Paper Mario: Color Splash Review in Progress

Paper Mario Color Splash has taken a lot of flak from fans who didn’t like the previous entry in the series Sticker Star for the 3DS. Those fans said that the game looked too much like Sticker Star and they were not willing to give the game a chance to prove itself. I wasn’t a big fan of Sticker Star, but from the moment I saw Color Splash, I had the opposite reaction of those fans. I was really excited for this game! And now I have my hands on a copy of the game and can give you my early impressions of Color Splash. This is part one of a multi-part review-in-progress. Let’s focus on the game’s writing and graphics so far for this part.

Warning: this review-in-progress contains some spoilers for Paper Mario: Color Splash!

Mario is just walking along when the road he’s walking on suddenly starts to bend up and toward him. Mario better run for his life because the road is coming for him!

This is one of many very strange, funny situations that Mario find himself in with Paper Mario: Color Splash. You just never know what to expect in this game! Let’s take a look at Paper Mario: Color Splash’s writing.

Humor From Every Toad, Your Paint Can Buddy, and the Bizarre Situations

There are a lot of Toads in Paper Mario: Color Splash. In fact, most of the friendly NPCs in this game are Toads. Does that get boring? No, not at all! Each of the Toads you’ll find in Color Splash have their own unique sense of humor and crazy situation that they are caught up in. Take for instance the Toad that calls himself JUSTICE TOAD. I don’t want to spoil too much about his situation but lets just say that when you first meet him he’ll be hiding behind a bush. Another weird Toad is the one who is an Expert on Expert Bridge Makers. Yes, that is a thing in Color Splash! So, ya, all of the Toads look similar to each other but you’ll not find one Toad’s personality thats like the other. You should talk to every single Toad you see. The dialogue in this game is just as good, maybe even better, than the story itself.

Another NPC you should always talk to is your best buddy: a paint can named Huey. Sometimes Huey can be helpful and other times he’s just plain funny! For instance, early on you’ll find out that Huey’s paint is his….blood?! What?! This is getting a bit disturbing! And darkly funny! Huey can be helpful in some situations, you shouldn’t underestimate him, though you’ll have to think for yourself in some situations too.

Speaking of the situations, oh my goodness, there is so many crazy things that you’ll see in this game. One of my favorites so far involves a boat being stuck out in the ocean and how you get it back to shore. I won’t spoil that one for you but it is indeed very awesome! But there are just so many wonderful, insanely cool moments in this game. I know I haven’t even seen the very best parts of this game yet. I can’t wait to see what other great situations Mario finds himself in.

To sum this all up: I’m very impressed with the writing in Color Splash so far. I’ve been laughing a lot and really enjoying myself. And there’s another part of the game I want to talk to you about today too! I just have to give you the low down on Paper Mario: Color Splash’s graphics!

The Best Looking Paper Mario Game Ever

Paper Mario: Color Splash looks better than any of the other Paper Mario games. And thats saying a lot because all of the other games, especially The Thousand Year Door, are really great looking. But Color Splash will have your jaw on the floor. If you thought the game looked good in screenshots and trailers, wait until you see it in HD! This game looks like an animated movie! All of the levels look absolutely beautiful.

Paper Mario is the first of its series where everything looks like its either made out of paper or cardboard. This includes everything in the environments, right down to the floors, the grass, and the ocean. The level of detail in this game is out of this world. Let’s look at Port Prism for instance.

Port Prism is the main hub town for this game. You will be coming back to this place a lot to shop, talk to Toads, get your mail, and more. The trees, buildings, floors, walls, and characters all look like a massive diorama that someone very talented created. There are so many things to look at here including posters on the walls, signs, hidden characters, buildings to visit, and NPCs to bother. You can even splash everything with paint even if it doesn’t need to be splashed with paint. The paint in this game is just as impressive as anything else in the game. It is bright and stands out on anything you put it on. You really just want to cover everything in paint in this game. Don’t get too carried anyway ok? You do have a paint meter that’ll stop you if you use too much paint. Of course, its easy to refill too because you can just hit flowers or trees to get more paint! I’m really not doing this game justice though. You have to see Paper Mario: Color Splash in order to grasp just how amazing it looks!

I haven’t even touched upon Paper Mario’s gameplay, which includes exploration, hitting lots of things, an excellent battle system, and more.

On Monday, I’ll dig into the gameplay a bit and tell you why its a ton better than you might think (especially you Color Splash naysayers).

I really love Paper Mario: Color Splash so far. I have not given the game a score yet and I’m a bit far from that, but I have to say that even now I’m seriously considering giving the game a 10. I’ve never ever given a game a 10. Will Color Splash be the first game that I give a 10 out of 10 to? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see. Please come back next week for Part 2 of our Review-in-progress!