Paper Mario: Color Splash Announced for Wii U

There were a few notable surprises in today’s Nintendo Direct broadcast, but perhaps the most unexpected was Paper Mario: Color Splash, a new Wii U installment in the Paper Mario series.

This time around, the game is set on Prism Island, a tropical paradise that is inexplicably being drained of its color. Armed with a new hammer that splashes paint, it falls to Mario to restore color to the fading island.

Like the game’s immediate predecessor, Paper Mario: Sticker Star for 3DS, Color Splash looks to deviate from the standard Paper Mario formula. The world once again appears to be segmented into levels, which are laid out on a traversable map, and Mario himself engages in battle using special cards, which must be painted and flicked on the Wii U GamePad to initiate attacks.

Paper Mario: Color Splash will be launching on Wii U later this year. What do you think of the new direction the game is taking? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Nintendo