy
 * Ludwig
 * Wendy
 * Larry
 * Kamek
 * Lemmy
 * Roy

Pre-release and unused content
The game features a concept art gallery in which concept art is gradually unlocked by donating Battle Cards to the museum. The concept art allows to see how the characters, objects and settings were gradually changed during development. It also reveals two locations that were cut from the game.

The first location is the east side of Decalburg, from the previous game, that would have featured new objects, including postboxes, differently placed Coins and ? Blocks and, most importantly a river with sewage pipes, that it would have been possible to cross using a bridge to reach an area not present in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. The second one is an unused location similar to a temple in a mountainous area of a rocky desert, that would have featured blue torches and at least three buildings connected by staircases and bridges. Many warp pipes would have been present as well, as in the concept art five of them can be observed, of which four are in a row.

The unused location on the inside would have featured blue torches, cacti, sandfalls, broken walls that allow some light to enter, drawings of a Coin, a mushroom and a star on the walls, very high pillars, bridges made of blocks of a different material, possibly sand, and spiked pits, thus making it similar to Kiwano Temple, suggesting, along with the rocky desert setting, that this unused location might have been a preliminary version of said location.

Reception
Upon being shown at E3 2016, Paper Mario: Color Splash received negative reception from fans, the main complaint focusing around the game's similarities to Paper Mario: Sticker Star, which put less focus on the RPG elements of past games. Within hours of the game's reveal, a petition on Change.org ordered the game to be cancelled, which TechRadar described as "a frightening example of how quickly, and harshly, we judge games we know next to nothing about."

Despite this, the game received generally positive reviews at release. Most critics praised the game's art direction and humorous writing, though the lack of original characters and still-simplistic storyline were points of contention. In addition, while several reviewers noted gameplay improvements from Paper Mario: Sticker Star, some elements still drew criticism, such as the battle system and linear level design.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: The music that plays in Indigo Underground is a rearrangement of the underground theme from this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2: The overworld music is rearranged. The vases also make an appearance in Château Chanterelle. Wart was mentioned in the game by a yellow Toad.
 * Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic: At the concert in Plum Park, Birdo sings about "a Doki Doki Panic" and egg spit on people's faces, referencing her first appearance in this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: The Angry Sun is mentioned by one of the Five Fun Guys during Toad and Go Seek. Ptooie Plants also make their return. The Koopalings make their paper debut. There is an area that resembles a level in this game, where Mario can flip into 3D like in Super Paper Mario.
 * Super Mario World: Dino Rhinos return from this game.
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: One of the Rock Paper Wizard's conceptual designs was that of a Lantern Ghost, an enemy species introduced in this game.
 * Paper Mario: The jingle played when collecting a Big Paint Star is remixed from the first few notes of this game's opening theme. One of the Rock Paper Wizard's conceptual designs was of a jester-esque Duplighost, an enemy species introduced in this game.
 * Luigi's Mansion series: One of the Toads in Dark Bloo Inn references Luigi's role in these two games.
 * Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: The running gag that originated from this game in which an implied grunt character is referred to as Johnson returns after being absent from Sticker Star. Additionally, Port Prisma has an almost identical layout to Rogueport, with a staircase leading to the square where the major collectibles of the game are put in place in Prisma Fountain like in Rogueport Sewers.
 * Mario Party Advance: Roshambo is taken from this game.
 * Super Paper Mario: Mario can flip in a certain area, an ability that originated in this game.
 * 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 minigame from this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Iggy taunts Mario by slapping his behind like in this game.
 * Paper Mario: Sticker Star: Photographs of the Yoshi Sphinx, a location in World 2, and Hither Thither Hill can be seen on the left wall in Dark Bloo Inn's lobby. . Also, sound effects from this game are recycled. The music for Bowser's introduction is also the same music used for his introduction from the same game. When Mario gets a Big Paint Star, the music that plays when the areas color is restored is the same theme that plays when the flashbacks explaining how each of the bosses in that game got their respective Royal Stickers. Also, there are plenty of music tracks from this game that are remixed. The Koopalings' introduction themes were also taken from the Warning themes for the Sticker Star boss introductions. Snifit or Whiffit is also taken from this game as well.
 * Mario Kart series: Luigi appears driving a Standard Kart modeled after the ones from Mario Kart 8. Additionally, the "Luigi's Death Stare" meme, which originated from this game, is referenced. Also, the title theme and the countdown timer to begin racing is taken from this game as well. Rainbow Road appears in the game and the music of that course is a remix from Mario Kart 64. When Luigi decides to floor it to rush to the castle despite its creepy appearance, he states they'd better be careful, stating Lakitu isn't there to save them this time around, alluding to how various characters in the Mario Kart series, if caught in various hazards (falling into water, quicksand, lava, or bottomless pits) will be fished out by Lakitu and brought back onto the main course. After being beaten, Bowser asks Mario if he's at Black Bowser's Castle because they have a kart race scheduled for the day, referencing the Bowser's Castle tracks in the series . Just before leaving Black Bowser's Castle in the ending, Luigi when reassuring Mario that Huey will be alright, mentions that he fell off Rainbow Road lots of times, alluding to the difficulty of the courses in the game.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U: Similar to the ending of this game, the Koopalings and Bowser's last appearance before the credits was them and their already damaged airship crash landing. Unlike in this game, however, it crashing was not Bowser's fault, as it got hit by a stray firework.
 * Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker: Draggadon makes its paper debut.
 * Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam: Enemies can sometimes appear in multiple stacks just as the paper enemies did in this game. Also, the Koopalings have their first Paper appearance after it being foreshadowed in this game.

Trivia

 * On September 23, 2016, it was discovered that purchased Nintendo eShop pre-load data was actually the full game, giving players early access two weeks ahead of schedule in North America. Nintendo removed the pre-order option within hours, and stated that this was inadvertent.
 * Like Super Mario Maker, the game's digital manual is more elaborate than most other Wii U digital manuals.