Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U) Review!

The Wii U may be dead but my trip through the backlog of games i have for it rumbles on with  Paper Mario Color Splash!

When it was first shown there was really two camps amongst Wii U owners, the first (and bigger) was "Its a Sticker Star Sequel so no thank you" and the other being "This looks beautiful, i'll give it a chance". I was squarely in the latter camp from the off, it's bright colours and seemingly hilarious writing caught my eye and i eagerly anticipated its release!

Its taken almost 18 months for me to take it off my shelf and i wish i had done it sooner!

Color Splash takes the overall structure of Sticker Star but fixes almost everything! lets get straight to the main point, the main issue everyone seems to have with it, the combat/RPG elements. Color Splash isn't Thousand Year door.... but it also isn't Sticker Star. In Color Splash you control Mario's moves by picking from a selection of cards (such as jump boot or hammer), you paint the cards to essentially dictate how much power goes into each move and then you interact with the moves as you always have in the series. The main complaint with sticker star was the lack of reward for the combat and the limited amount of stickers you can have, thankfully that is not the case here. Every time you battle an enemy they drop "Paint Hammers" these paint hammers are EXP. The more paint hammers you get go towards levelling up the amount of paint you have thus making combat more varied and powerful as you go. Overall the combat has so much variety in terms of enemies and moves, with the hilarious Thing Summon cards being a particular highlight for me.

Now the level design is back in a big way. Each world feels unique and weirdly lived in, with characters spouting funny comments about there life, situation and the game in general throughout. From a mining dig site to a spooky ghost house and everything in between every level is memorable. There is abit of back tracking once you have the big paint stars but the game does the genius thing of showing reasons to go back to the levels on the over world itself so you always know where you need to go and what you need to collect. The music is fantastic as usual. Each tune fits the world you are in and adds to the comedic timing that the game excels at.

The highlight of the Color Splash.... BY FAR.... is the writing. My god what a funny game. Every Toad feels like there own person with there own personality and its usually hilarious. The toad rescue squad in particular are some of the funniest characters in a Mario game for me and every line of dialogue kept me laughing throughout the 30+ hours of content.

I don't want to ruin any more of the game for those that haven't played it yet because i was really shocked by how much i enjoyed Color Splash. Whilst it isn't quite as good a game as Thousand Year Door from a combat perspective, the worlds design and hilarious characters are some of the very best Nintendo have made in many years.

Overall, This game is pure fun. Its combat may not be everything people want but it doesn't stop it being a super enjoyable experience from start to finish. If you have a Wii U i implore you to go out and pick up Paper Mario: Color Splash before it inevitably becomes one of the hardest games to find on the Console.

8.5/10

Im going to need a new top Wii U game list by the end of this backlog for sure...

My Top Five Nintendo Switch Games (July 2018 Edition)

If you've kept up with this blog over the years you'll no doubt be familiar with the Top ten Wii U lists i did every year and with the Wii U now passing on (Don't worry, there will be at least one more Wii U list yet :P) its time to take a look at its successor, the Switch.

Now im only going for Top Five this time around purely because of how little i have managed to play so far but i will get to a Top Ten by the end of the year for sure! Also, please note that Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe wont be on here because i played Zelda on Wii U and MK8: Deluxe would just be too cheap of a pick!

So without further a do....

5. Arms

When ARMS was first announced during the January Direct with a frankly lacklustre trailer that really didn't showcase too much of the game, focusing on motion control gimmicks really put me off. Thankfully in the directs that followed it became clear of Nintendo's intention to position ARMS as "Splatoon of Fighting games" with bright graphics, characters and simple yet deep mechanics. And sadly much like Splatoon it really lacked content at launch! The game has improved alot since then and i have found myself playing more and more as the year has gone by and until Smash comes out it is my favourite fighting game on the Switch!

4. Owlboy

Owlboy highlights one of my absolute favourite trends of the Switch's life so far - Indie games getting physical releases! It seems that the Switch is easy and cheap to develop for and with Nintendo gamers being some of the most hardcore of collectors the decision to make physical releases for games like this is very smart. As for the game its a beautifully made 2D platform/Adventure game that is wonderfully written and very engaging. It reminds me of the great GBA and SNES games of the past that were simple yet incredibly memorable. I highly recommend picking this one up, especially physically for just £20.

3. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battles

One of the most leaked games of all time and arguably one of the most unexpected gems ever, Mario + Rabbids is a crossover that frankly nobody wanted... until they saw it! Ubisoft has done a fantastic job to make this look and feel like a first party Mario title whilst also adding in the trademark silliness of the Rabbids. Gameplay wise its weirdly very similar to XCOM but obviously a little more simplified. Its still pretty hard too and im told the Expansion is basically a half sequel! Another game i highly recommend.

2. Super Mario Odyssey 

One of THE games that has sold the Switch to the masses. This is one of the most charming and wondrous games Mario has been involved with. Each world is full of Moons to hunt down, secrets to find and silly costumes to wear! The art style and music are particular highlights for me and overall most of the cappy powers and creatures you control are fun to play around with. Although i still personally prefer my 3D Mario games to be a little more Linear the sheer amount of quality content available here has to make it one of my top Switch games at this point.

1. Splatoon 2

Splatoon 2 is very similar to Splatoon 1, lets get that out of the way to begin with. Now that is not a bad thing, but it needs to be said. Splatoon 2 builds on the first brilliantly, every aspect from the first game is brought back but better, every map, weapon and piece of gear feels important and developed, the single player is great and is deceiving deep and the new mode Salmon Run is great fun and is a needed extra thing to do when you're a little bored of multiplayer. I've haven't had a chance to pick up the Octo Expansion yet but it looks like a great challenge mode with more rewards and gear and that's a great thing!

Overall the first year and a bit for the Switch has been OKAY, i think if you didn't have a Wii U or buy every Wii U release it has been GREAT with games like Bayonetta 2, Captain Toad, Donkey Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors, Pokken and Mario Kart 8 making it a dream start for Nintendo's Hybird Machine!