Cotton Reboot! | PS4 Review

Cotton, Candy, and Colored Crystals. That's what this colorful cute 'em up is all about. That, and a fairy kingdom immersed in a plague of darkness brought on by evil forces. As fate would have it a selfish candy loving witch named Cotton finds an offer she cannot refuse. Silk, the fairy realm's representative, offers Cotton her realm's coveted Willow (candy) if she helps them bring back the light. This entails collecting seven pieces of Willow from seven otherworldly bosses. Thus Cotton, and Silk set off on their high flying adventure for two different reasons ...

ININ Game's "Cotton Reboot!" is a full package deal in all that it offers. With it the gamer gains access to a newly arranged mode, a classic retro mode, a time trial mode, and an online leaderboard for each one. That, and a guide that explains away all of the mechanics involved. When it comes to the new features arranged mode is home to a new visual overhaul complimented by arranged music via various Asian composers. Keeping true to the early 90's anime era that the original Cotton shmup hailed from. 

Arranged mode contains seven enemy filled stages with tons of scoring opportunities centered around a color coded crystal system. A scoring system where yellow and orange gems dropped from destroyed enemies equals experience as well as shot upgrades through that experience. Leaving the remaining color changes via shots to the crystals to gift Cotton additional magic spells that can deal upgraded damage when enough of the same colored crystal is collected. Lastly, those shooting for the highest score will want to get the crystals to their final black stage as often as possible without breaking it to bank big bonus points which will be added to your total end stage score tally. Something that is counted after a special "Tea Time" mini-game where dropping red tea barrels that are collected equal the biggest bonuses, and white a lesser score value.

Similar to the Arranged mode the X6800 mode takes the gamer back to the retro days of 1993. With pixel designs accented by lightly animated, and comically narrated 90's anime story panels. The kind of thing you'd have only seen in Japan way back in the day. Like the arranged arcade mode this too includes similar mechanics tied to the colored crystal gimmick, but more basically applied. Each colored crystal dropped along the way offering either experience points, magic spells, or bonus points, accordingly. All available over the course of seven stages done up in retro fashion down to the finest pixel.

Unique to Arranged mode, and unlike X6800 mode the broom riding Cotton has a few damage options up her cloaked sleeve. This includes an upgradable shot, shots that can be diffused or spread when hitting crystals, a downward dropping bomb that can be upgraded through collected bomb jars, and up to 6 magic spells that can be upgraded up to 3 times for a more powerful version. There's those three things and the fairies, who like Silk, will aid in clearing out enemies as joining shmup satellites. You can have up to 6 fairies at a time, and they only drop from certain enemy types. With the fairies you can also unleash a fairy attack wherein fairies attack targets. Beyond that there is also a fever gauge that is filled up through shot enemies so that you can unleash a timed beam which adds score multipliers to shot crystals. Increasing the point value more. Needless to say this is where the biggest bulk of your score will come from. Also worth noting is the alternate, or sub versions of magic spells that can be activated by holding down the shot button, and releasing it. Further adding to how you choose to approach each of the seven stages within the mode.

Lastly, there exists a balls-to-the-wall insane time rush mode that can be set to 2 or 5 minutes. This new addition to the collection offers up the biggest scoring opportunity for those who understand how to properly apply the game's mechanics. You'll want to prioritize building up the fairy fever meter through enemy killing in order to capitalize on the crystal point multiplier. You'll also want to spend magic spells often to amplify the fever gauge earnings. That and seek to get as many black crystals as possible. Shot upgrades, and spell upgrades will be less of a priority as there only seems to be lesser enemies to deal with. 

The Verdict ...

I'll be honest in saying that 'Cotton Reboot!' is a very challenging shmup to master. There are a lot of cheap shots thrown in the gamers direction during any given playthrough. That being said you do have unlimited continues to offset the frustration, and your score does not reset if you choose to continue. This having been my first experience with the Cotton game I personally found it to be pleasant regardless of the unforgiving challenge. It did inspire me to try, and to perfect my scoring approach for leaderboard sake. I think if you want a cute anime inspired shmup with a lot of heart this will most definitely be worth it for you to buy. All things considered. You do get more bang for your buck with this bundle through the trio of included modes. As of this posting there may or may not be physical editions left on the ININ Games official web store.