Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U) Announced

Fans of the Paper Mario series hoping that the much-maligned Paper Mario: Sticker Star would be the last installment of its kind in the franchise have had their hopes dashed today. Nintendo has revealed the latest addition, Color Splash, coming for Wii U in 2016 — and it looks to be following in its footsteps.

Set in a new locale called Prism Island — which is a nice change from the omnipresent Mushroom Kingdom, I guess — the title will follow the ever-plucky Paper Mario as he attempts to return color to the bleached landscape of this once-lurid paradise. Accompanying him, as always, is Princess Peach, so it’s a fairly safe bet she’ll be being kidnapped at some point.

Classic series elements, such as the hammer attack, will make a return. Only this time, it’s got a new coat of paint — literally. Smacking the weapon down onto a black-and-white bit of scenery will spruce it up in technicolor (anyone else getting some serious Epic Mickey vibes from this?) and trigger events, such as Paper Toads being freed or new paths being revealed.

The game borrows a lot of elements from Sticker Star, and as such many devotees are likely on the fence about it. Primarily returning is the battle system, which revolves around the use of consumable stickers; as with Sticker Star, each one represents a single-use attack. It’ll be interesting to see how Intelligent Systems has fleshed this out — especially since the dramatic Thing Sticker attacks, such as a planet-sized fan, also look like they’re returning.

Also back is the world map layout, more akin to the New Super Mario Bros. series than Paper‘s Gamecube heyday, with a couple of stage names being immediately noticeable; Prism City and Ruddy Road are the opening two areas, as far as we can see.

According to Nintendo, Color Splash is due out later this year. Despite its similarities to the 3DS entry, hopefully the Wii U’s greater processing heft and graphical might will provide a solid, and pretty experience.

Are you looking forward to the latest Mario RPG outing? Let me know in the comments!