Cotton Fantasy
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Cotton Fantasy
Cotton Fantasy nicely follows up on the reboot while also sticking too close to the formula, feeling like an extension of what the reboot was visually and in terms of gameplay.
While staying true to the series that it extends, Cotton Rock 'n' Roll / Fantasy brings so many different experiences in a single shmup that it may as well be a compilation release - and unlike the arcade versions, it is all presented in English language. The more time you give it, the more the replay value snowballs. The faults to be found are few and far between, while sharp level design and a joyful, even mischievous personality define Success' latest. Simply put, Cotton Fantasy has a lot of fun to give.
Cotton Fantasy is a beautiful love-letter to the best parts of an iconic, decades-old shoot-em-up franchise. The characters are cuter than ever, the shooting is funner than ever, and the wide variety of play styles and bonus stages to master makes this a game worth returning to plenty of times over.
The game's best design choice is how its variety of playable characters significantly alters the gameplay mechanics. Cotton Fantasy's Producer, Shinya Nagatomo, told Issue 231 of Retro Gamer magazine that "It's an all-star game with not only characters from other games, but also new systems from other Success games". This means controlling Ria incorporates the risk/reward Buzz System from Psyvariar, and you can unlock playing as the final boss character, Tacoot, with wand flinging abilities. It's these deeper systems, and unlockable stages that make Cotton Fantasy an intricate cute-'em-up that core shoot-'em-up fans will relish mastering and replaying.
Cotton Fantasy: Superlative Night Dreams is a bit pricey for the time it takes to get to the end. However, it's a shoot-em-up. It's not about getting through a story, it's about shooting baddies and getting a high score. Fans of shmups (and of the recently revitalized Cotton in particular) will have some fun with this one.
Overall Cotton Fantasy may be a short game with average playthroughs lasting about 30-40 minutes. But with 7 characters to play as and added difficulty it definitely adds a lot of replayability and if this a taste of what the Cotton franchise will continue as then fans of this series have every right to be excited to see what comes next.
If you’re after a shoot ’em up that’s bold, colourful and offers plenty of replayability, you can’t really go wrong with Cotton Fantasy. For those new to the genre it will simply be fun working your way through its stages, doing your best to survive. But for veterans out there, there’s a high skill ceiling and a robust scoring system, presenting hours of fun to be had.
Cotton Fantasy: Superlative Night Dreams is a super fun and adorable shoot 'em up with tons of crazy action, a variety of unique characters and beautiful-looking 2D stages to challenge, and is sure to keep you busy attempting to get on the leaderboard!
