When this game was announced in a
Nintendo Direct earlier this year the reception was quite mixed.
While many were happy about the fact that the Wii-U will get a new
Paper Mario, many also criticized the fact that it looked like a
continuation from Sticker Star. The direct predecessor was a good
game which sold well, but got lots of flak from fans of series
because of it's mundane story and simplified gameplay. And while the
developers acknowledged the problem it seems Color Splash is
following the same principles as Sticker Star. The Question is could
they improve enough to satisfy fans, or fail to do so?
At its heart, and that has to be said,
Paper Mario: Color Splash is no RPG like the original Paper Mario and
Thousand Years Door, but an action adventure with some RPG like
elements. If you didn't like this direction in Sticker Star and want
a classic roleplaying adventure then this game is probably not for
you.
Everyone else can stick around and find
out if Color Splash is worth a buy.
Story:
On a dark and stormy night Mario is
visited by Peach and Toad. The Princess received a grim message. The
lifeless husk of a Toad completely drained of his color sent from
Prism Island. So of course Mario and Peach travel there to
investigate. Arriving at Port Prism they find the once colorful and
lively island drained of its color. Shortly thereafter they meet
Huey, a mysterious talking Paint bucket, who serves as this games
sidekick.
He introduces Mario to the Paint and
Card based combat system after Toad is attacked by a Shy Guy, who
drains him of his color via a drinking straw. From there one it's
Marios and Hueys mission to collect the six great Color Stars to
restore Prism Island to it's once lively and colorful state. Along
the way Princess Peach gets kidnapped, shocking absolutely no one.
The Story is well told and in fact I
enjoyed it greatly, but it's also very unimaginative. So in that
department the trend from Sticker Star continues. Still the story is
quite enjoyable because of the great humor and good characters.
Also there are lots of great side
stories on your way to the Color Stars making up for the boring main
plot. From investigating the paranormal activities in a gloomy hotel,
to hunting a treasure island with a group of Toads to repairing a
Train and cooking Pizza. There is still a great variety to be found
in the different worlds of Paper Mario: Color Splash.
So while the Story department is quite
mixed with great and fun side stories, but a lacking main plot, how
do the characters themselves fare? Well to be honest it's quite the
same. A mixed bag. While many of the characters are fun and unique
from a personality point of view, it's the same Toad show that made
Sticker Star insufferable for many fans. Once again about 90% of
friendly NPCs in the game are Toads only differentiated by their
color. This puts a huge dent into an otherwise great set of
characters.
The Toads are unique and funny. Many
have a quirky personality and generally it's a lot of fun to interact
with them. But they all look the same. Maybe one or two of them wear
a hat to differntiate them from the rest. But even an important Toad
Professor you meet during the game doesn't wear a lab coat or even
glasses. No he is simply a yellow Toad seen a thousand times before
and after in the game.
The same applies for the enemy forces.
The characterization of them is great and especially the Shy Guys are
always good for some laughs, but once again you'll only see the same
standard Mario enemies again and again.
This fatigues you pretty quickly and
you'll start avoiding confrontation soon. Another factor of the game
also plays into this, but I'll talk about this later in detail.
The enemies serve their purpose well,
but it seems the time of unique and new enemies in the Paper Mario
series is over. It's Koopas, Goombas and Shy Guys all the way.
Still if you can live with these flaws
you'll have a good time with the Story of this games. And you'll
laugh a lot. Color Splash is a game that knows how to make the
players laugh or at least grin. There are lots of references and the
game isn't afraid of taking itself for a ride. Especially the
reaction at Princess Peach getting kidnapped is hilarious.
The Story and characters are a
definitive improvement over Sticker Star, but they can't reach the
classics.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is following the same
pattern as the story. It's a definitive improvement over Sticker
Star. The World is once more segregated into different levels
connected by a world map. While many didn't like this fact, I didn't
mind really. It sill manages to make the world feel cohesive and
connected, but of course it can't match a classic RPG style of
connected world. On one hand it's nice to be able to travel from one
area to the next without having to pass through five other, but it
robs the world of some of its charm in the process.
The levels themselves are great
however. There are lots of charming details and they truly feel as if
they are handcrafted. Also the variety is pretty high and the
developers manage to make even the standard Mario themes like desert
and lava world interesting.
Mario and all characters are once again
2D cutouts, but everything else is in 3D. This can often lead to
slight problems, when you, for example, try to jump on an enemy and
miss him. You mostly explore the stages via jumping and hammer
swings, but this time Mario also has his Paint Hammer to color the
area. The Shy Guys have drained the island leaving lots of colorless
spots. Most of them reward you with some Coins or a card, but often
this feature is also used to solve puzzles. Draining something of its
color works in a similar way as to freeze time. So for example color
drained water doesn't flow, but is simply static. You can walk around
on it and it won't power water wheels.
For most puzzles the color hammer is
your go to way of solving them. You can mark targets, make invisible
paths visible or simply paint your path red (and several other colors
as well.) The puzzles created by this are often quite clever and
innovative.
One of those requires Mario to get a
key. For that he has to play a game. The key is handed to one of five
identical Toads and then they shuffle around. But no matter how often
you choose the right Toad another one will always have the key. So
you have to prove they are cheating. This is done by simply marking
the Toad with Paint, so that you have prove that he was the one with
the key.
This is only one of thousands of small
puzzles in the game, and it's quite early on, so I shouldn't have
spoiled to much for you.
At the end of a stage you'll find a
small Color Star opening up the way to the next one. Some Stages even
offer more than one Star and the path branches out quite a bit from
the get go. Of course it all leads to the next big Color Star, but at
least you have some variety to choose from the way there. Still you
can't go too far of the path because from time to time you'll
encounter an obstacle that can't be overcome and first needs a big
Color Star. I didn't mind this way of gating the game much,
because it also gives you a sense of progression.
Now I talked about the Paint Hammer
already, but there is one more important tool for solving puzzles and
exploring levels. Via press of the Y button Mario can check his
surroundings to see if there is a space he can cut out. This is
exactly what it sounds like. You simply cut out a part of the
background. This way you can insert cards to use or simple get around
obstacles in your path. This works only at select places and normally
is the only way to progress there. But it's a nice little feature,
just not as versatile as the Paint Hammer.
The level and puzzle design in general
a some of the strongest points of Paper Mario: Color Splash. There
was hardly any stage that I didn't enjoy.
But of course these courses aren't
empty. Lot's of Bowsers troops have also taken residence there. On
first sight it may look like the battle system from previous Paper
Mario titles hasn't changed, but that's not the case. You still
initiate the battle by simply touching your opponents. Jumping on
them or giving them a swing with the hammer also deals some damage
even before the battle starts.
And here is where the similarities
mostly end. The battles themselves are still round based, but that's
the only thing RPG like about them. Instead of abilities, magic and
items all has been bundled into the new card mechanic. No matter if
it's an attack with the hammer, a simple jump or a mushroom to heal
yourself, all is done via cards. You simply choose the card or cards
you want to play (later on you can play more than one in the same
turn), color it and flip it into play.
Coloring the Cards increases their
potency, but also costs, you guessed it, color. Personally I never
ran out of color even though I colored all my cards.
The last part then is the attack
themselves. By pressing A at the perfect moment you greatly increase
the potency of your attack.
The card system and the battles
themselves are Ok for the most part. There is still some tactic
involved. For example attacking a Shy Guy wearing a spiky helmet via jumping isn't the smartest decision. But for the most pat the
battle system is quite shallow.
From time to time Kamek tries to shake
things up a bit by cursing you. This means you can't see the cards
you use or are reduced to only six cards for that battle. Also you
can't run away. Beating the enemies breaks the curse and rewards you
with some extra coins.
So what is your reward for battling
Bowsers troops? Not much I'm afraid. First of all there are no levels
to gain from that. In fact there are no levels at all in Paper Mario:
Color Splash. It's no RPG remember. Instead Mario increases his
attack and health automatically after each Boss you beat.
What you get from normal enemies is
some paint to refill your hammer, troop cards and tokens that
increase the max amount of Paint your hammer can carry.
Troop Cards allow you to summon those
troops as temporary allies in fights, but I never found them to work
that well. Sometimes the troops will simply run away and during
bigger fights they often switch sites. All in all the rewards are
often not worth the hassle and that makes the fights quite tedious
after a while and you'll start to avoid them as much as possible.
The Cards themselves can be bought and
sold at the Shop in Port Prism or found in the stages. While most
cards cover a wide variety of standard moves or objects from the
Mario Universe, some are pretty unique. These so called Thing Cards
are created after finding unique 3D Objects and squeezing them. These
range from Washing Machines to Fire extinguishers all the way to a
simple turnip. Thing Cards are used for two purposes. Many Boss
enemies can only be harmed after using one of those cards. For
example you first have to extinguish the flames of Mortons Hammer
before you can attack him.
The other usage is to solve puzzles in
the stages. Some of the cutouts you find have the shape of a card and
you just have to insert the right card. If you want to set sail
you'll need wind. And if there is no wind you simply use the fan card
you found earlier.
All in all the card system isn't bad,
but it needed some more depth to be truly engaging.
The greatest strength of Paper Mario
lies in it's varied level design and the exploration. So what are
your rewards for this? For completing a level 100%, which means
coloring all colorless spots hidden there, you'll unlock the music of
this level in the Port Prisma Museum. Apart from that you can gift
them cards for their collection which unlocks several concept arts.
Apart from that the game offers some
side activities. Across the map you'll find eight arenas for
Rock-Paper-Scissors. These get you a ton of coins for beating them
and after that you may challenge one of the eight Masters to a fight.
If you win again you are rewarded with a special Troop Card. One of
the eight Koopa Kids.
From time to time a Shy Bandit appears
on the map. He will mark one of your already completed levels and
start draining the color. Beat him in time to save your progress or
else he will drain all the color from that stage, forcing you to do
it again if you want the 100%. This guy can be quit infuriating from
time to time because it can happen that it's impossible to reach him
in time. In that case closing the game and restarting is your only
option if you don't want to complete the level again.
Presentation:
The presentation is by far this games
strongest point. It looks simply phenomenal. Nintendos development
studios have mastered HD development perfectly. Everything in the
game has a handcrafted feel to it. It's full of details. Everything
in the stages looks like you'd be able to create it yourself at home with
paper, talent and time. And that is the highest praise I can give
this level. Also the visual variety in the levels is great.
Intelligent Systems managed to make even standard Mario locations,
like the desert and lava world, look unique and memorable.
From a technical standpoint I didn't
have any problems with the game. Everything is smooth and I didn't
find any bugs or stutters.
On the music front this games shines
even more. Nearly every stage has a unique track an I haven't found
on that I didn't like. The sound is used perfectly to enhance the
atmosphere. Especially the theme of Treasure Island is great and
would feel right at home in any Monkey Island game.
The sound team proved that they're able
to create a wide variety of tunes, which all still feel quite Mario.
Generally music and looks are this
games strong points.
Conclusion:
Paper Mario: Color Splash may not be
the game fans wanted, but it is still a very good title for the
Wii-U. I enjoyed it a lot and if you like adventure games with a focus
on puzzles and a unique look, then I'm sure you'll do the same. The
game has some obvious shortcomings in the gameplay department. The
combat is rather shallow and not really worthwhile. And robbing the
game of most of its RPG elements did more harm than good. But on the
opposite the game looks amazing. It's fun exploring the locations, which have a lot of thought and love put into them. Also the humor and characters of the game are great, which, sadly, makes the endless horde of Toad NPCs hurt the enjoyment of them all the more. Characterwise
they are very unique, but they still all look the same.
The Story is in a similar boat. It's
told very charmingly and is well done, but in the end just your
standard Mario Story, like you've heard it a thousand times by now.
All this is held together by the great
look of the game, which proves again that Mario games and HD belong
together.
All in all it is a good game full of
wasted potential.
Conclusion (One Sentence):
Paper Mario: Color Splash is not the
game fans wanted, but still a good and enjoyable game filled with wasted potential,
that looks phenomenal and plays fine.
