This article's images are unsatisfactory | (Edit | Similar) |
You can help by uploading better quality images and adding them to the page. |
“ | The Scope Shot sub-game is now available! Can you defeat the giant robots?” |
— Description • Kirby's Return to Dream Land |
Scope Shot is a sub-game in the Kirby series, debuting in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
Games[]
Kirby's Return to Dream Land[]
Scope Shot is unlocked after collecting 30 Energy Spheres; it is one of the game's two sub-games, the other being Ninja Dojo. The objective is to destroy a robot in fewer than 120 seconds by aiming the Wii Remote at the screen and shooting at the vulnerable pieces of its body; this sub-game is cooperative in nature when playing in multiplayer. While doing this, the player must shoot down the robot's attacks to prevent Kirby and his friends from being stunned. The robots in this sub-game resemble mechanical versions of characters from prior games in the Kirby series.
Players can charge their shots by holding down the A button for a brief moment before releasing it. A charged shot has the same strength as five normal shots. All shots have travel time and do not immediately hit their targets when fired.
When sections of a robot's exterior armor are hit enough times, they fall apart to reveal the internal framework. This is largely cosmetic, however, since the robot is only destroyed once its health is completely depleted. The internal framework cannot be damaged by the Scope Shot, as the shots merely bounce off and make a metallic sound. When the robot's health reaches zero, an orange, glowing weak spot will be revealed. Once this area is shot once (even with a normal powered shot), the robot will explode. To counteract this, the robot will move more erratically to try to make its weak spot harder to hit.
Multiple times per stage, Kabula will appear in the background. She does not attack, and each time the player can defeat her with one shot to receive 800 bonus points. More infrequently, UFO will also appear, giving a greater amount of points when shot.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe[]
Unlike Ninja Dojo, Scope Shot does not appear as a playable sub-game. However, various aspects of it are referenced in numerous parts of the game.
Booming Blasters, a new sub-game, serves as a spiritual successor to it; players wield blasters and can fire powered-up shots by holding and releasing the button or by successfully attacking opponents. The music that plays in the game's title and in Level 1 and Level 2 are based on Scope Shot's title theme. If a match goes on for too long, Kabula shows up and a remix of the Heavy Lobster theme plays.
In Egg Catcher, instead of King Dedede throwing eggs (and bombs) at the player, a robot in his likeness, very similar in appearance to Robo Dedede, takes on the role.
The various songs that play in Scope Shot are reused in certain locations in the game. "Scope Shot" plays in Egg Engines' Secret HAL Room. "VS Waddle Tank" plays in Nutty Noon's Mid-Boss Tower when taking the secret entrance. "VS Mecha Kawasaki" plays in Dangerous Dinner's new Secret HAL Room. "Climactic Clash! Robo Dedede" plays in Egg Engines in the last room in Stage 5.
The exact reason for Scope Shot's omission is uncertain, but there are three likely reasons why it did not return.
- For each past game represented with a sub-game in Merry Magoland, only one sub-game was chosen. Since Ninja Dojo was used to represent Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Scope Shot would not be included.
- The gameplay style is very similar to another sub-game represented. Kirby on the Draw, the sub-game representing Kirby Super Star Ultra, involves pointing (or tapping) and shooting at targets, Scope Shot may be considered too similar to be worth including as well.
- The sub-game lacks competition. Scope Shot uniquely is a cooperative sub-game rather than a competitive one, with a group score based on overall performance instead of individual performances. As every other sub-game in Merry Magoland is competitive, with each player receiving a ranking, Scope Shot could not be faithfully represented.
Trivia[]
- Scope Shot's name may be a reference to the SNES Super Scope (Nintendo Scope in Europe and Australia) accessory.
- Scope Shot has strong similarities to Intelligent Systems's Battle Clash video game series on SNES, which utilized the Super Scope. Like Scope Shot, these games are comprised entirely of battles against screen-filling robot bosses, with varied attacks, weak points, and many different targets on their bodies that can be destroyed piece by piece. The Battle Clash series also allows the player to charge a shot.
- A player's reticle changes depending on the character. Kirby's is a pentagon, Meta Knight's is a hexagon, King Dedede's is a diamond, and Bandana Waddle Dee's is a circle.
- Notes from the ESRB suggest that Scope Shot is partially responsible for Kirby's Return to Dream Land’s E10+ rating. An excerpt reads: "In one mini-game, players assume a third-person perspective to fire pellet guns at an oversized tank and passing blimps—the sequence is accompanied by constant projectile fire and realistic explosions."[1]