Nintendo World Report
The regular gameplay is what you expect from a Sticker Star follow-up, though many of the elements have been improved. The biggest improvement to me are the puzzles. Many puzzles in Sticker Star felt obtuse and irritating, which got old really fast. Color Splash takes a more straightforward approach to the proceedings. It’s more about finding secrets and seeing inconsistencies in the environments, which gives it a more relaxed atmosphere. If something looks odd, it can be walked into to see what’s hiding behind it. The enemies are active in the background, which is a nice effect.
Some backtracking will be required, as certain characters or objects form important keys to solve puzzles in a different world. It makes the experience very connected to one another, even though the game is divided into levels.
Paper Mario Color Splash is a far better game than Sticker Star. There are some cracks – the battles are easy, and the colorless spots can be annoying to fill in sometimes. But the little worlds are fun to traverse with puzzles, snappy dialogue and a beautiful presentation. I can just put the controller down and enjoy the little touches that makes this game tick. This is a way more charming package than the Nintendo 3DS gave us in 2012, so I am pretty much on board until the end. It may land with a thud, but right now I have very high hopes for Paper Mario Color Splash.
I don't want to C/P the whole thing, so, please give them the click and read their take on the battle system as well:
https://www.nintendoworldreport.com...per-mario-color-splash-wii-u-hands-on-preview
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The Sixth Axis
Here’s where you jump into your first taste of the turn-based combat, and fans of the 3DS’ Paper Mario: Sticker Star will be right at home, with a few small differences now that you are powered by paint rather than stickers. You start out with a number of battle cards which appear on the gamepad’s touchscreen, each of which contain a type and number of attacks. Primarily these are jumps and hammer blows, but new card types will appear throughout your adventure expanding your arsenal.
Luckily for your Toad compatriot, Huey has bestowed the power of paint upon you and your hammer, letting you smack characters or scenery to fill them with colour once more. With one smash, Toad is brought back to life. Re-colouring various parts of the world is key, not only for collecting coins, but also because the newly revitalised section will often release a battle card at the same time. Each area has a paint-completion percentage, with 100% granting you another Paint Star, though the actual action of painting in a blank spot can be a little fiddly at first.
The charming paper aesthetic has a wonderful solidity and reality to it, from the paper characters gently fluttering in a breeze to the way parts of the scenery move and behave. The only mild disappointment is that it feels like it lacks the magic of other similarly themed games, particularly Sony’s Tearaway, with Nintendo’s emphasis on solidity and quality perhaps diminishing a little bit of the magic.
Either way, Paper Mario: Color Splash boasts an enjoyable lightness in tone that won’t have you rolling in the aisles but will regularly raise a wry smile. It’s often quite knowing and aware, with both modern-world and game-related references sometimes surprising you with a snark that you wouldn’t expect from the big N’s iconic mascot.
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2016/09...ouring-the-world-of-paper-mario-color-splash/
Foreign language previews:
http://www.eurogamer.pt/articles/2016-09-13-paper-mario-color-splash-antevisao (Portuguese)
http://www.xgn.nl/paper-mario-color-splash-preview (Dutch)
http://www.gameblog.fr/news/62120-paper-mario-color-splash-nos-impressions-bigarrees (French)
http://www.millenium.org/top-jeux/p...plash-wii-u-nintendo-preview-eshop-mtj-148628 (French)
http://www.gamer-network.fr/actualites/157954-preview-paper-mario-color-splash (French)
http://www.jeuxvideo-live.com/jeux-video/preview-paper-mario-color-splash-507 (French)
Any translations are welcome and much appreciated!
Related threads:
Paper Mario Color Splash footage from JP Nintendo Direct
Paper Mario: Color Splash - PAX West gameplay (The Golden Coliseum)
IGN: Paper Mario: Color Splash surprised us in a great way (new video preview)
So, were battles in Paper Mario: Sticker Star truly pointless? (thread filled with spirited debate)