List of Paper Mario: Color Splash glitches

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This is a list of glitches found in Paper Mario: Color Splash.

NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, all names are conjectural.

Graphics

Angled Mario

At Plum Park, station a barrel raft close enough to a ledge facing north, then get between the raft and the ledge and continually hammer the raft. If done correctly, Mario will glitch into the raft. When jumping out and walking around, Mario's model will appear at an odd angle, even though the overall physics will remain constant. The glitch ends if the player stops moving.

Huey's mood

In Port Prisma, if Mario enlarges the Red Rescue Squad Apprentice Toad with the Magnifying Glass, Huey briefly smiles at Mario after the Toad is accepted into the Rescue Squad. If Mario collects the Holo-Peach in the same room afterwards, Huey continues to smile during the cutscene.

Invisible Hammer

When approaching a barrel raft from an appropriate height, Mario will automatically hop down to ride it. If the player swings the Paint Hammer with at the same time Mario chooses to jump into the raft, both actions will attempt to play. This causes the paint hammer to disappear mid-swing, while the paint continues along its path.

Attempting this glitch with the normal hammer also confuses the game, instead causing Mario to briefly use his standing sprite while in the air.

Mini Mario glitch

Mario's sprite being shrunken
while swinging his hammer.

Typically, the game will automatically rotate the orientation of Mario's sprite if the camera rotates. By pressing either the or button to swing Mario's hammer while this happens, his sprite will shrink drastically.

This failsafe occurs if the game plays an animation without properly defined sprites.

Physics

Crushing enemies

First the player should station a barrel raft next to a Snifit. If they get the Snifit's attention, then quickly jump into the barrel and move directly towards them, the barrel will squish the enemy.

Floating in Dark Bloo Inn

In Dark Bloo Inn, if Mario speaks to a Tea Party Toad while standing on a table, he will walk over to the left side of the Toad, floating above the ground at the level of the table. When the conversation with the Tea Party Toad ends, Mario will fall to the ground.

Floating Paint Guy

Upon reaching the colorless Mini Paint Star in Ruddy Road along with the Paint Guy responsible, Mario must hammer the nearby bush on the right to make it stick out on its left. Mario must then carefully walk up the bush and get to the point where the next cutscene is triggered to make the Paint Guy stand in midair.

Pushing enemies

In Plum Park, there is a barrel raft for Mario to ride and Snifits scattered in the water. It is possible to push these Snifits backwards if the player blocks its path and pushes against it whenever the Snifit attempts to move. Since this push ignores collision it is possible for the player to push Snifits through walls and out of bounds.

Out of bounds and clips

Daffodil Peak yellow pipe excavation

At Daffodil Peak, to the right of the platform with the red Mini Paint Star, by continually pressing and , Mario can walk behind the platform. The player will get a Game Over once Mario reaches the yellow warp pipe.

Disco Ball out of bounds

In the Emerald Circus backstage area, pulling the rope will drop down a Disco Ball. It is possible to wedge Mario between the disco ball and the stairs, clipping out of bounds and resulting in a Game Over.

Flower pot clipping

Flower pots are interactable details found in various levels including Plum Park. When hammered they stay squished for a few seconds before rising back up. Before it un-squishes, if Mario is positioned on the edge of the flower pot and runs towards a wall close to the pot, it is possible for the player to be clipped through the wall. This also allows Mario to fall out of bounds and Game Over.

Golden Coliseum column clip

in The Golden Coliseum there is a room with a short crumbled column next to a wooden wall. If Mario jumps into the gap in collision just right, he will clip through to the other side, bypassing an Unfurl Block section.

Mustard Café sign sneakaround

Near the entrance to Mustard Café, if Mario jumps onto the crate to the left of the green warp pipe, he can jump behind the sign and end up behind it, glitching into the wall. If the player continues to move Mario to the right, the player will unexpectedly receive a Game Over.

Not entering the trapdoor in Cobalt Base

In Cobalt Base, if the player moves Mario over the trapdoor, talks to Huey as soon as he enters it, and waits for the falling sound to stop, the screen may not fade to black nor show the loading screen. Mario cannot activate the trigger for the next area while talking to Huey, nor will the out of bounds check occur until the dialog is closed. If the player does close the text a Game Over will happen after a few seconds.

Pirate ship clip

In the Mini Paint Star area of Violet Passage, it is possible to bypass the invisible wall and access offscreen sections of the ship by jumping onto the starboard cannon and moving up-right. Entering the interior of the ship, the screen will show a dark void. Leaving the interior will warp Mario to the area where the player would use Cutout and place the Compass, which is normally inaccessible after collecting the paint star.

The edge of the ocean in Violet Passage

If instead the player speaks with the Toad at the wheel and returns to the docks, the camera will show the edge of the water. Mario can enter the interior from here, and the same issues occur as before, but leaving the room instead resets the camera. Leaving the level will cancel the glitch. While the rest of the Violet Isles have similarly arranged areas, the invisible walls are positioned where the clip is not possible.

Redpepper Crater wall clip

In the Redpepper Crater room with many sliding crystal platforms, if the player goes to the area in the far back-right and jumps towards the wall while the platform slides forwards, Mario can sometimes clip through it.

Ruddy Road camera clip

Mario teetering while the camera shifts early

The player must first head to the area behind the lone house of Ruddy Road. Normally when leaving the game will fade to black as it transitions the camera, and guides Mario along a set path. However, if the player jumps repeatedly while holding down and slightly right, Mario will teeter at the ledge while the camera rotates prematurely. When the screen finally fades to black Mario will be placed inside the ground, since the unexpected camera position shifted his intended path.

From this position Mario will fall out of bounds and receive a Game Over, though the player can move to return to safety.

Trainworks stairs out of bounds

In Toad Trainworks it is possible to clip Mario into the ledge at the very top of the stairs. Careful navigation allows Mario into the area underneath where the cylinder rolls, and it is possible to fall out of bounds in the back right area.

Tree clipping

The corners of the tree canopies in Port Prisma are slightly buggy, and it is possible for Mario to jump into and stand inside the canopy.

Tree jump prologue skip

Warning! Performing these actions may corrupt your game's save file.

Princess Peach and Toad meeting duplicates of themselves

With Tree Clipping it is possible to use the tree in the yellow district of Port Prisma to jump up to a higher ledge during the prologue and repaint the water early. This skips the cutscene in the fountain, activity in the blue district, walking along the higher area of the red district, and the fight with a Shy Guy just above the entrance to the Action Command Dojo.

Performing this trick reveals several strange behaviors in Port Prisma. For instance it is possible to bring Peach and Toad up to the top of the yellow district to paint the waterfall, and there will be a duplicate of the pair near the fountain. If the player chooses to immediately return to Port Prisma after unlocking Ruddy Road, the duplicate Peach will disapear though the duplicate Toad remains. Entering any other level will cause the Peach and Toad following Mario to vanish. Similar to the Skipping the first Toad glitch, attempting to paint the owner of the Prisma Cardware shop will cause the game to freeze.

Vortex Island house skip

Mario jumping behind crates after clipping into a Toad house

At Vortex Island, there is a bucket lying next to a fence near a purple Toad house. With a setup, it is possible to clip into the rope hanging from the fence and clip into the other side without ever entering the house.

NOTE: It is also possible to perform this same clip at the corresponding area of the parallel world.

Weapons room clip

Again at The Golden Coliseum in the area where the Ice Pick and Bottle Opener Things are stored, Mario is able to clip between one of the spears and the weapon rack, clipping into the wall.

Scripting

Draggadon text storage

This glitch is accomplished in Redpepper Volcano using Draggadon and a dialogue event triggered on a timer.

While off of Draggadon

Enter the level, lure the Draggadon using the Magma Burger, then head directly towards the upper right area and dismount. If timed correctly, Mario will dismount and the Snifits will initiate dialog at the same time. This grants the player movement, where loading zones do not function and the lava can be safely walked on. This trick makes it possible to obtain the purple Mini Paint Star without feeding the Draggadon. Closing the text box will immediately end the glitch. Hammering the Lava Bubble near the front of the room crashes the game.

While riding Draggadon

Similarly, if the player is at the top right area, and mounts the Draggadon after a specific amount of time passes from closing the dialog, Mario will take out his fishing rod and the text will activate at the same time, permitting movement while it is up. Riding on Draggadon with text storage has less useable quirks due to the limited movement options.

Hammer direction check error

Mario ignoring the blue Toad and using the Unfurl Block

Near the entrance of the level Sunset Express sits an Unfurl Block and a blue Toad atop it. This Toad prevents Mario from trying to hammer the unfurl block until the player heads right to see what is blocking the train from progressing forwards. An interesting quirk about the hammer is if the player hammers in a direction up or down with the control stick, the game stores Mario's orientation, but if a subsequent hammer swing is performed without moving the stick, the swing defaults to the either directly left or right depending on which is closer. The game fails to account for this quirk, so it becomes possible to activate the block without leaving and coming back.

Museum text storage

Inside the Prisma Museum there is a check for Mario if he swings his paint hammer, which will bring up a textbox and disable the hammer. If the player interacts with a prompt and presses the button at around the same time, it is possible to store the text from the Toad warning Mario not to use the paint hammer. The effects vary depending on the room, which prompt is used, and the timing, and some combinations cause the game to soft-lock. Unlike the Draggadon Text Storage loading zones can be used in this state.

Projectile overload crash

If a hammer scrap is collected to initiate the Max Paint up cutscene at the same time an enemy attempts to throw a projectile, the projectile will spawn however it will float in place and the enemy will not be frozen. At this point if the player does not close the text box, projectiles will continue to spawn and previous ones will not unload, and eventually the processing of too many objects causes the game to crash.

Skipping the first Toad

Warning! Performing these actions may corrupt your game's save file.

In Port Prisma after the battle tutorial in the yellow district, Huey restricts Mario to a small area to teach him about painting objects, using the recently drained Toad as an example. If instead the player goes near the barrel, faces towards the screen and jumps while moving up-right in the air, it is possible to bypass these restrictions. From here the player can head to the red district to skip both the painting tutorial and a cutscene at the fountain.

This glitch comes with interesting restrictions. With exception to certain areas with specialized Huey hint behavior, pressing up will pause movement for a moment and the U.I. will briefly move off-screen and then return, without activating the hint. Attempting to enter the door leading to the Action Command Dojo and then returning to the yellow district area will crash the game. Similarly, painting the blue Toad who owns the Prisma Cardware shop will cause a crash.

Sticky card

A 1-up Mushroom card stuck on the screen.

While in the menu, if the player holds a card and then releases the card and presses the button at the same time, the menu will be exited but the card will act like it is still being held, staying on screen until the menu assets unload. Opening the textbox describing the card, performing these actions will close the textbox and the card will freeze in place before the game checks if the player is holding the card and acts accordingly.

Swapped cards

Using the Basic + Buttons control scheme during battle, it is possible to trick the game into selecting a card to play without touching it. First the player must move a card to a position in the list where sorting will shift its position. If the player presses the button at the same time as they release the card, the list will be rearranged while the game attempts to place it down. However, the game instead selects a card directly next to its position in the list, and that card is played instead.

Trainworks text storage

Using the Trainworks stairs out of bounds while the train is being repaired, it is possible to engage the Scaredy Rats while inside the cylinder. If Mario is positioned in a certain part of the cylinder as it bounces up at the start of the battle, he can be warped on top of the cylinder afterwards. From here the Toad can be talked to despite no dialog appearing. There is a cutscene that occurs once the cylinder is rolled onto the ramp, and if the Toad is spoken to as it crosses that threshold the textbox will be stored.