Rainbow Cotton
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Rainbow Cotton
Although there's room for improvement in ININ's presentation, and it would have been nice to get a few more bonus unlockables, this is still the best version of Rainbow Cotton around thanks to its silky smooth frame rate, lovely upscaling, widescreen formatting, and all-important gameplay enhancements. It's a fun, at times spectacular, novelty adventure in the Cotton universe, that can occasionally feel confusing and cluttered. Stick with it, though, and an enjoyable and genuinely charming rail shooter bubbles to the surface.
Rainbow Cotton has a colorful and cutesy theme that will appeal to some fans of anime. But outside of the HD visual upgrade, there are multiple problems with the gameplay that can become frustrating. Co-op and Retro mode are interesting inclusions, but the meager amount of extra features leave almost no reason to come back later.
Rainbow Cotton is the kind of game that series fans will happily add to their collection but it surely won't entice many folks outside of that player base with its dated gameplay that unfortunately hasn't held up all that well. 🌈
Maybe it was too difficult to incorporate, maybe it made the game too easy, I couldn’t tell you. What I can say is Rainbow Cotton is the magical girl wrapped version of a Cybertruck. Quirky and odd, the novelty wears off when you can’t control it and it ultimately crashes and burns, killing you with design flaws that the creators were well aware of.
Thanks to HD visuals, co-op support, and some quality-of-life fixes, this new version is somewhat better than the Dreamcast game. Unfortunately, too much of that game's DNA is preserved here, leading to a middling experience.
Rainbow Cotton is ultimately a unique title with lots of charm. However, the experience is filled with bugs, camera issues, and decisions that left me scratching my head. With so many great ideas, it is a shame the controls and bugs plague what is otherwise a charming and colorful experience.
Rainbow Cotton is okay but not great. The developers have had a valiant crack at bringing the game to Nintendo Switch and adding a few modern touches. Unfortunately, some core problems with the game still persist. Like many games that started strong in 2D, the transition to 3D hasn’t worked great for Cotton. Shooting doesn’t feel that satisfying; movement is sluggish, and difficulty is very unbalanced in places. The game does shine with its presentation and graphics. Overall, I settled on liking the game myself. But I would say this is really only for the retro and die-hard Cotton fans. If you’re starting your Cotton adventure, I would suggest trying Cotton Reboot and circling back to this if the series clicks with you.
