History VideoGame / PaperMarioColorSplash

* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: Mario has no choice but to wrong out The Legendary Captain's Charcoal Grill to progress, even though he was in the middle of grilling up some fish and even offered Mario some. Similarily, Mario has no choice but to take the Hair Dryer from the Redpepper Crater Hot Spring, even though a Toad was in the middle of drying off.

* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: Mario has no choice but to wrong out The Legendary Captain's Charcoal Grill to progress, even though he was in the middle of grilling up some fish and even offered Mario some.

** Attempting to explore Bowser's Castle after defeating the final boss has Huey notice and say that they don't have time to look around.

* ColonyDrop: If you use the Bowser's Castle Battle Card, the entire castle falls on the enemies.

* FreezeFrameIntroduction: When a major character debuts (Mario, Huey, Peach, Bowser, and the Koopalings), the screen freezes with a music sting (Mario gets an arrangement of the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' overworld theme, the Koopalings get a guitar sting, etc.) The character's pose at the time is given a close-up (Larry riding a train, Mario jumping) as their name appears beside them.

** In Ruddy Road, Huey declares "HOLD UP! What in [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels the Lost Levels]] is going on here?" which is a reference to the game's [[SelfDeprecation hellish]] [[NintendoHard difficulty]].

** In Ruddy Road, Huey declares "HOLD UP! What in [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels the Lost Levels]] is going on here?" which is a reference to the game's hellish [[NintendoHard difficulty]].

* JoinTheArmyTheySaid: Green Rescue Squad Toad #6 has this opinion if you talk to him before they form the bridge.
-->"Join the Rescue Squad," they said..."It'll be fun," they said...

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]] with Huey's comment that [[spoiler:putting a "Do not mix the paint!" sign by the fountain]] might have averted the whole situation.

** The foreman at the aforementioned Toad Trainworks. Repairing the Sunset Express was to be his last job before retirement, and not only is the job disrupted by the aforementioned Shy Guy attack, at the end of it all his subordinates decide to "[[CelebatoryBodyTossing toss the foreman in the air in a heartfelt-but-super-dangerous show of gratitude]]" (that's an ''exact'' quote from the game). Also subverted, and in a very similar way: he isn't harmed in either event, and upon hearing that the Sunset Express is staying in service, he decides to do the same.

** Ludwig is shown to be a skilled inventor, much like his [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3 cartoon]] [[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld counterpart]].

* AntiVillain: Amazingly enough, [[spoiler:Bowser is depicted as such in-game. While he ''did'' cause the entire mess by spinning in Prism Fountain, he never intended to create the black paint and was only trying to give himself a rainbow-colored shell. For a majority of the game he's under the control of the black paint and has no idea what he's doing]].

** When Wendy comes out of a shell and reveals herself, [[TheBurlesqueOfVenus the scene and even her pose are a reference to Botticelli's famous "Birth of Venus" painting.]]

* SpamAttack: Some cards have multiple icons on them that allow Mario to attack multiple times with one card. For example, a card with two jump icons on it will allow Mario to jump two times. Taken UpToEleven when you reach cards with three Hopslippers on them, as each lets you bounce on a foe 10 times.

* BlindIdiotTranslation: From the American Spanish version:

* CulturalTranslation: The design of the “Washing Machine” Thing card differs between regions, with it being top loading in the North American version, and front loading in the European version, as seen in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Miy8ObpHt9I&t=58s this video]].

* MarketBasedTitle: Strangely, averted. The European versions of this game ''don't'' add a U to the word "Color".

* PaymentPlanPitch: In the American Spanish translation, the Mustard Cafe chef sells Mario a drink for "two tiny payments of 60 coins." The English version has him say 120 outright.

* ShoutOut: Nintendo has always been prone to [[MythologyGag referencing their own games]] and the Treehouse often sneaks some references into the Western versions, but ''Color Splash'' is one of the most pop-culture heavy Nintendo games ever, including several parodies of famous movies:

* LostWoods:

* MacroZone: The Sacred Woods which also combines this with LostWoods. Because of Kamek's spell on the forest, parts of the forest are very huge compared to Mario, and others are very small.

* FourEqualPaymentsOf: In the American Spanish translation, the Mustard Cafe chef sells Mario a drink for "two tiny payments of 60 coins." The English version has him say 120 outright.

* TheGoomba: The regular Shy Guys, as the actual Goombas are stronger than them. However, Shy Guys have a unique ability where they can swipe one of your cards if you take too long on your turn, and if you don't damage the Shy Guy, they'll escape with your card when it's their turn.

* {{Unwinnable}}:

* StandardStatusEffects: During the battle with [[spoiler:Roy Koopa at Black Bowser's Castle, he shoots Mario with his paint, with each colour giving him a different status effect.]]

* StarShapedCoupon: Both the Mini Paint Stars and Big Paint Stars. The former stars lead you to new areas, and the latter are the main objectives to reach.