Paper Mario: Color Splash

[Ryu]

I sympathise with Risa Tabata during her interview with GameXplain. Everything I hear in the interview, I can imagine some Paper Mario fans letting out a violent reaction, or at least cringing at what she said. True enough, the comments are generally spiteful, not only to the game, but also to Risa Tabata. It would be scary to imagine what would happen if those people are around that spot and what they would do to her. It's a miracle that she turned out fine, though the outrage might not be shown on video (then again, it must be my overreactive imagination).

While I'm not at all fond of Ms. Tabata's attitude towards the more "controversial" questions, I'm actually afraid for her that she could end up the new Allison Rapp and be the scapegoat for all the game's problems, with Color Splash haters flinging their *bleep* at her when it's totally undeserved and eventually trying to harass her over the internet just for making a game they don't like - especially since she's a woman. Because, you know, parts of the gaming community are kinda dumb that way.

fun fax: The actual producer of the game (Kensuke Tanabe) is currently heading another controversial Nintendo sequel...

Wow, I actually kinda forgot he was in charge of Fed Force too. And he produced Sticker Star.

Maybe he'll become the next Nintendo creator that everyone hates. Shame too, since Sakamoto was the one who actually ruined the Metroid series.

 

[Nitwit]

What could've been its future?

 

[The Superstar Saga]

While I'm not at all fond of Ms. Tabata's attitude towards the more "controversial" questions, I'm actually afraid for her that she could become the new Allison Rapp and be the scapegoat for all the game's problems. Color Splash haters could end up flinging their *bleep* at her when it's totally undeserved and eventually try to harass her just for making a game they don't like - especially since she's a woman. Because, you know, parts of the gaming community are kinda dumb that way.

Off topic, but I feel bad for Allison Rapp. I know why she got fired, yes. But I feel bad for her, she's not the bad person the internet makes her out to be :/

 

[Nitwit]

While I'm not at all fond of Ms. Tabata's attitude towards the more "controversial" questions, I'm actually afraid for her that she could become the new Allison Rapp and be the scapegoat for all the game's problems. Color Splash haters could end up flinging their *bleep* at her when it's totally undeserved and eventually try to harass her just for making a game they don't like - especially since she's a woman. Because, you know, parts of the gaming community are kinda dumb that way.

Off topic, but I feel bad for Allison Rapp. I know why she got fired, yes. But I feel bad for her, she's not the bad person the internet makes her out to be :/

It also doesn't help that she was laughing like the joker. :/

 

[Mcmadness]

Oh well. It's still better than SPM.

 

[Milo Thatch]

Oh well. It's still better than SPM.

I know you dislike Super Paper Mario, but do you think it's even worse than Sticker Star?

 

[Mcmadness]

I do actually.

Though SS I see as mediocre, SPM I see as crap.

 

[Zae]

I do actually.

Though SS I see as mediocre, SPM I see as crap.

you know this is why i avoid ss really, because i feel im just gonna feel like its another failure in the paper mario series.

 

[Mcmadness]

You aren't missing much to be honest.

 

[Diamant]

Nintendo will have to do better if they want the game sells. Not sure I want to spend $90 for this game, which is almost a Sticker Star 2 at the moment.

 

[Time Turner]

I do actually.

Though SS I see as mediocre, SPM I see as crap.

you know this is why i avoid ss really, because i feel im just gonna feel like its another failure in the paper mario series.

Gameplay-wise, it's nothing like the first two, but it still carries the same charm and charisma throughout its story and characters.

 

[Zae]

I do actually.

Though SS I see as mediocre, SPM I see as crap.

you know this is why i avoid ss really, because i feel im just gonna feel like its another failure in the paper mario series.

Gameplay-wise, it's nothing like the first two, but it still carries the same charm and charisma throughout its story and characters.

the gameplay doesnt have to be similar to the first two, it just needs to be good. Something that spm failed HORRIBLY at, and from what ive seen ss is in the same boat.

 

[Time Turner]

I mean, I thought it was good. It wasn't as good as the other two, but I more than enjoyed my time with it.

 

[Zae]

I mean, I thought it was good. It wasn't as good as the other two, but I more than enjoyed my time with it.

well really it had potential, but due to the fact that they made it as limited as possible it fell flat, something a friend of mine pointed out actually that the sticker system could have made all kinds of strategy and various replay value options. But due to lacking in different commands and overall lacking rpg elements, the game flopped, and most of that is due to the gameplay.

 

[Ryu]

SPM was actually my favorite game in the series, even though I liked TTYD too.

IMO, it incorporated elements of mainline Mario the right way - by fusing traditional Mario platforming with the RPG and item elements from the previous games. Not to mention the great story, huge and colorful cast of characters with gems such as Francis, and the ability to play as the Mario "core four" each with their own special abilities. It's probably my second-favorite of the Mario RPG's next to BiS.

 

[Zae]

SPM was actually my favorite game in the series, even though I liked TTYD too.

IMO, it incorporated elements of mainline Mario the right way - by fusing traditional Mario platforming with the RPG and item elements from the previous games. Not to mention the great story, huge and colorful cast of characters with gems such as Francis, and the ability to play as the Mario "core four" each with their own special abilities. It's probably my second-favorite of the Mario RPG's next to BiS.

honestly i hate spm, there were multiple times where i put the game down, the gameplay was so boring, so limited, and with enemies having all kinds of health, the game was dull and dragged on. I had to use bowser just to make the game more tolerable. The game dragged on and on, 3d flip was barren as shit, the story sounded like fanfiction, not mario, thats for sure. Man i cant think of anything i like in spm. I mean sure its no dawn of mana or tales of symphonia dawn of the new world, and sure as hell not final fantasy mystic quest.

But i cant stand the game, its slow, its limited, its boring as all shit.

I mean if you like the game, then cool, but spm just doesnt do it for me.

 

[Nitwit]

SPM was actually my favorite game in the series, even though I liked TTYD too.

IMO, it incorporated elements of mainline Mario the right way - by fusing traditional Mario platforming with the RPG and item elements from the previous games. Not to mention the great story, huge and colorful cast of characters with gems such as Francis, and the ability to play as the Mario "core four" each with their own special abilities. It's probably my second-favorite of the Mario RPG's next to BiS.

honestly i hate spm, there were multiple times where i put the game down, the gameplay was so boring, so limited, and with enemies having all kinds of health, the game was dull and dragged on. I had to use bowser just to make the game more tolerable. The game dragged on and on, 3d flip was barren as *bleep*, the story sounded like fanfiction, not mario, thats for sure. Man i cant think of anything i like in spm. I mean sure its no dawn of mana or tales of symphonia dawn of the new world, and sure as hell not final fantasy mystic quest.

But i cant stand the game, its slow, its limited, its boring as all *bleep*.

I mean if you like the game, then cool, but spm just doesnt do it for me.

Well... That's a first?

 

[Magikrazy]

the ability to play as the Mario "core four" each with their own special abilities.

This was actually a really good idea, and I wish they would return to it. But maybe replace Bowser with Toad because Bowser broke the game six ways to Saturday.

I also kinda liked the idea of having power-ups on command, but I could have done without pretending those power-ups are actual characters. What I would do is have Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad collect some familiar Mario power-ups throughout the game, such as Super Leaf and Penguin Suit. Maybe throw a new one in too, like a ninja power (don't think Mario's done that yet).

 

[Zae]

SPM was actually my favorite game in the series, even though I liked TTYD too.

IMO, it incorporated elements of mainline Mario the right way - by fusing traditional Mario platforming with the RPG and item elements from the previous games. Not to mention the great story, huge and colorful cast of characters with gems such as Francis, and the ability to play as the Mario "core four" each with their own special abilities. It's probably my second-favorite of the Mario RPG's next to BiS.

honestly i hate spm, there were multiple times where i put the game down, the gameplay was so boring, so limited, and with enemies having all kinds of health, the game was dull and dragged on. I had to use bowser just to make the game more tolerable. The game dragged on and on, 3d flip was barren as *bleep*, the story sounded like fanfiction, not mario, thats for sure. Man i cant think of anything i like in spm. I mean sure its no dawn of mana or tales of symphonia dawn of the new world, and sure as hell not final fantasy mystic quest.

But i cant stand the game, its slow, its limited, its boring as all *bleep*.

I mean if you like the game, then cool, but spm just doesnt do it for me.

Well... That's a first?

its not surprising dude, i dont like ff6, i dont like mother 2/earthbound, i dont like secret of mana, im sure there is other games. But thats the great thing about me now is that i can share my distaste for those games in detail.

 

[freakworld]

its not surprising dude, i dont like ff6, i dont like mother 2/earthbound, i dont like secret of mana, im sure there is other games. But thats the great thing about me now is that i can share my distaste for those games in detail.

its great youre always supplying me with reasons to argue with you zae <3

 

[Mcmadness]

SPM was actually my favorite game in the series, even though I liked TTYD too.

IMO, it incorporated elements of mainline Mario the right way - by fusing traditional Mario platforming with the RPG and item elements from the previous games. Not to mention the great story, huge and colorful cast of characters with gems such as Francis, and the ability to play as the Mario "core four" each with their own special abilities. It's probably my second-favorite of the Mario RPG's next to BiS.

honestly i hate spm, there were multiple times where i put the game down, the gameplay was so boring, so limited, and with enemies having all kinds of health, the game was dull and dragged on. I had to use bowser just to make the game more tolerable. The game dragged on and on, 3d flip was barren as *bleep*, the story sounded like fanfiction, not mario, thats for sure. Man i cant think of anything i like in spm. I mean sure its no dawn of mana or tales of symphonia dawn of the new world, and sure as hell not final fantasy mystic quest.

But i cant stand the game, its slow, its limited, its boring as all *bleep*.

I mean if you like the game, then cool, but spm just doesnt do it for me.

Well... That's a first?

If you mean the SPM hate nobody hates it more than me around here.

My hatred dwarfs yours Zae!!!!

 

[Mister Wu]

Anyway, I think Color Splash is at least trying to improve something:

• EXP and battles

We have seen that, effectively, defeated enemies drop hammers that fill a bar. Once the bar is full, the maximum amount of colors increases. Is this enough? I don't know, it must be seen how much color the flashy cards require. It's probably a baby step in the direction of making battles worth being battled. Some defeated enemies also drop enemies cards, those cannot be used against bosses though. Koopalings cards would be awesome but their likelihood is near 0.

• Story

I'm surprised how this aspect hasn't been mentioned yet: Color Splash starts with a message sent to Mario in his house like the first threee Paper Mario games! The initial cutscene is clearly darker (stormy night, colorless Toad sent to Mario by the main villain!) and in contrast with Sticker Star's one, that featured a more common story of a festival interrupted by Bowser who kidnaps Peach (a typical trope of the Super Mario Galaxy games and, only in part, of the first Paper Mario). In fact, the villain doesn't seem to show up at all even in the following moment in Prism Island, where Toad becomes a victim of the Slurp Guys.
But there's more. Let's have a look at this map:

even though we are clearly not at the beginning of the game, Peach is still indicated to be in the main town of Prism Island, like she was at the beginning of the game, suggesting that she doesn't get kidnapped at all in the first part of the story.
So, it seems that we are not in front of a story similar to the one seen in Sticker Star (or, incidentally, the first Paper Mario!).
From what we know, actually, since islands and paints are typical tropes related to , he might be the main villain instead of (he surely doesn't appear in the first course, Ruddy Road, as GameXplain showed).

• Locations

Having the game set in a different island was a curious choice to begin with if they wanted to make a game like Sticker Star in this sense, but Super Mario 3D World showed that even different locations (Sprixie Kingdom) can have more or less the same settings. The main town, that we have already seen, reminds a bit Delfino Plaza, but this is not enough proof of there being less common settings in the game. Fortunately, the map comes to help. We can see that there is a watermill (already seen in the Nintendo direct), a circus, a radio tower, a lighthouse on a small island and a Kalimari-like desert, that reminds a bit the desert from the first Paper Mario, that too had a railroad and a sandy desert nearby. So, not all settings are necessarily cliché.

Are these points enough for Color Splash to be actually decent and an improvement over Sticker Star, considering that some other (like having many original NPCs and enemies instead of just Toads and enemies seen in other games of the Mario franchise) don't seem to be addressed? I don't know. I'm surely curious to see how this turns out.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

I don't understand the mentality behind changing up Paper Mario because Mario & Luigi exists. I mean, give Mario & Luigi over the blandest version of Mario in the series, but Paper Mario is different enough from Mario & Luigi.

That being said, I won't be getting this game. The best I can say is that at least the box art looks nice.

 

[Zae]

SPM was actually my favorite game in the series, even though I liked TTYD too.

IMO, it incorporated elements of mainline Mario the right way - by fusing traditional Mario platforming with the RPG and item elements from the previous games. Not to mention the great story, huge and colorful cast of characters with gems such as Francis, and the ability to play as the Mario "core four" each with their own special abilities. It's probably my second-favorite of the Mario RPG's next to BiS.

honestly i hate spm, there were multiple times where i put the game down, the gameplay was so boring, so limited, and with enemies having all kinds of health, the game was dull and dragged on. I had to use bowser just to make the game more tolerable. The game dragged on and on, 3d flip was barren as *bleep*, the story sounded like fanfiction, not mario, thats for sure. Man i cant think of anything i like in spm. I mean sure its no dawn of mana or tales of symphonia dawn of the new world, and sure as hell not final fantasy mystic quest.

But i cant stand the game, its slow, its limited, its boring as all *bleep*.

I mean if you like the game, then cool, but spm just doesnt do it for me.

Well... That's a first?

If you mean the SPM hate nobody hates it more than me around here.

My hatred dwarfs yours Zae!!!!

oh im sure it does man, my hatred boils down to other rpgs instead.

You know regarding the whole bar thing. Could it be possible that filling the bar completely unlocks some sort skills or something?

 

[Mcmadness]

if you fill it up your paint total increases.