Paper Mario: Color Splash Deserves a First Chance

[@AurumAlex64]

Hi! This is my first time making something like this, so any thoughts and feedback are more than welcome! Sorry about some of the audio oddities for about the first 20 minutes or so of the video, I was attempting to figure out different ways to record audio, and clearly some of them were better than others. Luckily, I figured out a decent setup fairly quickly. Hope you enjoy!

[@madelinerei9072]

A: this video is really well done, amazing work B: the idea of Color Splash with an actual deck-building system and paint being a real mana/SP mechanic sounds so good why can't that be real 😭

[@lisatroiani6119]

honestly, i’d make it if i could pull off the paper style as good as the game does

[@LastDreamy]

Was gently fuming the whole time that Alex was describing the exact concept of Baten Kaitos but ended up quoting Monolith Soft's other series which is Xenoblade.

[@barelyhere7200]

One of my favorite things about this game is the manual. Like most people I never bothered to look at the manual because why would I? One day though I decided to and I’m so glad I did. The manual is hysterical Just like the rest of the game and gives some really interesting insight to the development of the game. Like for example when they were trying to make the steak look perfect, During a company barbecue event, they had a professional cameraman take pictures of it during various stages of preparation. It also tells story details not stated anywhere else in the game. Like the real reason Bowser drained Peach of her color was because he got enamored by her pinkness and wanted to have it all to himself. The manual also give us a lot more information about the lore of the dark blue inn. This game easily has the best manual I have ever seen which doesn’t sound like that much of a compliment, but it really is. I recommend looking at it if you haven’t

[@AurumAlex64]

You're totally right, the manual for color splash is a must read for anyone playing the game.

[@LuigiMasterGaming]

Wow, someone else who actually knows about this game's e-manual? I 100% agree here, the manual is such a treat to read through (and as such I actually do that myself occasionally when the mood strikes), especially the section on how they made the steak fight (where was that lobster fight in Origami King, Nintendo? smh my head) genuinely one of my favorite e-manuals, and probably manuals in general, but then again I suppose the bar isn't that high when the only other stellar e-manual that comes to mind was the Super Mario Maker one (and at least the SM3DW one had a hidden Luigi or two going for it) Very underrated li'l thing, and I love it dearly :)

[@Lunar1314_]

I read it religiously

[@Evie1228]

This game literallly has "LUIGI WOULD NEVER DO THIS!" and "Well your in prison, there's nothing much I can do without raising this games age rating"

[@MissAkashiya]

"MY WIFE LEFT ME"

[@Luca-o6u]

@@MissAkashiyawait where

[@sonicwontletmeleave]

i don’t know if anyone remembers this but around a month before the official launch of the game, nintendo fucked up and allowed you to pre order the game on the wii u eshop whilst forgetting to lock the game until its intended release date. they quickly fixed this but if you pre ordered the game within that specific hour time span in September 2016, you were able to have full access to the game a month early. i was one of those people and it’s a memory i will always cherish!

[@haydenhouts]

*nintendo will remember this*

[@TaleOfTheToaster]

Exactly the video I needed tonight, much like with Super Mystery Dungeon this is a game I beat at the time and have long forgotten almost every aspect, but this one I truly liked at the time. I couldn’t have told you much more than “it’s funny” and “the train levels were cool”, but this has refreshed my memory very well. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the SMB3 level appeared as I just don’t remember it at all. But most importantly, I never played Origami King, so the comparisons here and why Color Splash is often better, is an input I really wanted to explore. Subbed!

[@AurumAlex64]

Yeah the more I reflect on this game, the more I realize that, despite the last few lines of the video, I think I prefer Color Splash over Origami King.

[@lordmarshmal_0643]

It is interesting to me that I kinda feel the same about SMD being not so memorable, I'd argue as well that it suffers in the same way Color Splash did from Sticker Star: SMD got overshadowed pretty hard by Gates To Infinity's poor reception (at least from what I can tell it wasn't taken well, I certainly feel it's the weakest of the series) so there was somewhat of a sour aftertaste still in people's mouths SMD's connection orb and non-repeating requests does cater to my preferences as someone who still wants a to-do list of some sort even after the formalities of plot and such, but there's not a lot I could tell you about from immediate memory (it's been years since my playthrough of SMD's main-game but still)

[@magicball3201]

​@@lordmarshmal_0643my understanding is that after GtI, people were pumped that SMD looked like a return to form. It was just released late into the 3DS's lifespan, which historically is bad for sales on any console.

[@maglev0789]

This might be the only time in Mario history where Larry was the standout Koopaling

[@Danominator]

That one moment in Sticker Star when Kersti is stuck in a spider web upsets me, it really seemed like writers ALMOST wanted to show her attitude changing but then they totally went back on it. Really frustrating, Huey seems way more enjoyable as a character.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

The best part of Sticker Star is that if you can manage to beat the final boss without using Kersti, you have a brief interlude between the end of the battle, and the start of the epilogue, where you can throw her in the trash. Good riddance.

[@snivyboy168]

685 views? This is a high quality breakdown of the entirety of Color Splash, a full retrospective, hour and a half long and I watched this whole video engaged the whole time, expecting this to be some big well known video that everyone's talking about and NOBODY'S EVEN SEEN IT?

[@AurumAlex64]

Thanks! I made this one quite a while ago, but that's the beauty of evergreen content, I suppose: it can get a second wind at any time

[@misk-ivus2990]

Sorta like the game itself.

[@Fellow_Artist-o7]

most of the views must've been me, I really wanted this game and didn't get it until 2023

[@WooperK]

@@misk-ivus2990 Lol extacly what i was going say

[@tenchihira]

Well it definitely has more views now!

[@buzzytrombone4353]

I remember watching a review of this game six months ago from someone called The Red Guy and they went into a point about the theme of the game being a celebration of uniqueness and a rejection to conformity. The Toads in Port Prisma represent a celebration of their uniqueness as they cover themselves in the colourful paint that is in the fountain as the things that make them individuals are celebrated, while Bowser's minions (the only characters on the spectrum with different designs from each other in the game) are unsatisfied with their positions in their lives. I think that this idea was done more cohesively in The Origami King as that game's theme was about life being based on how one person conducts themselves as an individual and the two emotional moments in that game were all based on trying to undo someone's attempt at making people confirm to one side.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

A celebration of uniqueness and rejection of conformity, in the game where all the npcs are toads that look the same, and any unique designs from the series were culled, and new ones were prohibited. You have to earn your message.

[@buzzytrombone4353]

@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Hence why I stated that it was done more cohesively in Origami King because Bowser's minions were a part of that equation.

[@jossuecabrera8611]

​@@buzzytrombone4353 Not to mention that there are a lot more enemy variety in the origami king and a lot less copies of the same enemies with different costumes, adding to your point.

[@OlmiOP]

I've been avoiding Paper Mario related content like the plague for the last few years, simply because of a lot of issues with the community, but the title of this video intrigued me enough to watch it, and boy am I glad I did Despite the many problems with color splash, this was a very fair breakdown that is able to recognize the good in it, and not just bash it for what it did wrong. The fact that you went into a lot of detail for EVERYTHING makes it even more amazing Great video, and I agree that Color Splash Deserves a First Chance :)

[@Holyphoquenjg]

I like how the levels aren’t like regular levels, they show a small segment of the world but they’re not meant for you to finish them and then never go back. You’re meant to go back to levels and find stuff to continue on with others.

[@ShaneStapler]

for my first comment on my long journey of binge watching all aurumalex64 videos i wanted to make sure i actually understood the video lol (watched three times, fell asleep one. honestly, falling asleep is trademark of a good video essay, especially if you want to continue after waking up.) i dont know much about paper mario besides the 90000 fans of the thousand year door, but i actually did play quite a few of them while i was younger, particularly the alphadream games even if i i dont remember them entirely. i played color splash as well, but for pretty much all of these mario rpg games i was terrible at them in my younger child mind i just couldnt comprehend the mechanics lol, so i never beat them. what i do remember is the comedy and general visual appeal, and im glad this video delves into the lackluster gameplay of color splash in a way that makes it make sense to a mind that doesnt really remember. this video gave me one billion flashes of nostalgia and reminds me of why i enjoyed this game, even when i probably got nowhere close to beating it all those years ago. regardless, this is a good start of a great channel. well spoken, well written and well edited video essay that explores multiple perspectives while explaining your own. especially great since its a first video. in the future, i hope to see reviews/retrospectives on the alphadream games which i actually remember quite fondly, though im sure that will come with the baggage of the entire "controversy" of the shutdown. great vid, thanks for making it. hope the algorithm picks you up soon :) on to the xenoblade video

[@AurumAlex64]

Thanks! I do plan on covering some of the Mario & Luigi games at some point in the future, they're a lot of fun.

[@nickk3077]

I have a rebuttal foe the Larry battle. Although it is a good puzzling challenge to have you face enemies before you can attack the boss, this too has its flaws. If the player goes into the battle without bringing in enough multi-hitting jump cards or multi-hitting hammer attacks, which is very possible as they were never conditioned to do so before in any other fight, then they would fail at not fault of their own. It seems as if the game developers couldn’t decide if this gimmick was made with the purpose of giving the player many options on how to approach a battle or to give a puzzle in which they defeat all enemies in one turn.

[@AurumAlex64]

This is a fair critique, one that unfortunately applies to many battles in Color Splash

[@King_Luigi]

40:12 - Just to add to the stupidity of this moment. Kersti _only_ tells you about this, if you've already gotten the "Thing" once before. Otherwise she'll just mention paperizing and nothing else...

[@tristanalain9239]

Something I do find interesting is that Color Splash and Oragami King begin with a horror vibe. Origami King leaning more into it and keeping it a bit more consistently. The opening scene of the game with the origami Peach is legitimately chilling I feel. Be interesting if the team is slowly edging the games not just back to a darker more serious tone, but also closer to a G Rated "Are You Scared of the Dark" kind of horror for children, in spite of Miyamotto and under his nose.

[@geschnitztekiste4111]

They will do this shit but not unique characters smh

[@ToxicPea]

I’d just like to remind you guys that Intelligent Systems, the developers behind the Paper Mario Games, are quite literally the same people who make the often dark and gritty Fire Emblem games. It is shocking but not surprising that the same people who made Three Houses and Echoes: Shadows of Valentia also added horror snipets to Origami King and Color Splash 😂

[@MatrixCrafter]

I personally love color splash and all the Paper mario games equally, I am just frustrated on how people hated color splash so much. It deserves more love

[@NitroIndigo]

If this makes you feel any better, the Wii U's final major release was one of the most acclaimed games of all time... but it was the version no-one played.

[@autismandgaming4532]

Donkey Kong country Tropical Freeze?

[@cannon9009]

Smash Bros.?

[@NitroIndigo]

@@cannon9009 Breath of the Wild.

[@krakios3950]

I played it! I actually only played the switch version about a year ago... Or just before TotK released. Whichever came first.

[@lukelisan8094]

I've actually never played the switch version of BOTW

[@nickk3077]

I originally saw the paint as a sorta FP system, as the stronger attacks consumed a greater amount of this resource while regular attacks such as a jump take basically nothing. If they went in with that mentality while designing battles I wonder how different they game’s combat would have been.

[@zaden2009]

I originally saw the paint as the exp, as when you defeat a battle, you get hammer scraps of different strength, and they give you more paint when you “level up” to a higher maximum paint amount.

[@AdamWielgosz]

Honestly, I’m just realizing how similar Color Splash’s story is to Thousand Year Door. -Peach and Mario are called to a new island location that we’ve never heard of before, and they travel there by boat -Chapter 1 primarily has us going through grasslands, ending with a boss against a (significantly) larger opponent with an easy to exploit weakness (Hooktail has the Sound Badge, Morton’s petal stool is weak to hammers) -Both games feature a segment that involves some sort of fighting Tournament (The Glitz Pit in TTYD, Golden Coliseum in CS) -Both games involve you commanding a pirate ship in order to navigate the ocean towards the location of one of the objects to collect -The third-to-last chapters in both games revolve around Mario helping a train reach its destination without issue -You can access the final area of the game from the hubworld -A force of darkness manages to possess a major Mario character, causing them to act evil (or in CS’s case, eviler then normal) Yeah, it’s kinda weird how both of these games have weirdly similar stories and almost nobody mentions that

[@maxtes252]

Rogueport and Port Prisma have very similar layouts (three sections arranged horizontally with a port section south of the middle)

[@uroskesic6117]

@@maxtes252who knows maybe the two are somehow connected

[@zaden2009]

@@uroskesic6117maybe port prisma is a new rogueport in a what if scenario where rogueport sunk underground for the second time

[@ToxicPea]

Huh, neat! 😎

[@flinnparrygrowney2714]

I've actually noticed both Paper Mario trilogies bear suprising similarities in both cases, so allow me to expand on this and my idea here. 64 + Sticker Star: • Both take place in the mushroom kingdom, venturing to regular areas you'd usually see in a Mario platformer •Both have a jungle world that culminates with a piranha plant fight inside a volcano •Both have Bowser acquire some kind of god power •Both have recurring fights against a koopa midboss (Jr.Troopa and Bowser Jr/Kamek) •Both have a female character give Mario neutralisation powers for the final boss TTYD + Colour Splash •You mostly listed everything, but I'll also stress that both also tried to expand on the previous game's battle system Super + Origamaroli King •Both have you exploring a wide world •Both have the main villains mind-controlling Bowser's army •Both have way too hardcore plots for Mario games •Two characters both die by the end •Both have you fight a dog at some point as a boss •Both have an inexplicable game show somewhere That's all I've got for now, but I'd be intrigued to see some more.

[@chigginnuggie7681]

This being the game that actually gave the Koopalings character and personalities made me like it even more, alongside its jokes and music. The only things I disliked were the amount of toads and battle mechanic, but that was it.

[@isaeto]

This was the first paper Mario game I played and I'll always love it

[@CocatGaming]

I only stumbled across this video recently, and I wish I would’ve seen it a bit sooner. Color Splash holds a very special place in my heart and I’m happy to see someone else who sees the good this game has to offer.

[@dwanedibly8129]

Jeez. It seems that like Color Splash, this video was seen by few and remembered by fewer. And like Color Splash itself, I feel it deserves better! Hopefully this video will flood people's recommendeds in a few years.

[@zgiffish]

or like this month 😂

[@thekirbyguy4576]

Dang, the Unfurl Block mechanic was so forgettable that you didn't even mention it.

[@zgiffish]

omg i didn't even notice and i just replayed this game this year 😢

[@Bellyofthebeast6]

I only recently played Color Splash for the first time but I was very pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had. I'm writing this comment while halfway through the video, but so far, you're perfectly expressing my feelings of why I liked this game so much :) It's not perfect but it has so many memorable moments.

[@hotbucket]

this video deserves more recognition i LOVE color splash i used to play it every day when i got home from school

[@barelyhere7200]

I don’t mind color splash having a Basic story because it’s not trying to have a grand story. It’s just trying to be a funny Mario adventure and I’m fine with that. My only problem with the story is that it’s heavily implied and then revealed that Bowser was possessed by the black paint the entire game, but they never do anything with that and then at the end of the game everyone acts like he was the bad guy the whole time even though he was doing everything against his will. It’s just so weird. I also don’t buy that Kamek didn’t know bowser was possessed. He’s smarter than that. The game also could have made the black paints plan be a lot more interesting just by using what’s already in the game. In the game black paint is extremely toxic and can kill you and it can also possess you. The paint possessing Bowser wanted to cover the entire world in black paint, so why not reveal that the reason he wants to do that is because he would kill everybody on the Earth, and then the black paint would possess their dead bodies creating a new world of paint folk that he would be the ruler of. All of the pieces are there it’s just that the game doesn’t use any of them

[@AurumAlex64]

Agreed. I don't really know why Peach says she hopes "Bowser has learned his lesson this time." As far as I'm concerned, he didn't do anything wrong?

[@barelyhere7200]

@@AurumAlex64 exactly! It’s so weird. Even when I was a kid and I first played the game I thought it was weird

[@lief5957]

@@AurumAlex64 Peach says it correlating to Bowser's decision of mixing all the paint together in the first place I'm pretty sure

[@AverageCommentor]

@@lief5957. I guess the real lesson was: don't do drugs. A bit too subtle, perhaps, to wrap this message in black possessive paint, but it is the only Paper Mario game to have an allegorical message, and I don't know how to view that.

[@madokamagica-y8n]

@@AurumAlex64 yeah like all he wanted was a cool rainbow shell

[@sonicrunn3r895]

I'm pleasantly happy to see that a few comments mention the view count and I can compare to the count more than quadrupled as I am watching and typing this. I still hold a very soft spot in my heart for Colour Splash, and I hope one day when we inevitably move on from the TTYD remake and see another new Paper Mario with a style more like the original games (maybe also mixed with some direction from Origami King), more people can see Colour Splash and Origami King for what they do right. I do feel like these two have a bit more of a mini-cult following overshadowed by the loudness of the outcry from both. In terms of the video, I am incredibly glad especially you touched upon Huey and his writing, he's one of my favourite Mario characters for just being so funny and memorable. And I'm overall extremely glad this arrived in my recommendations, as well as the recommendations of many others already and to come! The amount of effort for an under-appreciated game feels great to see!

[@handsumgerman]

Man, I love that KZbin is recommending smaller channels now! I never played this game because I abhorred Sticker Star, so it was nice to get (what seems like) a fair perspective on it. All around great critique!

[@dinismatos9175]

In sticker star something no one mentions is that you can upgrade stickers using paperize by placing an attack sticker on the place an invisible block is and when you hit the block it gives a sticker 1 tier up

[@zgiffish]

ive been trying this but a majority of the time i do it it gives me a card from a different category. like i put in the Flame Hammer and it gave me a Fire Flower. however when i put a Poison Mushroom into the block next to the shop that sells poison mushrooms, it gave me 3 Shiny Leaf stickers!! which was very cool and it gave me a lot of money selling them lol

[@adlaistevenson2623]

I was one of those who slept on Color Splash after the severe disappointment that was Sticker Star so it was really interesting to see the good and bad that the sequel has to offer through this well put-together retrospective. It also brought attention, and made sense of, something that always infuriated me with Sticker Star - the fact that you can't choose which enemy you want to target in battle. But with the whole puzzle philosophy the devs had in mind for the combat system I can sort of see what they were going for.

[@AurumAlex64]

I really do think there's a world where both Sticker Star and Color Splash could've had an engaging combat system. But that ship has long since sailed...

[@The_Amazing_Mario_Bros_Show]

As someone who absolutely hates Sticker Star, I have a complete opposite opinion on Colour Splash. Colour Splash in my opinion is my 2nd Favorite Paper Mario game (Only behind TTYD). There's just something about it that is special. Wether it's the writing, the visuals, the music and hell I even liked the battle system. I will always revisit this game every year

[@mitch_universe4058]

Glad to see these videos are taking off, I hope you continue to cover the Paper Mario series, I’m looking forward to seeing what you have to say about Origami King

[@jacketofdiamonds]

Origami King may be the better game, but I'm personally fonder of Color Splash.

[@ToxicPea]

Likewise

[@Alpha-oo8]

What I don’t quite understand is why people always reference the origami king interview referring to the lack of original characters, when there were interviews basically saying the same thing way back around the sticker star release

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

Because Origami King was the one that actually looked like it was constrained by this, since it actually DOES have unique characters... that are just generic Mario enemies, or pieces of papercraftware with a personality, that were all removed from the game at the end. Sticker Star and Color Splash never even tried to reach this barrier.

[@AverageCommentor]

@@aprinnyonbreak1290. I mean, Colour Splash definitely attempted some stuff with the dragon, steak, pirate toads, roshambo masters (or whatever they were called), and gave all the characters personality (mainly humour). Origami King was an improvement in most aspects, though, I agree (except for the exp area, I'm shocked they somehow downgraded from colour splash in that regard).

[@bihn]

Really well made video! Easy to listen to without needing seeing any visuals, also helped by the consistent audio level, but also the footage matching with what's being talked about. It might sound silly to praise something so obvious, but surprisingly many video essays don't get this right! Also, for having an 80 minute length, this is paced really well. This went by so fast, while also going into enough detail.

[@torchrandom9059]

My first Paper Mario game was Sticker Star. I agree with the motion that both it and Color Splash ARE, in fact, the weakest in the series, but as someone who literally grew up with and alongside the Wii U, Switch, and 3Ds, I can thoroughly say that I love ALL paper Mario games. Obviously some more than others, but Color Splash is like a brother to me. We don’t always get along and I’m sick of hearing it’s extremely repetitive shit, but at the end of the day I’ll always remember and appreciate the fun times we had.

[@fighttheb8500]

me when i dont shit on a game for being the weakest game out of all the series (it doesn't mean its absolute garbage):

[@joshwilliams3689]

I grew up playing The Thousand-Year Door years ago, and recently, I've played and beaten the Switch remake. I honestly think that game is the most memorable and had way more to offer in terms of story and characters. Color Splash isn't bad, but it seems kinda lacking to me. I've not played it myself, but I've seen it in walkthroughs, and I already wasn't feeling it even without having to experience it myself. It just doesn't have the same appeal. Sticker Star didn't, either, and I actually did play that one. There's a reason they remade The Thousand-Year Door, and again, it's the most memorable and cherished game in the franchise, I believe.

[@MalachiSillaman]

YES IT DOES. I **loved** this game *so much* when it came out and I'm glad someone else can acknowledge that

[@zaku28]

Incredibly high-quality analysis of Color Splash, this video was great and quite insightful! Especially the overview of the Larry fight, a segment I loved when I first played it through. I had a fun and enjoyable time exploring this game and playing through. I recognize many flaws it has though which I'm glad you addressed, I also wish people at least gave it a proper look rather than letting it be immediately dismissed, though that isn't only this game's fault but also an unfortunate position of being part of the Wii U lineup and the contentious feelings towards the games coming around at the time. The puzzle elements of the battle layouts were not lost on me when I first played, I actually quite liked them! But I also wish they went further with it and properly balanced the attacks and removed colored in cards from the shop (or at least made them much more expensive and fixed the economic issue with the Roshambo Temples). It is unfortunate some of the choices they made for the game, though similar to you I still enjoyed Color Splash's qualities after playing Origami King and even the original TTYD, if that can be believed. Like you said, Prism Island is pretty cohesive despite segmented level design. As you said, there's a lot to love and a lot to hate. I happen to mostly like the game 😄

[@plaip6404]

I’ve been slowly going thru your videos for the past couple days and idk if this is a weird thing to say but you have a very pleasant voice. Like don’t get me wrong, your writing and critiques are great too! But for reals your voice is so pretty and soft and nice. It’s just easy to listen to for a long period of time.

[@AurumAlex64]

Thank you! I've become numb to my own voice after so many hours, so I'm glad it's soothing for someone.

[@Xivdad]

The best breakdown of the Color Splash experience that I have ever seen. How have I not seen this before? On to the next video on your channel

[@heyitsmort7744]

Really hope your videos start getting more traction. Love your writing about these under-appreciated games!

[@neverttheguy2670]

1:04:49 I'd say Sticker Star's one enemy health bar *could* world well as a sort of "overall puzzle" of figuring out enemy healths as you encounter them, and using the healths of enemies that you've already fought to work out the healths of newer enemies... but Sticker Star doesn't have the battle variety to really make that work in an interesting way.

[@MilesNugget]

No matter how much I try to show people how good the game is, people will never be on my side because of the battle system. I never was so addicted to a video game as I was to Color splash. I wanted to keep playing and find out what was next, because every single area was something unique, fresh and suprising. From fighting a giant steak, to solving a time loop in a haunted mansion, to literally playing a SMB3 level with super paper mario mechanics, every single level is amazing. In addition, the game looks super pretty, coloring all the spots was really satisfying, the ost is AMAZING, I actually cared about reading the dialogue, because it was really good and the battle system never bothered me, I actually enjoyed it a lot figuring out the way to optimally beat enemies and bosses. When I recently finally got the chance to play the thousand year door, the one and only game people claim was peak paper mario, I couldn't help but notice how a lot of the areas were pretty linear, small and empty. Characters were amazing, story was amazing, but otherwise the adventure itself felt pretty standard and a lot of areas felt pretty basic if that makes sense? The backtracking was especially really bad (Except for chapter 3, that stuff was exactly what I was looking for in a paper mario game) Im glad that I'm not the only one that loves color splash, because this game truly doesn't deserve all that hate. It's my favourite Wii u game and one of my favorite games of all time.

[@AurumAlex64]

If the characters were allowed to look like things other than Toads, and the combat system was overhauled, Color Splash would genuinely be my favorite Paper Mario. People complain about the endless paper jokes, but I'm tired of pretending that a Toad wanting to sail to the "margins" of the Earth isn't a really good joke.

[@DJVLDN]

I’m hoping for a Switch port so I can play it for the first time. I never had a Wii U and I really don’t want to buy one second hand just to play this one game..

[@Pitrek1113]

I will die on the hill called Color Splash. And giving credits where credit's due, without Color Splashes artstyle and camera angles we wouldn't have TTYD remake with such glorious glow-up.

[@theredguardowen8083]

I will forever die on the Hill that Huey was my favorite companion. Others from across the series as a whole were good in their own rights, but to me, Huey felt like a genuine friend.

[@lazykirby57]

Same here. I'd even go as far as saying that Huey is my all time favorite mario character period. I remember when I saw that I didn't meet the requirements for the "true" ending, so I spent an extra hour and a half finishing everything, just so I could see Huey fall back into the paint fountain at the end. Bless him.

[@Short_Snake24]

1:21:21 I love color, splash’s music too, but where can you listen to them? They’re certainly not on Spotify. Also Great video. for channel with 5000 subscribers, I didn’t expect such a quality breakdown of color splash but this is genuinely amazing. Keep up the good work!

[@AurumAlex64]

I just listen to it on KZbin. Yoshi's VGM has a good, complete playlist (for Origami King as well)

[@Short_Snake24]

Thank you, thank you THANK YOU. I never thought this day would come. Bit annoying it’s on KZbin, nevertheless thanks.

[@theghostwiththemost789]

I absolutely love color splash and I think it is easily the best out of the modern paper Mario games. It’s easily the funniest Mario game ever made, the music and visuals are fantastic, almost every level is unique and interesting and even the more standard Mario levels have at least something memorable about them that help them stand out and exploring all of these locations is fun. The battle system isn’t the best but I honestly really don’t mind because I don’t really care about battle systems in games but it definitely is a problem. Color splash absolutely has problems but those problems don’t ruin the game and it’s a game that more people should give a chance. I actually just played and 100% color splash like three days ago. Some of it was annoying but 95% of the experience was nothing but fun. Also dude you are so underrated. How does this video only have 800 views? That’s insane

[@AurumAlex64]

Love Color Splash as well. Over time, I think I've come to like it more than Origami King, even. Except for those Roshambo Temples. Those are no good.

[@theghostwiththemost789]

@@AurumAlex64 thankfully the temples are only necessary for 100% completion. Thank God you can just completely ignore them if you just wanna play the story. Although I will say it is kind of weird that characters never really mention the temples. Like for an island that has eight temples dedicated to rock paper scissors, you think they would bring that up more💀

[@lamouchelhorloge855]

@theghostwiththemost789 I've done it in 2016 and still think exactly like you !

[@blueocten]

For years now I have put Color Splash on the backburner due to most opinions about it on the internet making me question if it was worth the time of day, but after watching your video I'm actually pretty excited to pick this game up and try it myself.

[@LaLoutre97]

The main thing is, it's (almost) impossible to hate a game you love. The first paper mario i played was sticker star and i enjoyed it, soon after was color splash and i also enjoyed it, i just can't hate these games. I played the previous 3 only after, and i liked them but not as much. This is why when origami king was about to release, i couldn't understand the controversy of sticker star and color splash because they were my reference for paper mario. I think that most people who started with sticker star (especially if they were children at the time) have a more positive look on the whole franchise because they can't really "hate" the most "hated" game. I also was the kind of person that, when blocked on a level, would go search on youtube for the solution and go "oooh so that's how you do it" and it was satisfying.

[@Taco_muncher]

I will defend forever Paper Mario Color Splash it's my first Wii U game and the first Paper Mario game I played

[@theGstar305]

Another excellent video. I really appreciate you measuring this game against Origami King. It's a very helpful comparison for understanding both of them, but very few people actually do it because so few people have even played Color Splash. I also appreciate how you can be so harsh and yet still express genuine admiration for this game. Out of curiosity, what's your opinion on Super Paper Mario? I'm always interested to hear about this from any thoughtful fan of the series. I've always considered it the best of the six games, though I know I'm in the minority with that view.

[@AurumAlex64]

Super Paper Mario is always a game I've wanted to like more than I do. I really love the tone of the game and (most) of its story, but I honestly think the level design really hurts it for me. It feels like 75% of the stages end up becoming glorified mazes, and so many chapters just feel like they bleed together. I think the game is much more successful when it gets to some of the interesting set pieces, like Fort Francis, The Whoa Zone, or The Underwhere, but for every one of those, there's a Tile Pool, or an Outer Space, or an Overthere Stair, or... basically all of Chapter 5. So it's a game I like to think about more than I actually like playing.

[@enchilordo8562]

I haven’t watched the video yet, but I wanted to give my thoughts. Color Splash was my first Paper Mario game I owned and played. I had a Wii U and got it as a Christmas present from a family member. I had always known about the series but never got to play it, so getting it was exciting to me. Personally, it might just be a strange sense of nostalgia, but I genuinely really like this game. It had such a homey, calm feel to it. This could be seen from the title screen alone. Sure, it could use a little fixer upper like in the combat, but everything else was so nice to experience. I liked Huey. Not many people do because they compare him to Kirsti. I also liked the gimmick with the paint. It made looking for and filling out all the paintable spots so satisfying. I’m not gonna hark too long on it. I just…like this game. I can’t bring myself to paint it in any bad light (pun intended)

[@skep2923]

Very good video. One of the best breakdowns of Color Splash and its highs and lows.

[@adinonug7635]

47:34 I bet a lot of people already pointed this out but the math is wrong, there’s a one in three chance to loose but there’s also a 1/3 chance to tie which would lead to you re doing it, so the odds are accually 1/2 * 1/2 * 1/2, or about 12 percent

[@chilaquiloss1848]

Thank you for doing this video man! Is really good, and its awesome to see someone that supports my favorite paper mario game! I know its objectively not the best but for me it contains so many memories and i think it goes so underaprecciated, it has a lot of mistakes like the ones you listed but it also has a lot of achievements that i think is more than the mistakes, it deserves a first chance New sub

[@KirbysAdventureMusic]

I think your point about the Larry fight also puts into context why people find the combat in 64 and The Thousand-Year Door more fulfilling. Those games have proper progression systems, yes, but they still thrive on the strategization that Color Splash *attempts* to put into focus - especially before you obtain the Quick Change badge. Something that has baffled me since Sticker Star's release, however, is the games forcing you to defeat each group of enemies in a straight line. Although encounters are designed around this mechanic in some cases, like the Boo stack and Larry fights, I've always felt that it *limits* strategization and is another reason why combat in Sticker Star and Color Splash feel so unfulfilling. Using multiple attacks in a single turn is essentially a stand-in for having partners, but the lack of choice in how to utilize those turns is really off-putting.

[@jellycore1316]

Thanks for the awesome video! ^^ The analyses and the way you do the comparisons between Colour Splash and Origami King are really interesting to watch/listen to, too! X3

[@lordmarshmal_0643]

Recontextualizing the combat as more of a puzzle is something that I don't see a lot of, and it's great Color Splash didn't handle it well, but to that end I'll point you to "One Shot Rogue", an indie deckbuilder built around the perfect bonus condition idea: each fight ends after one turn, with your goal being to bring the enemies' HP totals _exactly to 0_ or else you take damage based on how far off from 0 you got And yes, you'll still take damage if you bring them into the negatives

[@AurumAlex64]

Interesting recommendation, I'll take a look!

[@LleytonSPD]

I may not like this game too much, but I’m happy we’ve got a whole little community here who likes it :)

[@Jetterz1999]

I was obsessed with this game as a kid, and it's still honestly a top 3 paper mario game for me. I even went through the effort of getting 100%, those damn roshambo temples were _nerve-wracking_

[@Cjp5551]

Imo color splash is better than origami king

[@wootmasterzorsx]

I very much appreciate this analysis of Color Splash. I enjoyed the game a good deal, but I can admit it’s not flawless. Like, when it was first revealed, I didn’t rage, but I wasn’t interested at all, until I saw a playthrough. And you pretty accurately hit the nail on the head for what the game’s flaws and strong suits are.

[@wakemeupinside8627]

Im gonna say it. *I* liked color splash. I even enjoyed parts of stickerstar. Could they be better? Yes. But they aren't the worst games ever!

[@lMrStickerStarl]

So nice to see someone actually appreciating this game for what it is. Me and a couple friends thought this game would forever be underrated, so thanks for actually playing it before you talked about it.

[@advaitmenon8669]

Amazing video

[@Zoraida_Fae]

This was a really great video. Imagine my shock when your community post showed up in my feed where you've just hit 1k subscribers. How can you only have 1k??? Well, you can add one more subscriber to the list! I've watched a couple videos and they were done very well. Gonna watch a few more. Thanks for the content!

[@TheMusicalPaws]

man…as i watch this video all i can think is…imagine if this game was actually a deck builder rpg…i feel like that would give the players a lot more freedom and creativity when it comes to the battle system honestly! Its such a shame they use the cards as an aesthetic rather than a full system…

[@TheMusicalPaws]

like if you balance the money more and make cards more expensive to obtain and not one use and limit your max deck to a smaller amount and have a pool drawn every round and having the rarer and stronger cards be more expensive to use compared to the weaker but more affordable basic cards gahhh i wish this game was a deck builder soooo badly

[@the-golden-duck]

Color Splash will always have a special place in my heart no other Paper Mario game could top it for me (I know the other games are better) its just so endearing to me i love the characters, the levels, sorta the combat i just love it all

[@lazykirby57]

I couldn't agree more. I'd go as far as saying its within my top 5 favorite mario games

[@Luciusem]

The battle spin is actually a completely broken mechanic, balance wise. There is _always_ a fake/bootleg Thing card in the roulette (it does exactly the same stuff as normal Thing cards but can't be used for puzzles/solving boss mechanics) and paying that extra 50 to both show the faces and slow the spin down pretty much guarantees you will always get the instant-win Thing card. That, on top of how many coins the game throws at you, just makes the battle spin the "I don't feel like doing this fight"-button

[@Xbob42]

Oh I gave it a first chance. Then I did a basic attack. That took multiple boring, long steps to perform. All for zero reward. Then I imagined an entire game full of doing that but it just taking longer and longer and being less and less fun and that was the end of its first chance. There will not be a second.

[@PlanoCat]

I'm not gonna watch video until I beat color splash because before I had saw this video I decided to start giving it a go again. Having so much fun on the og wii u.

[@magtea3836]

Engaging so more people get to see this high quality breakdown

[@Croshau]

This was my second paper mario, after the original, and I loved both.

[@Goldskull_Mystic]

This was a great analysis. Wish it had more views

[@ManIamMonke]

My ranking of the games would be 1- Color splash 2- the thousand year door 3- origami king 4- paper mario 64 5- super paper mario 6- sticker star Also I never played sticker star or super paper mario

[@mousetoons22]

I remember getting the secret ending the first time I beat the game and I know for a fact I did not beat all the temples

[@theladiescallmesona]

Color Splash is my favourite PM game after the Classic 3. No doubt.

[@grant454]

Finally another color splash fan

[@misk-ivus2990]

For me, Color Splash has always been my favorite game that I've never owned. And after watching a person actually give the game a fair chance and judged it based on it's own merits instead the series it's attached to or the expectations it was built up for, I can see why my experience with the game might have been optimal. Also 51:02 I've had an image of that toad saved on my computer since Origami King dropped XD

[@AurumAlex64]

Color Splash is a game I've loved since it's release. And that Toad image is indeed great meme material

[@HowDWeGetHere.]

My only problem was the special card requirements for bosses, but besides that, I argue it's better than Origami King. (Roshambo isn't that hard)

[@Memesauce67]

Paper Mario Color Splash is legitimately one of if not my absolute favorite Nintendo Game ever. So hilarious and really interesting, so I'm glad to see it finally get some recognition as being quality! I never ended up making it very far in Origami King because I hated the combat and didn't find the characters very interesting, but maybe I should give it a second chance

[@Ray_Cathode]

Hey, don't diss my boy Origami King. Just kidding, I actually agree with a lot of what you said. I've been a diehard fan of Origami King and Colour Splash for YEARS, and it just feels like people unfairly compare it to the first three (two?) games, when it's kind of evident that they're just two different things at this point. I don't even think they NEED to be the same anymore!! People just don't give this game a chance. Although I never played it, I used to watch playthroughs of it and I was extremely in love with its sense of humour. Lack of story? Don't care. It's very memorable, and this is an extremely good argument in defense of it. Props to you. I beat TTYD recently, after beating TOK twice a few years back. I can confidently say that TTYD is my favourite game of all time, and TOK is up there as well! They don't need to be compared to be enjoyable... BTW, your style of video-essay is really good. I'm shocked you only have 1.7k subs. It might sound worthless, but I mean it when I say your channel is an underrated gem.

[@Fisto64]

Great video! I just finished Color Splash and had a great time despite some big issues imo. I never gave it a chance because of its reputation but I'm glad I did. I probably still prefer Origami King but Color Splash did some things better. But again great analysis it was an interesting watch!

[@MarcAntoineHamelin]

explained like a true apologist...

[@DonovanE17]

Everyone hates me for saying that I think it’s the next best paper Mario after ttyd

[@lunathic]

During this video i think i experienced the reason for why Color Splash didnt work exept for a few parts perfectly. I played it when it came out but all i remembered was "it was pretty", "the combat was boring" and could only remember 3 places in the game "the ghost beach one and the canyon one" and the "stupid rock paper scissors temple". I literally couldnt remember anything else, and the 2 areas that i did remember ANYTHING about just so happen to be the ones you praised in this video, and the reason why i remembered them was because they had novelty and werent just default_mario_desert_area2, one was a pirate adventure where you jump back and forth between dimensions and the other one was assisting a train to make its wacky journey through a lot of setpieces. Other then those 2 areas, as someone who hasn't played Origami King, I genuinely struggled to tell which game you were showing footage of and the same thing would be the case with sticker star if it didnt have noticably worse resolution. This is why unique areas and characters are so important, and I hope Mario Wonder was Nintendo finally understanding this.

[@ikheetdaan]

I remember being able to guess the rock paper scizzors based on the shape ow the enemy, for example a round enemy would be rock and a sharp enemy would be scizzors

[@guccigamer5907]

9:40 I’d like to say that bowser didn’t send the mail to Mario, he sent it to peach. Mario only knew about the letter because peach went to him. Bowser’s goal was most likely just to lure out peach, and not Mario.

[@lukelisan8094]

I find the roshambo temples pretty fun cause i would always guess what they would use like for example, if the enemy was spiny i would use rock because of spikes, i did not know about the hint toads

[@Blue-om9xn]

I got a craving to replay sticker star and then this showed up on my feed. Wonderful video essay! Very well put together!

[@thecpmr6276]

My headcanon is that kamek sent the toad in the mail ticket Mario to defeat Bowser because he was concerned for his possessed friend.

[@MissAkashiya]

my second favorite paper mario game, the music is ultra charming and the dialogue is hilarious. The combat took me a minute to warm up to, but i have served my time with weird card combat systems so i was willing to stick through for a little longer than i think most did

[@MissAkashiya]

just finished your analysis, many excellent points for and against the game, wonderfully constructed! (I'm easily entertained/ love repetitive things so that probably explains where my biased love for this game comes from lol) Although i did have a lot of issues with the koopa kid battles in either finding their thing or not figuring out what the thing to actually get through the battle would be

[@wereElive1]

You know this was my first paper mario game, so it's my personal favorite.

[@Asn16_]

Isn’t it funny that as you were announcing your Paper Jam video, Brothership was announced? Are you going to play it when it comes out?

[@AurumAlex64]

I am absolutely going to play Brothership when it comes out. Dunno if I'll make a video about it right away though, that depends on how much I feel I have to say about it.

[@jackking1900]

KZbin, show this channel to more people immediately

[@alphabluu]

[14:12] this comment from tanabe about not being able to modify existing characters, or create new characters that involve the mario universe has always confused me. throughout the entire time period of sticker star, color splash and origami kings releases, nintendo was regularly doing what was apparently forbidden for the paper mario series, creating original characters involving the mario universe along with modifying existing characters, whether it be 3d world, mario + rabbids, luigis mansion, hell even games like mario tennis aces and mario golf super rush created original characters as bosses, so why was this arbitrary mandate put in place for the paper mario series, and only paper mario?? in pre-release images of sticker star, original characters clearly were planned before being scrapped, like a monty mole king similar to the goomba king from 64. if i had to throw a guess out as to why, maybe this shift was due to paper mario slowly becoming the main mario rpg series as mario & luigi began to slowly die out for a while, wanting it to be more brand friendly, but even this still doesnt make too much sense to me. maybe it couldve been due to new staff working on the paper mario series from sticker star onwards, but it still doesnt explain why they had such a specific mandate put in place for so long, along with quietly gutting most of the rpg mechanics seen in the first 3 games. although with the mario rpg and ttyd remake, it seems theyve definitely loosened up on the whole weird mandates thing, and brothership is looking to introduce tons of new characters as well, but it honestly makes me wonder even more why theyve suddenly decided to loosen up on their oddly strict mario rpg "no original characters or modifying existing characters" mandates, and im very curious how the inevitable next paper mario will turn out in a post ttyd and mario rpg remake world

[@MurioMurio]

While it likely doesn’t fully clear up your questions, Nintendo did a questionnaire a few months ago regarding the RPG Mario games. It included questions such as emphasis on storytelling, combat mechanics, and character designs. Around the same time Nintendo had revealed they had done this poll (it had already been completed when they revealed it) was when the TTYD remake was announced and Brothership a few months later.

[@Numberplay]

For having played both Color Splash and Origami King for the first time in the past month I can say both games have their charms and flaws. I still think TTYD (and its remake) is the best Paper Mario Game but I enjoyed discovering these games still. Color Splash had fantastic little moments and amazing soundtrack while Origami King is stunning visually and gave me emotions I never thought I'd feel playing a Paper Mario game. Sadly both games fail to give me good incentives to keep playing after the story. 100% completions are locked behind tedious and unrewarding challenges unlike the earlier entries in the franchise and in both cases it only gives you a slightly different ending.