Cotton Fantasy Reviews

Cotton Fantasy is ranked in the 83rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8 / 10
Jun 3, 2022

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.

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7 / 10
May 24, 2022

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.

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8 / 10
Jan 17, 2022

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.

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4 / 5.0
May 17, 2022

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.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jun 6, 2022

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.

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Impulsegamer
Boouya
Top Critic
4.2 / 5.0
Jun 26, 2022

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.

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8 / 10.0
May 19, 2022

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.

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80 / 100
May 20, 2022

Cotton Fantasy is a typical shmup at its core and follows the good old "shoot first, ask questions later" rule. It does not reinvent anything, it uses the best models of everything that came before in the genre and adds it all to the instant charisma of its protagonist and all the characters that surround her in a simple story about sweets.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

8 / 10.0
May 28, 2022

Cotton Fantasy is a great new entry in this classic shoot ‘em up franchise that should please any fan of the genre. It’s colorful, fun, and offers up a range of different playstyles thanks to the varied playable characters. My biggest gripes against it are that it just doesn’t have much for extra modes or gameplay features which could be a tough pill to swallow for those who see the current asking price. Whether you play it now or sometime in the future though, Cotton Fantasy is a great time and I hope we see further new entries in the franchise moving forward.

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9 / 10.0
Jun 1, 2022

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!

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8.3 / 10.0
May 16, 2022

After over 20 years, Cotton Fantasy was worth the wait as it's bursting with enjoyable shmup gameplay set in a bubbly and very silly world. Plus, the fact that it features such a diverse-playing cast of characters is sweeter than a bowl full of Willow.

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9 / 10.0
May 15, 2022

Cotton Fantasy is frankly my favorite Cute 'em Up I've played in years. The different character playstyles caught me off guard and I fell in love with the title so quickly. In the gameplay department, it does very little long and sets the standard of the series for the most part. If it took the omissions from Cotton Reboot for a potential sequel we could be looking at a G.O.A.T contender.  Sadly the visuals do let the overall package down and I feel that may have done some damage to the stage designs. It's not enough to knock the title down but is something that could be easily addressed in a future title in the series. This Cotton anniversary stretch has been great and what better way to cap it all off with the best gameplay the franchise has seen? The only thing sweeter than Willows it seems is Cotton Fantasy!

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8 / 10.0
May 16, 2022

Just like other games in the franchise, Cotton Fantasy is not meant to be challenging. It’s yet another cathartic power fantasy of a shooter, where you’re given an excessive amount of weapons to wreak havoc against some of the cutest enemies in the genre. Even if the polygonal visuals aren’t as charming as the graphics in previous games, the sheer amount of playable characters, as well as its nonlinear structure, make this game the single most replayable Cotton title out there.

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Liked-a-lot
May 20, 2022

Cotton Fantasy feels like the definitive Cotton experience. Taking aspects from all the games that came before it and creating an experience that is just a joy to play through with Cotton or with the varied characters available. If you love your arcade games, this will likely put a big smile on your face with all the colours and numbers glaring back at you on screen and, of course, a pumping arcade-style soundtrack. The games main niggle is the price of entry is a bit steep, and the game is very light on content. Whether you are old or new to the Cotton series, this is an excellent side-scrolling shooter that is a must-play for high score chasers and fans of retro shooters.

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9.5 / 10.0
May 18, 2022

Cotton Fantasy is a shoot’em up that works as an ideal entrypoint to the genre and also offers enough fun for those who already are veterans. With a variety of character options that significantly change the gameplay and a clear care for the franchise, it's a game that's definitely recommendable to anyone looking for a good shoot ‘em up experience.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

10 / 10.0
May 20, 2022

Cotton Fantasy is a lesson on how to present a franchise to a new generation while bringing back all the best things it had presented in its various titles. Adding guest characters was also a great idea to create different dynamics that break the repetition a shoot'em up usually has.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

80 / 100
May 27, 2022

Cotton Fantasy is the new installment of the veteran Success Corporation franchise that champions the cute 'em up subgenre. 22 years after his last Dreamcast adventure -bypassing the remake Reboot! and various ports released last year - of the witch Nata de Cotton. We will once again control the young and problematic witch along with six other playable characters -including one unlockable-, each with their own gameplay and mechanics that will make each game with each of them a new and satisfying experience.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

9 / 10.0
May 23, 2022

The sheer variety of levels, choosing your own route, the differing playstyles, and the online leaderboards easily make Cotton Fantasy one of the best modern shmups available on the Nintendo Switch, with the lack of a dedicated Caravan Mode being my only real gripe here. Still, thanks to online leaderboards and good character variety, this is a shooter that’ll keep any scorechaser fan in bliss.

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8.5 / 10.0
Jun 4, 2022

Cotton Fantasy is ridiculously cute, colourful and charming. Shoot 'em fans looking for a more relaxed game oozing with personality will have a blast playing through the 16 levels filled with candy and bucket loads of kawaii. I especially liked that all seven playable characters have completely different playstyles, as that alone significantly beefs up the game's replayability. I had a great time playing this game and if you also love extreme cuteness then surely you'll enjoy it too.

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3.5 / 5.0
May 31, 2022

It’s a fun time, and it’s great to see Cotton back after so long. Trying to shove so many different gameplay styles for all of these guest characters was definitely ambitious and I applaud the developers for trying, but next time around I’d much rather they focus on moving this series forward and making the best Cotton game they can.

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