If you love playing 2D sidescrolling shoot ‘em ups, chances are that you might have come across the Cotton franchise before. The very first title in the franchise was released back in 1991 and to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary, developer Success and publisher ININ Games have revisited the franchise and released the all-new title Cotton Fantasy which brings back the franchise to life on modern consoles with all of the modern goodies that you would expect from a modern release. This is our review of the PS4 release of Cotton Fantasy in which we eat a huge willow and destroy huge bosses with our shots.
Cotton Fantasy brings to life the iconic Nata de Cotton who has been the heroine of the franchise since it was released. The story of the game is set in Fairyland where willows are vanishing without any clue and the task to recover them has fallen on the shoulders of the tiny fairy Silk. Silk seeks help from her old friend, the little witch Nata de Cotton and she agrees at once as soon as she finds out that there are willows involved in the process. The story begins with a brand-new adventure spanning all over Fairyland where you can choose your own path of moving forward at key points of the story.
The story of Cotton Fantasy lasts for around 1 hour or so and it is excellent for quick pick-and-play sessions as well. If you want to play individual levels with custom settings, you can also try out the Training mode. The game only offers Story and Training mode as of now and you can try out all of the stages in the Training mode without the worry of story or highscores. You can also turn off cutscenes for the main story as well if you are only interested in completing the stages or replaying them with a different character. This time around in the game, you have a diverse selection of characters to choose from as well.
Apart from Nata de Cotton, you have 5 base characters, and you can unlock additional ones as well by completing the main story of the game. Some of the characters in the game are guest characters from other franchises as well such as you have Kawase from Umihara Kawase who is riding on a bloated fish. Then you have Luffee from Doki Doki Poyacchio as well as a guest character in the game. Apart from these, you have plenty of other characters to choose from and you can even unlock additional characters by progressing in the main story.
Each of the characters in the game is not just a fancy skin for the same base character. Each character is unique in the game, and they all come with their own unique shots and special attacks. Some of them come with unique traits as well for example Cotton has her fairies shooting alongside her, Ria can graze enemies and bullets for score multipliers while Fine comes with a time system instead of a life system and she dies when her timer reaches zero. This gives excellent replayability to Cotton Fantasy and one that will greatly benefit high score chasers or fans who want to spend additional time with the game.
Naturally, when you change characters, the game also changes since you have to adjust to the new shots and special attacks. The rest of the gameplay plays pretty much the same and even the main story remains the same. If you change the character, the story is still portrayed from Cotton’s perspective. Each level has various fun cutscenes which allow you to delve into the world of the game and they are in Japanese only. For players outside Japan, the game features English subtitles that allow you to understand what is happening in the game. Apart from this, the rest of the audio is pretty much the same as we expect from a Cotton title.
Gameplay plays a vital role in these side-scrolling shoot ‘em ups and Cotton Fantasy is no different. It brings the same tight and satisfying controls back to life with controls that are specifically built for modern consoles and new players of the genre. At its core, the developer Success has tried their best to retain the original IP’s action alive and they have brilliantly succeeded in doing so. Cotton Fantasy brings the same challenging level of gameplay, but it is more accessible for modern players. It fully uses the power of the modern consoles to deliver a Cotton experience that was not available before. The enemies are brilliantly designed, and the weapons look unique and brilliant. Each of the weapons in the game actually feels unique and you have to overcome their shortcomings in order to destroy wave after wave of enemies. The enemy design is quite decent as well.
Destroyed enemies drop crystals and depending on what you need, you can shoot these crystals to change their color and then pick them up. Yellow crystals give you XP while Blue, Red Green colored crystals power up your weapons and magic. Depending on your choice of weapon, you can shoot the crystal and then run into them to collect them according to your choice. This mechanic sometimes becomes a little hectic as well because if you want to stick to a single weapon, you have to avoid collecting these crystals, but they appear all over the screen and there is no way to get rid of them making them a little annoying.
While the levels are a little short when compared to other side-scrolling shoot ‘em ups but the original Cotton has shorter levels with a focus on action and high score hunting as well. The enemy waves are brutal and especially on higher difficulties, the whole screen is filled with bullets, and you have to carefully navigate between them to survive. The same goes for boss battles as well. The boss designs are pretty cool while the fights with them are even more satisfying. The final boss was a big letdown for me but other than that, I really enjoyed the bosses of normal stages. If you die and run out of lives, you can continue the game from the same spot but your high score is reset to 0 which is a big issue if you are trying to pursue those leaderboard highscores.
Similar to Cotton Reboot, Cotton Fantasy comes with a dedicated Online Leaderboard section as well. The better you perform in each level, the higher your score is at the end of the level but if you really want those numbers, you must crank up your difficulty and then take on the game. I am not much of a high score chaser, but I love side-scrolling shooters, so I love playing games like Cotton Fantasy if you love chasing highscores, you have plenty of opportunities in the game. There is something for everyone in the title. It also features classic HD visuals but retains the originality of the franchise when it comes to looks and game design.
Final Verdict:
Cotton Fantasy arrives just in time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this brilliant franchise and it is the perfect title that you would want to release at a milestone anniversary of a franchise. Cotton Fantasy is the perfect side-scroller shoot ‘em up to introduce new players to the franchise as well as the genre. It retains the original soul of the franchise while being accessible for modern players and fits perfectly on modern consoles. It looks great, it plays great and it is also extremely challenging if you want it to be. If you love the Cotton franchise, or you love playing 2D sidescrolling shoot ‘em ups, you should definitely not miss out on this brilliant game.
Final Score: 9.0/10
