Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U)

My only exposure to the Paper Mario series came through Thousand Year Door during childhood - a game which I never finished. Color Splash must not have ingtrigued me on release, as I didn't give it a chance. As I've recently been returning to the Wii U catalog, I was excited to revisit this entry in the series, considering that it's exclusive to the console. All that said, Color Splash is a solid JRPG experience, with fun moments and some slight headaches. The core mechanic of the game - painting with your hammer - is great fun, and somehow never got old. What did get old were the esoteric "Thing" cards, and their abstract uses. Thankfully, the headaches that Color Splash presents are easily remedied and don't detract all that much from the experience - at least in my opinion.

Play it for the:

Fun painting mechanic
Humorous dialogue
Creative and charming levels and sub-plots

Reviewed on 2025-3-10