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Finest Cotton
Cotton Reboot! (PEGI 12) PS4, Switch HHHHH
The 90s is a rich vein to tap for classics to reboot, and this latest release was one of the best side-scrolling shooters from the early part of that decade.
Originally released as Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams in Japanese arcades in 1991, it saw players assume the role of a young witch who takes on a series of monsters to get her hands on her favourite candy.
It made the move from arcades to home consoles, including the Playstation in 1999, and the Neo Geo Pocket Color in 2000.
If you’re lucky enough to have a copy of this hiding in the dusty eaves of your house, then dig it out. The Neo Geo version is now a collector’s item, regularly selling for £800 plus.
There were several follow-ups and sequels of varying quality, but nothing ever touched the original.
So it’s about time Cotton was brought bang up-to-date.
Cotton Reboot! is an incredibly well done HD release, which has been lovingly remastered with hand-drawn graphics.
Alongside new graphics, the game’s score has been remixed and new features have been added, so
Cotton somehow feels both oddly familiar, and yet completely new at the same time.
The game is overflowing with cuteness and personality, paired with fast and challenging game play.
Young witch Nata de Cotton, is joined on her quest by fairy companion Silk, who has made promises of magical fairy candy for Cotton.
Gameplay has received a major overhaul, from the way scoring works, to the way you strike at enemies.
Two new colours have been added to the Cotton’s magic arsenal. Alongside the original’s red and blue magic, there’s now a purple and green option which brings new and fun powers.
The purple one is especially good, as if you hold down the keys as you use it, it turns all the crystals on the screen black, providing a huge boost to your score.
And if you get sick of the three lives limit, you can go and tinker with the settings to gain extra lives, or infinite continues – but be aware that changing those settings will probably see you disqualified from the game’s online leaderboards.
The coloured gems themselves hold the key to levelling up your magical powers, so that your spells pack a much heavier punch, or unlocking bombs or points.
Shooting the crystals when they appear on screen cycles them through all the available colours, so you can purposely boost certain powers without having to rely on the right ones appearing by chance.
The back of Cotton’s broomstick now also deals deadly blows, which comes in handy for clearing the screen of enemies.
Her default strike also feels broader, delivering more devastating strikes.
But if the frenetic action of the game starts to feel too much, then you can also take advantage of the X68000 original mode, which faithfully emulates Sharp’s personal computer version from 1993 in all its pixely glory.
This feels like a real love letter to fans of the “cute’em up”, delivering a surprisingly contemporary feeling experience.
And while Silk, in her impractically skimpy bikini, feels more out of place than ever in 2021, there’s enough thrills and spills to keep you entertained for hours.
Cotton Reboot! is an incredibly well done HD release... lovingly remastered with hand-drawn graphics.
BUY IT: £34.99, available from nintendo.co.uk/
COLLECTOR’S EDITION: £68.99 from cotton.iningames.com