Paper Mario Color Splash

Paper Mario: Color Splash is a 2016 action-adventure role-playing video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. It is the fifth game in the Paper Mario series, the sequel to Paper Mario: Sticker Star, and the final Wii U game developed by Intelligent Systems. The story follows the protagonist, Mario, on his quest to retrieve the Big Paint Stars and rescue Princess Peach from Bowser.

The idea for a paint-themed game came from Atsushi Isano, the director of production for Intelligent Systems. The game was developed to take advantage of the Wii U hardware, including the GamePad, touchscreen and high-definition capabilities. The developing team implemented a card-based battle system because they thought it would be fun to use the GamePad to sort and flick cards. The artists heavily focused on making the in-game paper look as realistic as possible. The game was released in all regions in October 2016.

Color Splash received generally positive reception from critics, with many praising the game's graphics, soundtrack and improved dialogue. However, the combat system and lack of character variety were criticized.

Mario and Princess Peach receive a letter from Prism Island, which they discover is a color-drained Toad. They sail to Prism Island with another Toad to investigate. Upon arriving at Port Prisma, the three travelers find the town deserted and notice colorless spots and objects. The central fountain is dry and missing its famed Big Paint Stars. A vault appears in the fountain, containing a paint can. After Mario tries to open it, the can is revealed to be Huey, Prisma Fountain's guardian. Huey explains the fountain is usually powered by six Big Paint Stars, which supply the island with infinite paint. He asks Mario to help recover them. While Mario is scouting the island, Peach is kidnapped by Bowser.

Mario traverses six areas to retrieve the Big Paint Stars while helping the local Toads and fighting various enemies, including the Koopalings, who serve as bosses. As Mario collects the Big Paint Stars, they incrementally reveal their memories of the attack on Port Prisma. Once Mario recovers all six Big Paint Stars, they reveal Bowser attempted to dye his shell using the Prisma Fountain, but inadvertently created black paint, a toxic substance which possessed him and transformed him into Black Bowser. He proceeded to steal the Big Paint Stars and drain the color from Prism Island.

With the help of Luigi and the Big Paint Stars, Mario and Huey reach Black Bowser's Castle. They discover he is mass-producing weaponized black paint, aiming to paint the world black. Mario and Huey halt the factory's operations, defeat Black Bowser, and rescue Peach. The factory's destruction causes the castle to fall apart. Peach, Mario and Luigi escape, but Huey stays to stop the black paint and absorbs the castle. Huey flies into space, taking the black paint far away from Prism Island. In a post-credits scene, if the player has filled certain requirements, Huey falls back into Prisma Fountain.

In an interview with Game Informer, producer Kensuke Tanabe explained that the idea of repainting the world originally came from director of production Atsushi Ikuno in 2012. Ikuno was inspired by his children having fun while coloring. According to Tanabe, a lot of trial and error was required before coloring with a hammer felt comfortable. The game's art style was achieved by using different types and textures of paper for different environments. The artists investigated different types and textures of paper to create appropriate visuals. Tanabe believed the artists had created a high-quality representation of a beach. Tanabe stated the game did not use a typical role-playing game system (focused on combat) but instead focused on puzzle-solving, although noted paint capacity changed over time as the player collected hammer scraps and was thus a form of 'leveling'. The combat system was developed to create controls only possible on the Wii U. Responding to criticism of the lack of character variety, Tanabe explained that Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, asked the developers to make the game with only Mario characters. Tanabe explained that many expressions and jokes differed depending on the language (for example, a joke referencing Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was changed for the Japanese script).