There’s more Cotton on the way! As part of the series’ 30th anniversary celebrations—and following the success of the excellent Cotton Reboot! earlier this year—four classic cute-’em-ups, only released in Japan to date, will make their international debut: Cotton 100%, Panorama Cotton, Cotton 2, and Cotton Boomerang: Magical Night Dreams.
Together, these games represent five years of Cotton history, from 1994 to 1998. Cotton 100% and Panorama Cotton both originally released in 1994, for Super Famicom and Sega Mega Drive, respectively. Cotton 100% was a direct follow-up to the original Cotton, with a similar style of side-scrolling shooting and colourful presentation, but designed to be a little bit easier. Panorama Cotton, on the other hand, went in a very different direction with a pseudo-3D rail shooter—like Space Harrier, but cuter. Each one will be getting an individual release, both digitally and in Limited and Collector’s Editions from Strictly Limited Games.
Cotton 2 and Cotton Boomerang, meanwhile, will be packaged together as Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute. First released for arcade 1997, Cotton 2 marked the series’ return to game centers, while building on the original’s shooting action with the introduction of fighting game-style joystick motions to perform special shots. Cotton Boomerang: Magical Night Dreams (1998) is a remixed version of that game, with new characters, a new scoring system, and rearranged levels. Both games were subsequently ported to Sega Saturn, and those are the versions that will be included in Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute—hence the name.
Cotton 100%, Panorama Cotton, and Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute will each be released digitally, alongside Collector’s and Limited Edition physical releases from Strictly Limited Games. Full details will be announced later—there’s no word yet on platforms, though given publisher ININ Games’ track record, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch seem like safe bets. ININ is also teasing a “very special announcement, coming later this year in celebration of Cotton’s 30st [sic] birthday!”
And just in case you need more Cotton, Success is also working on a brand new entry in the series, Cotton Rock ‘n’ Roll: Superlative Night Dreams, with plans for a release later this year.