Cotton 100% Reviews
Cotton 100% is the traditional horizontal shooter that was originally released on the Super Famicom. This was a direct sequel to the original game. The series is built around the mechanic of gems to power-up shots. There are also magic elemental attacks. These can now be swapped at any time allowing for more diverse game play outside of the standard shooting. This port has all the menus in English, but everything else is in Japanese. All of these ports are just that. The only work is done in converting the menus and adding a few features here and there, but they are basically just ports onto new consoles.
Cotton 100% is a fantastically fun game. The stages are way too short, though, and that's a drag given the $14.99 price tag. But is its price a show stopper? That's up to you, the consumer. Still, Cotton 100% is silly, entertaining, and gives a decent challenge to beat.
Cotton 100% doesn’t do a lot to stand out so you could probably pass up this cute ‘em up. I’m glad that it got a western release finally though and some of the extra features do make it a bit easier. If you’re a huge Cotton fan then you’ll enjoy it but otherwise you aren’t missing much.
A solid port of an important game in the series. It's just a shame that it's not that interesting mechanically. Still, it's a fun time and the quality of life additions make it a lot more approachable to newcomers.
The run time will likely be cause for complaint for some people – Cotton 100%. But this is an arcade-style game through and through, and it’s entertaining no matter how many times it’s replayed. And since the cartridge would normally be a rare import that would fetch a hefty price, it’s a wonderful gesture to have them readily available as a digital download. For fans of SHMUPs, both Cotton 100% is a must buy – it’s an absolute standout in its genre which would appeal to old and new fans alike.
Still, this is a relatively small nitpick when the game as a whole is so enjoyable to play. It may not be as visually spectacular as Cotton 2 and Cotton Boomerang, nor as delightfully fast-paced and chaotic as Cotton Reboot!’s Arrange mode, but it certainly is a good example of a well-crafted 16-bit cute ’em up — and a great entry point to the series if you’ve been unsure where to start.
For a console shmup from 1994, Cotton 100% has held up exceptionally well with its distinct style and enjoyable magic-based gameplay.
If you are fans of the Cotton series then I can say you will enjoy this port as it remains true to the original games and is certainly a collectors item. For anyone else it is just so hard to recommend it because it isn’t as good today as it was back in 1994. It is just a harsh reality that sometimes games stand the test of time and sometimes they don’t. Cotton 100% is somewhere in the middle and it’s okay, nothing more.
Märchen Adventure Cotton 100% tells the story of Nata de Cotton who comes across Silk, a fairy who’s looking for help as the world fell into darkness. At first, our little heroine is uninterested in helping the fairy in need until Silk tells her that giant Willows, Cotton’s favourite candy, is waiting for her at the other end of the darkness. Without hesitation, Cotton changes her tune and she sets out along Silk to find the cause of the darkness.
Cotton 100% is alright. It’s a fun romp, but when put up against most modern shooters, and practically every other Cotton game released this year, it just feels a bit lacking. The existence of Cotton Reboot really invalidates this game’s whole shtick, and the fairly basic gameplay has since been expanded upon in games like Cotton 2. It’s not bad, it’s just there – it exists.
This new version of Cotton 100% brings us this curious and valued cute 'em up from Super Famicom to the West 27 years after its original release. This is a perfect opportunity to get to know the franchise of the witch Nata de Cotton and her companion the fairy Silk with the second installment of the series. We only have to regret that this review is so sparse of news, extras or additional content.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Cotton 100% is a very good port of a pretty niche game, but it does have some stuff to iron out. The original game is here fully intact and still just as fun as ever, but the buggy visual options, the weird lack of any toggle for the epileptic, and the current lack of a translation make this port feel a bit rushed.
If you are a shoot ’em up enthusiast, then Cotton 100% is definitely a game worth playing, but if you are entry level and want to experience some old school Cotton gameplay, I think Cotton Reboot! is the much better option for you as it caters more to a wider audience. Don’t get me wrong, Cotton is still super-cute here, but the nostalgia glasses may come off faster than you think.
It’s great to see Cotton 100% come over to the West in such a big way. In 2021 we were lucky to receive 5 games in the Cotton series on Nintendo Switch. As someone who never got to appreciate the series before it has kinda made me feel like a kid again. I was getting to experience these games for the very first time as if I was playing them on their old retro systems of origin. The trouble is, it really feels like these games should have been released as a collection as opposed to a separate release. The price point also just feels a bit high making these appeal more to the dedicated Cotton fans over an impulse purchase for gamers testing the water for the first time. There have been several retro re-releases from the likes of M2 and Hamster that have released individual retro games cheaper and on some occasions more options. If you do want to test out this series Cotton 100% is a good place to start or Cotton Reboot released earlier this year.