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Paper Mario: Color Splash is a Wii U adventure whose strongest reviewed qualities are its humor and visual craft; its card-based battles are the bigger question for players who want a traditional role-playing structure. Nintendo’s official description centers on restoring color across Prism Island with Huey, while critic snapshots on Metacritic rate the game generally favorably. Whether it suits you depends in part on how appealing its painted-card combat sounds.
What is Paper Mario: Color Splash about?
Nintendo describes Paper Mario: Color Splash as an action-adventure set on Prism Island. When a blank Toad arrives, Mario and his new sidekick Huey investigate the island’s loss of color. Mario uses a paint-filled hammer to restore color as they explore the papercraft-like world. Nintendo UK’s game description and Nintendo Japan’s listing outline that premise.
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Paper Mario: Color Splash - Wii U Standard Edition (Certified Refurbished) | $55.29 | Buy on Amazon |
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Paper Mario: Color Splash - Wii U Standard Edition | $76.29 | Buy on Amazon |
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Paper Mario - Color Splash | $31.37 | Buy on Amazon |
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Paper Mario: Color Splash (Nintendo Wii U) | $189.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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Paper Mario: Color Splash (Nintendo Wii U) | $86.22 | Buy on Amazon |
The presentation is central to the game’s identity: the paper-and-paint setting shapes both the adventure and the ways Mario interacts with the world. The Wii U GamePad is more than a controller for ordinary movement: Nintendo says its touchscreen is used to cut along lines and remove obstacles to open routes to new areas.
How do the battles work?
Combat revolves around battle cards. Players choose cards and paint them on the GamePad touchscreen before using them in battle, according to Nintendo UK. That means fights involve selecting and preparing cards rather than simply relying on quick reflexes.
#1 Best Overall
- This Certified Refurbished product is tested and certified to look and work like new. The refurbishing process includes functionality testing, basic cleaning, inspection, and repackaging. The product ships with all relevant accessories, a minimum 90-day warranty, and may arrive in a generic box. Only select sellers who maintain a high performance bar may offer Certified Refurbished products on Amazon.com
- Prism Island is being drained of its color in this turn-based action-adventure RPG hybrid.
- Paper Mario's paint hammer splashes paint on anything it hits so he uses it to bring the color back to the island.
- “E” for Everyone w/Mild Cartoon Violence
This design is the key consideration for prospective players. If painting and playing cards sounds like a welcome extension of the game’s art direction, it may be part of the appeal. If you are hoping for a return to an earlier Paper Mario role-playing structure, the card focus may feel like a detour. The available reviews do not establish that every critic objected to the system, so it is more accurate to treat it as a potential point of friction than a universal flaw.
What did critics think?
Metacritic’s critic-reviews page displays a 76 Metascore, labeled “Generally Favorable,” based on 77 displayed reviews: 51 positive (69%), 22 mixed (30%) and one negative (1%). Its separate game page reports a 76 Metascore based on 74 critic reviews and a 7.3 user score based on 551 ratings. Those are different page snapshots with different critic-review totals, so the counts should not be combined or treated as one fixed tally. They are review-aggregation figures, not measures of sales or playtime.
Rank #2
- Prism Island is being drained of its color in this turn-based action-adventure RPG hybrid.
- Paper Mario's paint hammer splashes paint on anything it hits
- so he uses it to bring the color back to the island.
- “E” for Everyone w/Mild Cartoon Violence
The sampled praise points to the game’s comic writing and presentation. A NintendoWorldReport review excerpt reproduced on Metacritic called it “a gorgeous, funny, and entertaining adventure,” and GamesBeat’s October 5, 2016 excerpt praised its lighter approach to Mario adventure while warning that it is “isn’t frustration-free” and has “cringe worthy puns.” These excerpts illustrate the balance: the humor and visual craft can be a draw, while the style of comedy and battle design will not suit everyone.
Is it worth playing?
It is most promising for players looking for a colorful, humorous Mario adventure and who are open to a card-driven battle system. The official mechanics make clear that combat asks you to select and paint cards, while exploration includes GamePad touchscreen interactions. Critics’ generally favorable aggregate score and the cited praise for the presentation support considering it on those terms—not as proof that it recreates the formula of earlier Paper Mario games.
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- Paper Mario Color Splash - Wii U - [Edizione: Germania]
For readers mainly seeking a traditional role-playing structure from Paper Mario, the card design is a reason to look closely at gameplay descriptions before buying. The evidence here supports a contrast in expectations, not a detailed feature-by-feature comparison with every earlier entry.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What system is it on, and can you still buy it digitally?
Paper Mario: Color Splash is a Wii U exclusive. Nintendo UK lists its UK release date as 7 October 2016; Nintendo Japan lists the packaged and downloadable editions for 13 October 2016, a regional date difference rather than a contradiction.
Rank #4
- A hilarious action-adventure game set on mysterious Prism Island
- The Paint Hammer lets Mario restore the drained colour of Prism Island: colour in colourless spots to solve puzzles and search for clues, or revive Toads who have been drained of their colour
- New Battle Card system: cleverly use Battle Cards during puzzling battles to defeat enemies, summon objects with Things cards, and use Enemy cards to summon allies
- The new cutout feature allows you to extract areas from environments to overcome obstacles whenever possible.
Nintendo UK says purchases from the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS eShops ended on 27 March 2023. Nintendo Japan’s listing confirms that a packaged Wii U edition was released, making a physical copy the direct product option. The cited official listings do not establish current retailer stock, price, condition, or regional compatibility, so check those details with a seller before purchasing.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- A hilarious action-adventure game set on mysterious Prism Island
- The Paint Hammer lets Mario restore the drained colour of Prism Island: colour in colourless spots to solve puzzles and search for clues, or revive Toads who have been drained of their colour!
- New Battle Card system: cleverly use Battle Cards during puzzling battles to defeat enemies, summon objects with Things cards, and use Enemy cards to summon allies
- The new cutout feature allows you to extract areas from environments to overcome obstacles whenever possible
- Compatible with all consoles in the 3DS family
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