I must say, I was very polarized by Sticker Star. When I first checked the game out, memories of Sticker Star flooded through my head. The Guide Dang It, the Excuse Plot, freakin' Kersti...
And I must say, this game completely averted Sequelitis. First off, the story is infinitely better than in Sticker Star. Yes, Bowser is the Big Badagain, but there is explicitly a greater power behind the scenes. As a bonus, Bowser is Suddenly Voiced, returning to his Large Ham self. Luigi becomes an Ascended Extra and helps you out frequently, which is another plus. In general, the cast is much more colorful than Sticker Star's. Although to be honest, the game still resorts to an absurd number of Toads, which is rather irritating. Whether or not the game added enough variety to the Toads is an open question. The Koopalings are pretty base-breaking, and to be honest, I'm on middle ground here. I'm fine with their new personalities, but they never interact with you outside of their boss rooms. Disappointing.
Now, I also need to take a look at Huey, as he's become somewhat of an Ensemble Darkhorse. To be honest, I can see why. Huey is a likable character and is very helpful in gameplay, in sharp contrast to that stupid silver crown. He flat-out tells you exactly what to do if you're stuck and gives some great hints for puzzles as well.
Now, the actual gameplay is very similar to in Sticker Star. However, despite repeating a number of Sticker Star's Scrappy Mechanics, the game does its best to address them. The Guide Dang It is eradicated completely, as an NPC will tell you exactly what Things you need. Sometimes, though, the ways you need to use the Things will often make no sense. Say, for example, the ice pick. You never use it for anything ice-related, instead using it during Lemmy's boss fight. What?
Now, here's the part you've all been waiting for: The battles. Let's see... Enemy one-liners, a better-sorted set of attacks, an actual reason to battle... Yeah, the game fixes a lot of things. There's still no way to target what you want to target, though, which sucks. Also, the battle system opens up another problem in how tedious it is to prepare your attacks. You have to scroll through your cards every time, and then you have far too many commands to input. Ugh...
Overall, Color Splash is nowhere near the level of the first three games, but it's certainly an improvement over Sticker Star.
Splash, or trash? (Or stache?)
I must say, I was very polarized by Sticker Star. When I first checked the game out, memories of Sticker Star flooded through my head. The Guide Dang It, the Excuse Plot, freakin' Kersti...
And I must say, this game completely averted Sequelitis. First off, the story is infinitely better than in Sticker Star. Yes, Bowser is the Big Bad again, but there is explicitly a greater power behind the scenes. As a bonus, Bowser is Suddenly Voiced, returning to his Large Ham self. Luigi becomes an Ascended Extra and helps you out frequently, which is another plus. In general, the cast is much more colorful than Sticker Star's. Although to be honest, the game still resorts to an absurd number of Toads, which is rather irritating. Whether or not the game added enough variety to the Toads is an open question. The Koopalings are pretty base-breaking, and to be honest, I'm on middle ground here. I'm fine with their new personalities, but they never interact with you outside of their boss rooms. Disappointing.
Now, I also need to take a look at Huey, as he's become somewhat of an Ensemble Darkhorse. To be honest, I can see why. Huey is a likable character and is very helpful in gameplay, in sharp contrast to that stupid silver crown. He flat-out tells you exactly what to do if you're stuck and gives some great hints for puzzles as well.
Now, let's look at Prism Island. In Sticker Star, we're treated to the same Green Hill Zone, Shifting Sand Land, Bubblegloop Swamp, Slippy-Slidey Ice World, Lethal Lava Land and Big Fancy Castle we're used to. Meh... With Color Splash, we have a much more diverse set of areas made more interesting with the paint gimmick. To top it off, most levels have distinct subplots that extend the feeling the levels provide.
Now, the actual gameplay is very similar to in Sticker Star. However, despite repeating a number of Sticker Star's Scrappy Mechanics, the game does its best to address them. The Guide Dang It is eradicated completely, as an NPC will tell you exactly what Things you need. Sometimes, though, the ways you need to use the Things will often make no sense. Say, for example, the ice pick. You never use it for anything ice-related, instead using it during Lemmy's boss fight. What?
Now, here's the part you've all been waiting for: The battles. Let's see... Enemy one-liners, a better-sorted set of attacks, an actual reason to battle... Yeah, the game fixes a lot of things. There's still no way to target what you want to target, though, which sucks. Also, the battle system opens up another problem in how tedious it is to prepare your attacks. You have to scroll through your cards every time, and then you have far too many commands to input. Ugh...
Overall, Color Splash is nowhere near the level of the first three games, but it's certainly an improvement over Sticker Star.