Publisher(s): Nintendo; iQue, Ltd. (CH)
Release Dates:
*JP: November 25, 2009
*NA: February 15, 2010
*EU: February 26, 2010
*AU: February 26, 2010
*SK: September 30, 2010
*CH: April 21, 2011 (as iQue DSiWare)
Ratings:
*CERO: A (All Ages)
*ESRB: E (Everyone)
*PEGI: 3
*ACB: PG (Parental guidance recommended)
*GRB: All
Other Names:
*JP: ねらってスポっと！(Neratte Supotto!, lit. "Aim Spotto!")
*PAL: Bird & Bombs
*KR: 던져서 쏙! 유령 퇴치 (Deonjyeoseo Ssog! Yulyeong Toechi, translated as "Throwing Ssok! Ghost Fight")
*CH: 瞄瞄～中中！(Miáo Miáo〜Zhōng Zhōng!, roughly translated as "Aim Aim〜In In!")
Number of Players: 1
Notes:
*Also available on the Nintendo 3DS eShop.
Spotto! will offer you a blast of fun, just make sure the bomb doesn't blast you.
Story: A group of Ghosts abducted Chikkie Wowwow, the President's daughter, so he orders Spotto...the Bombirder, his best and most reliable bombirder, to rescue Chikkie Wowwow on a house full of Ghosts.
Gameplay: The gameplay of Spotto! is quite simple, your goal is to eliminate all the Ghost on the Stage, to do so, you must help Spotto aim his Bombs to the Ghost's mouths, you have to rotate a blue dial with the Stylus to adjust the trajectory of the Bombs, determined by a line of 28 points, once you have your trajectory set, tap Toss and Spotto will proceed to toss his Bomb; when you destroy a Ghost, Spotto gets an Extra Bomb; Spotto counts with Super Bombs as well, which are hidden weapons found in random enemies and objects, once equpped, the Bomb, which is normally blue, will turn red, and when Spotto successfully toss it into a Ghost's mouth, it will cause a lot of Super Bombs to be launched from the hit enemy, which if hit another enemy, will launch another round of Super Bombs, and so on.
There are 3 kinds of Ghost, Medium Ghost, Small Ghosts (which are a bit harder to get Bombs on their mouths) and Big Ghosts, which are fought each 10 Stages, and Spotto must get 3 Bombs on their mouths to defeat them.
The Game is Over when Spotto runs out of Bombs and wasn't able to destroy all the Ghosts.
The game has initially Story Mode, which has 50 Stages full of Ghost waiting to be bombed, once a certain requierement is achieved, Challenge Mode is unlocked, this mode is meant to challenge your technique and see how many Stages you can get through before Spotto runs out of Bombs, to make things harder, there are no Super Bombs, all unused Bombs are carried over, so aim carefully or your game could end before you notice it. Once the 50 Stages of Story Mode are beaten, Story Mode Pro is unlocked, which is a harder version of Story Mode, where Spotto has orange Bombs and the line of points is limited to only 5 points, i.e. the ones in the Touch Screen, making it difficult to determine the Bomb's trajectory.
Difficulty: Overall the game mechanics are quite simple and easy to learn, but the real difficulty lies on Challenge Mode and Story Mode Pro, and beating the later Stages of Story Mode requiere some technique (and maybe patience).
Graphics: The graphics on this game are a nice mix between cartoon and 3D models, making them somewhat similar to the graphics of the Paper Mario series. This shouldn't be surprise, as both games were developed by INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS.
Sound: The music in the game was composed by Saki Kuata, while de Sound Director role was taken by Masanobu Matsunaga, and it's quite a nice fit for the game, sounding a bit like the 'happy', 'heroic' and 'concerning' songs in the Paper Mario series. And quite surprisingly, Spotto has voice clips, provided by an unknown actor, when Spotto succesfully gets a Bomb into a Ghost's mouth, he'll say 'Spotto!', and when you get a Game Over, he'll either say 'Yes, sir!' or 'Maybe later...'. And expect lots of chick sounds everytime you start a Stage.
Closing Comment: This game provides a great experience for those looking for a challenging game on DSiWare, as well as those looking for a fun game, and for 200 DSi Points/$1.99 on the eShop, Spotto! has more than enough on its little 22 Blocks to entertain for a long time.
