With some of the more well known shoot em ups (shmups) already released, we are now starting to see some of the more weird and uncommon games getting their chance to shine. One of those games happens to be Cotton Reboot! for the Nintendo Switch.
Cotton Reboot! (referred to just Cotton in this review) is a reboot of the first Cotton game called Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams for that was released in Japanese arcades in 1991 and then onto the X68000, a Japanese home PC. The game stars the witch Cotton whose world has been consumed in darkness by evil demons…..but she really doesn’t care about it too much. One day a fairy named Silk comes to her and asks Cotton to save the world from the demons. Cotton’s response? She walks away. Silk then adds that if Cotton defeats each of the evil bosses that the fairies’ world famous candy, Willow, will be hers for the taking. Cotton, who loves Willow, agrees and helps Silk save the world in exchange for fairy candy. The story is pretty simple but cute as Cotton’s drive to save the world is based on getting the Willow candy.
So the gameplay for Cotton is pretty simple: dodge, shoot and collect jewels for the high score. As simple as it might look, there are some game mechanics that make Cotton stand out. One such mechanic is powering up Cotton. Unlike other shmups that use items as power ups, Cotton has an experience bar. Players can fill this bar by collecting yellow and orange jewels that pop out when she shoots down enemies. As the bar fills up and Cotton levels up, the power of her shot changes and gets stronger, allowing her to shoot down enemies faster. Another mechanic that makes Cotton unique is the previously mentioned jewels. They don’t just serve as objects to collect for points, they actually have two other different purposes. The first is defusing Cotton’s shot. When Cotton shoots at the jewels, her shot is defused and split into two, thus making her shot even more powerful. The other is leveling up spells. In the game, instead of screen clearing bombs like most shmups us, Cotton uses magic spells. Each of the different color jewels (yellow, orange, blue, green red, purple) is a different spell and collecting that specific color will level up the spell and make it more powerful. Each of these spells has a charged version of it by holding the casting button. These mechanics make Cotton Reboot a really fun and frenetic shmup that’s really easy to pick up and very addictive.
Now for the reboot part of Cotton Reboot! As mentioned before Cotton Reboot! is a reboot of the original arcade/X68000 game. It’s a bit more accurate to call the game a remaster instead of a reboot since though for the most part the gameplay and level layout remains mostly the same, both the music and the graphics get an HD upgrade. The 2D cut scenes that play in between each of the stages also get a modern touch up. These upgrades are seen in the arranged mode, the reboot part of Cotton Reboot!. The graphics are hand drawn HD sprites and look amazing in motion. The music in the game also get upgraded and each track sounds great. But for those who prefer the retro look, there is a mode called X6800 which is the X6800 port of the game. For being at least thirty years old, the X8600 version of Cotton holds up pretty well.
There are a couple of nice extras in Cotton Reboot!. In addition to the X8600 version of the game, there is a score attack/caravan mode. The game (in arrange and time attack modes) also allows you to actually choose different character to play as. These characters include Silk, Cotton’s rival Appli (whose actually from the sequel Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams) and Appli’s familiar, a taking hat named Needle.
With all the good that there is to Cotton Reboot!, there are a few minor issues I have with the game. These are mostly with menu management, as that when you change options, it applies to all of the playable modes, instead of being able to change options for each individual mode.
Cotton Reboot! is a fun little shooter that brings back a rather obscure character/game and not only gives it a new coat of paint, but let’s gamers experience the original version as well. If you’re looking for a cute and addictive shmup, then I highly recommend giving Cotton Reboot! a look.
