VideoGame 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.
VideoGame Brings back the upbeat, silly spirit of Super Mario RPG, as I see it
There has never been a true sequel to the original Super Mario RPG. Instead, Mario RPGs split in two directions: the Paper Mario series and the Mario and Luigi series. And not only did the gameplay go in two directions, so did the mood and theme.
I was never a Paper Mario fan, and I'd played the first three games. Everyone said Sticker Star sucked, but have more positive views about this one. After watching a good amount of gameplay footage, I decided to buy it. 3 weeks later, I'd beaten it.
To me, this game is as close to a true successor to Super Mario RPG as we're likely to get. The world map is divided into "courses" as the game calls them, some with alternate exits ala Super Mario World. Each "course" is its own area with its own little story. It could be the story of a struggling cafe owner in the middle of nowhere dealing with evil customers, or the story of a circus visited by Toads, Shy Guys and with captive Yoshis who break free. You visit a restaurant, fix a broken train, and much more.
The combat is based around consumable cards. The cards are pretty easy to earn, find or purchase, so running out isn't much of a problem, especially with the "roulette" feature where you exchange coins for the chance to try to win another card. Fighting has decent strategy due to the nature of different attacks - some attacks hit multiple enemies, some attacks can damage the player (like jumping on enemies who have spikes or are made of fire), and some attacks are especially useful for specific situations. You're rewarded for defeating all enemies without getting hit once, adding an incentive to being efficient with your cards. XP leads to carrying more paint (which keeps cards from being weak), and also increases attack power.
While some have complained - understandably - about the lack of characters outside the main Mario universe (heck, couldn't they bring back the penguins, bees and robots from Super Mario Galaxy?), I personally like seeing characters I know from the main Mario series being portrayed in a livable world. While it moves towards the more binary "good people/bad people" setup of the "normal" Mario games, it still has some wiggle room for nuance: not all Shy Guys and Snifits are bad, and some may chat with you during their off time, before fighting you later in another course.
Indeed, the world in many ways feels much like an RPG-ish take on the main Mario series, as areas mostly feel like the sort we'd expect from regular Mario games, along with the characters. No, it's not expanding the world. Instead, it's portraying the main Mario world in a different light.
And the humor. It's hilarious at times. The story is totally nonserious, no real Nightmare Fuel, and while some decry the lack of plot depth, I like the light-hearted mood a lot, along with the upbeat music. And for one major throwback to Super Mario RPG... just watch the ending.