Category Archives: Paper Mario Series

The problem with Black Paint in Paper Mario: Color Splash

Paper Mario: Color Splash is a game that nobody talks about (except for me on Twitter, and it usually doesn’t end well). And honestly, I can see why. It was released just four years after Paper Mario: Sticker Star, a game that essentially killed the Paper Mario franchise in the eyes of former fans of the series. At first glance, it didn’t fix very many of Sticker Star’s main problems. Mario’s attacks are still disposable, Thing cards are still required for boss battles, and almost every NPC is a Toad. All of these issues added up to one of the worst-selling Mario games in recent history.

If you’ve read my review on Paper Mario: Color Splash, then you know that I really like this game for some reason. But it’s got a ton of problems, and the one I’m going to discuss today is its storyline. It’s better than Sticker Star’s, sure, but it’s still pretty bad on its own. Specifically, I take issue with the concept of black paint that the game introduces about six hours in. There will be full Color Splash spoilers here, so if you’re trying to avoid those – first, what? – and second, steer clear until you’ve beaten the game. Continue reading The problem with Black Paint in Paper Mario: Color Splash

Paper Mario: Color Splash – Full Review

Paper Mario: The Origami King was recently released for Nintendo Switch. If you’ve read my somewhat-recent review,really liked The Origami King and felt that it made many improvements on the formula established way back when Paper Mario: Sticker Star came out.

So, Paper Mario on Nintendo 64. That happened. The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario happened too. But out of all the Paper Mario games that happened, the one that “happened the least” is Paper Mario: Color Splash. In other words, I don’t see anybody talking about this game anymore. It was released in 2016 and was almost immediately swept under the rug. In fact, it’s one of the worst-selling Super Mario games to date; if the statistic I viewed was correct, it’s only sold about 800,000 units total. That’s rough by Mario series standards.

Is Color Splash better than Origami King? Well, no. it’s certainly better than Sticker Star, but that’s not exactly a benchmark to strive for. Especially considering the fact that I’ve (accidentally) eaten stale food that wound up being better than Sticker Star. My point is, though, Color Splash never really got the attention that deserved! And I hope my occasionally-coherent writings on this game will give it just a bit of extra attention. Do note that we’ll be discussing a bit of spoilers here.

Continue reading Paper Mario: Color Splash – Full Review

Paper Mario: The Origami King – Full Review

A while back, I wrote up a short post on my first impressions of Paper Mario: The Origami King. It’s been almost two weeks, and I’ve just about wrapped up my playthrough of the game. I can say this with confidence: I believe The Origami King is Nintendo’s strongest Switch release this year (so far). Though, considering its rather barren lineup (especially if you take out Animal Crossing), that might not be saying much.

Still, though, I’ve got to hand it to Nintendo. They could have rather easily ported Paper Mario: Color Splash to Switch, but instead they built a brand-new Paper Mario game that far, far exceeds its predecessor. Please note that this will be a spoiler-free review; we won’t be going in-depth on any specific plot details. If you’re still on the fence, then hopefully this post helps you make a decision!

Continue reading Paper Mario: The Origami King – Full Review

Paper Mario: The Origami King – First Impressions

Most gaming sites always start their Paper Mario posts with a riff on the current state of the series… so let’s continue that trend in proper fashion. The fact is, Paper Mario changed after the release of Sticker Star on the Nintendo 3DS, which could be seen as a soft reboot of the Paper Mario franchise as a whole. We’ll get this out of the way right now: Paper Mario: The Origami King is in no way a “return to form” for the series. That being said, I’ve played the game for several hours, and I’m honestly quite impressed with it. If you’re on the fence about whether to buy this game… maybe reading some of my opinions will help? Or – the most likely scenario – maybe it won’t. This will be the first of potentially several posts I write on Paper Mario: The Origami King, so let’s get started!

Continue reading Paper Mario: The Origami King – First Impressions