Dribble & Spitz

Dribble & Spitz are major animal characters in the WarioWare series. The duo consists of Dribble, an orange bulldog, and Spitz, a small, squinting yellow cat, and together, they run Diamond Taxi as cabbies. They drive a taxi that has been souped-up by Dr. Crygor and is capable of traveling into space, among other things. They often carry passengers that turn out to be supernatural in some way. The two are easily distracted and therefore forget to collect fares from these passengers. In the original Japanese, they speak in, which is stereotypically associated with fun-loving, boisterous characters. In addition, both of their names come from synonyms for saliva.

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
Dribble & Spitz are first seen in the intro scene of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, in which they are recruited by Wario to join his company, WarioWare, Inc., and they agree to produce microgames for him.

In their own story, Dribble & Spitz drive up and down Diamond City late at night and pick up a young boy or girl (named after the player) who asks to be taken to the sea. As it begins to rain, Dribble tunes the radio to a station playing Drifting Away. When they arrive at the pier, the person walks to the edge, transforms into a merperson in front of them, and jumps in the sea, bidding them farewell. Fascinated by this strange phenomenon until dawn breaks, they eventually realize that they forgot to collect the passenger's fare. After, they drive to the Gelateria and get a cone of gelato each.

In the epilogue of Wario's second story, Dribble & Spitz confront Wario with the rest of the WarioWare, Inc. staff to demand their pay. When he runs away, they are shocked. They later watch his rocketship fall into the sea after Dr. Crygor bumps into it. Dribble also appears in an unlockable minigame called VS Dong Dong, where he fights against Mona.

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!
In WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!, Dribble & Spitz are traveling around Diamond City, where they are called upon by a woman who is really Orbulon in disguise. She asks them to take her to the farthest reaches of outer space, which Dribble happily agrees to. After driving on a stretch of road, the taxi flies into space. When they arrive, Orbulon's disguise wears off. After passing by a planetoid, the taxi gets dragged into the UFO and Orbulon, after thanking Dribble & Spitz, makes them his underlings. The two shout "numbskull" at Orbulon, causing a nearby asteroid to approach the UFO. It misses them, but more asteroids hit the UFO and causes it to fall back down to Earth and land in Dr. Crygor's laboratory. The three greet him when he falls back into his lab. After, Dribble & Spitz use their taxi to float on water, and they, Orbulon and Dr. Crygor travel to the mainland. During the journey, Spitz tunes in to watch the Super Show. They are also seen at Sora Sora.

The two host the multiplayer mode Milky Way Delirium. They are also available to play as in the multiplayer modes. When played as, Dribble's and Spitz's entire outfits excluding Dribble's watch and the base of Spitz's goggles are tinted in the player's color.

WarioWare: Twisted!
In WarioWare: Twisted!, Dribble & Spitz drive through Interstate 310, where Spitz fiddles about with the taxi radio. Suddenly, the taxi breaks down, and during their microgames stage, they try to fix it. They fix it in the end, but Dribble decides to push a button that transforms the taxi, and takes them into space. Before long, they pick up an alien customer that asks them to take it to Club Sugar. When they arrive, they dance on the dance floor.

They make another appearance in the epilogue of Wario-Man's story, driving in their taxi.

WarioWare: Touched!
While Dribble & Spitz do not have their own microgame stage in WarioWare: Touched!, they make a brief appearance at the end of Mike's story, where they are called upon by Dr. Crygor to help him look for his missing robot, and eventually find him on the planet of the Alien Bunnies. Their taxi also appears in the character selection screen every time one or more characters are unlocked.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Dribble & Spitz appear once again in WarioWare: Smooth Moves. On the map, Dribble repeatedly eats a chocolate bar and gets choked up, surprising Spitz. In their opening movie, a curtain rises as spotlights move around. Once they converge on a sign with their names on it, the light expands and they rise from their taxi. Spitz gives off a meow before the scene fades to black. In their story, the two clean their taxi, glad that the weather has turned out to be nice after all. Suddenly a young woman arrives, asking for a ride to a place called Tomorrow Hill. When they arrive, they are shocked to see that a giant spaceship has descended to the edge of Tomorrow Hill. The young lady transforms into an alien named Mitzi and departs using the spaceship, leaving her hat behind. Once they get over their shock, Dribble & Spitz realize that Mitzi did not pay the fare. During Tiny Wario's epilogue cutscene, Spitz is seen holding Red by the tail while Dribble watches nearby as Wario gets chased by some Splunks.

Dribble has his own blog entries at the official Japanese website of the game. His profile mentions his hobby is sewing and that he is famous for his driving, which is described as "thrilling like a roller-coaster ride." His boss, Spitz, is said to occasionally space out.

WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase
In WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase, the WiiWare counterpart for WarioWare: D.I.Y., Dribble & Spitz take part in the Diamond Rally Championship, where they try to overtake their opponents. After the boss stage is completed, an ad for Diamond Taxi will be shown and the taxi shown in said ad will fall apart if the player presses the button.

Game & Wario
In Game & Wario, Dribble & Spitz's minigame is called Taxi. In the introductory cutscene, Dribble & Spitz travel on Highway 56 in their taxi while Dribble drives tiredly and Spitz sleeps. Soon after, Dribble spots a customer hailing for their taxi on the side of the road and wakes Spitz in the process. A UFO suddenly appears overhead and abducts the customer. Spitz then grabs a bazooka, opens the top of their taxi, and attempts to shoot the UFO with lasers. The UFO dodges all of Spitz's shots. He then tells Dribble to follow it and he cooperates, following the UFO over a hill leading to a farm.

Dribble is also in the Bowling minigame, depicted on a pin like other characters in the game.

WarioWare Gold
In WarioWare Gold, they are once again recruited by Wario to make games for him after Wario runs out of money. In their own stage, Dribble & Spitz drive their taxi across The Farthest Edge of Space when they stumble into UFO crossfire. Spitz tries to tell Dribble about "stayin' cool", but when a laser beam hits the taxi and nearly knocks the duo out, Spitz declares war on the UFOs, and he and Dribble use the Octoblazooka to fight back against Dribble's wishes. Eventually, they chase away the remaining UFOs and make it back home, with Spitz standing by his philosophy of "stayin' cool", despite his rage earlier.

Dribble & Spitz are later seen having a potluck with 9-Volt, 18-Volt, 5-Volt, Orbulon, Mike, Fronk, Ashley, and Red at Peridot Campgrounds, having brought ingredients for s'mores and chicken respectively. When Ashley reveals that she brought a mandrake root for her ingredient, Spitz plays a prank on Red by crying like a mandrake, causing him to faint. After the potluck, Dribble suggests they invite Wario for the next potluck and they all agree to have one tomorrow.

They are last seen asking Wario along with the rest of the characters for their share of the earnings from the Wario Bowl. After Young Cricket detains Wario, the group splits the money equally.

WarioWare: Get It Together!
Dribble & Spitz appear in WarioWare: Get It Together!. In the game's story mode, the duo appears in the opening cutscene, playing a board game. They, along with the rest of the WarioWare, Inc. employees, get sucked in the game world due to Wario's actions.

Their stage is the Fantasy stage, which is available after Mona's That's Life stage is completed. In the pre-stage cutscene, Wario, Young Cricket, 18-Volt, and Mona take note of the corruption that the game bugs have caused, and as Wario sarcastically dismisses the state of the game, Mona immediately reprimands him. They suddenly notice Dribble & Spitz, with the former stating that they've been looking for Wario and co. Dribble states that he had seen corruptions all over the game (with Mona commenting on the dilemma). Without hesitation, the duo prepare to exterminate the game bugs.

In their story, Dribble & Spitz host a tour titled the Outta This World Tour, where they take customers to see the stars as well as other sights in space. They descend on a planet and pick up four purple aliens, and then travel to a green planet. After their stage is cleared, the duo joins the gang, with Spitz commenting, "Ha HA! Now that's more like it!"

After beating Anything Goes, Dribble & Spitz go back to the real world alongside most of the other WarioWare Inc. employees and chase after Wario after it is revealed their predicament was caused by his poor programming, with Dribble reprimanding Wario on the recurrence of such an event. However, they soon remember other people were left behind in the game world, and immediately return to rescue them.

Dribble & Spitz differ from the rest of the crew as playable characters, as Dribble is controlled by Player 1 and Spitz is controlled by Player 2. As a result, the player will always control Dribble in single-player. As playable characters, Dribble & Spitz fly around in their taxi with. Pressing makes them fire a bullet from their bazooka; Dribble faces and shoots bullets to the right, and Spitz faces and shoots to the left. This ability allows them to clear microgames that involve goals at hard-to-reach areas (e.g. Missing Remote, Mystifying Mirror). Is Anyone Home? and Animal Crossing: New Leaf are the two games that consider Dribble & Spitz a good fit, as these games feature objects that are easily targeted at a horizontal range. Although there are no microgames that deem them a bad fit, the projectiles are sometimes weak in completing microgames, with a major example being Wobble Boxing, which is especially difficult for Dribble himself, requiring the player to use the bullets in tandem with pushing the objects. Overall, Dribble & Spitz have 138 microgames that deem them an above-average fit, and 66 microgames considered an average fit.

Super Smash Bros. series
Dribble & Spitz make cameo appearances in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as stickers. If the Dribble sticker is used in the Subspace Emissary mode by a player, the player's battering resistance will be raised up by six. The Spitz sticker can only be used on characters with tail attacks. If used, it will raise their attacks by twelve.

Dribble & Spitz also make appearances as a spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Rhythm Heaven Megamix
The duo makes an appearance in the Wario... Where? challenge set of Rhythm Heaven Megamix. The set's version of features Dribble & Spitz as two of the racers Dr. Crygor must take photos of, replacing the long car from the original version.

Profile page from the WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! manual
"I'm Dribble. This is my pal Spitz. Together, we make one crash-bang cabbie team! When Wario asked us to team up and make some hard drivin' sci-fi games, we couldn't say no! Hop in your cab and try 'em out! We'll cut you a deal on the fare! Oh, hey! Between us, we taught Wario how to drive! He'd never admit it, but it's true..."

Dribble

 * Occupation: Taxi Driver
 * Skill: Driving
 * Personality: Speed Freak
 * This speed freak of a cabby drives for Diamond Taxi. He's a burly guy, but he's not as bright as his partner Spitz. For some reason, they both have Bronx accents.

Spitz

 * Occupation: Taxi Driver
 * Hobby: Reading Science Fiction
 * Personalty: Calm
 * Sure, he's small, but in the cab he's leader of the pack. His cool head suits Dribble's need for speed well. Together, they dream of cabbing it in outer space.

Dribble
-Speed demon -Has great respect for Spitz -Has a beautiful smile but often gets cavities on his back teeth

Spitz
-Dribble's superior -Highly skilled driver -Has gorgeous, fluffy fur -Takes two baths a day

Dribble

 * Rank C – This Diamond City taxi driver is usually seen with Spitz, his cabbie partner. Has a bit of a short fuse.
 * Rank B – Dribble's ears twitch when he's happy about something. On his day off, his ears twitch like crazy.
 * Rank A – Dribble's hobby is sewing. He made the Spitz doll often seen in the taxi. He sewed it during the long night shifts.

Spitz

 * Rank C – This Diamond City taxi driver is usually seen with his cabbie partner, Dribble. Stays calm. Well, usually.
 * Rank B – Loves coffee. Given he's named Spitz, you'd think he'd spill it all over himself. But no. He's a sipper.
 * Rank A – His head goggles aren't for improving his vision. At least, not above water. They're bathtub goggles.

Dribble

 * Taxi driver in Diamond City. Short-tempered personality. His partner is his senior, Spitz.

Spitz

 * Taxi driver in Diamond City. Calm personality. His partner is his junior, Dribble.

European website bio

 * "These sci-fi-loving cab drivers are each equipped with a handy weapon, but with Dribble firing right and Spitz shooting left, they'll need to work together to win."

Character description

 * "This taxi-drivin' duo is happy to take you from your front door to the far reaches of space. The fare is always fair!"

Dribble

 * "When this Diamond City cabby gets behind the wheel, he may be driving across town...or across the far reaches of space. His partner, Spitz, is always there to guide him."

Spitz

 * "This Diamond City cabby has taken passengers to some strange places in his time. But no matter where he goes, this cool cat always looks out for his loyal partner, Dribble."

Microgames
Dribble & Spitz come with their own set of microgames in all games of the WarioWare series, except for WarioWare: Touched! Their stages are occasionally accompanied by full-length, vocal songs that play on their taxi's radio.

In WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, Dribble & Spitz's microgames are of the Sci-Fi genre. For the entirety of the stage, the song "Drifting Away" plays. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! also features Dribble & Spitz's Sci-Fi microgames, as well as a mini-game created by them called Milky Way Delirium, which uses similarly themed elements.

Dribble & Spitz's microgames in WarioWare: Twisted! involve a particular style of gameplay rather than a specific visual theme, which was also continued for the next games in the series until WarioWare: D.I.Y. In this game, their set of microgames is called Steer Clear and require tilting the Game Boy Advance and pressing the Button. Before their stage begins, the player can choose between the songs "Dribble & Spitz" and "Taxi Sonata" to play in the background.

In WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Dribble & Spitz's set of microgames involve the forms The Remote Control, The Umbrella, The Dumbbell, The Janitor and The Mohawk. However, the second part of their boss microgame, Boot Camp, involves The Elephant. The song "Tomorrow Hill" plays throughout the stage.

In WarioWare: D.I.Y Showcase, Dribble & Spitz return to their original role and host a new set of Sci-Fi games again.

In WarioWare Gold, Dribble & Spitz are part of the Mash League, hosting Fantasy themed microgames for it.

Trivia

 * Even though Spitz's eyes are always squinting, he opens them fully in WarioWare: Twisted! in Spitz Hockey, when he wins and at the beginning of a microgame in his stage, and in WarioWare: Smooth Moves, if the player clicks the Dribble icon and waits for a moment, in which (in both cases) they are revealed to resemble real cat eyes. However, In Game & Wario, they are opened once more, but this time look like black dots. This is retconned in WarioWare Gold however, where his eyes are completely circular and wide.
 * In most games, Dribble appears to be a solo developer, with Spitz as a partner, but in Game & Wario, Spitz's description card reveals that he is actually Dribble's boss.