Panorama Cotton

When a game series catches on, it’s only a matter of time before they try to mix up the winning formula. In some cases, it’s after a few games, such as Sonic the Hedgehog or the Ninja Turtles games. For others, it’s more or less right away, like Mario and Zelda. Cotton had two games (that I know of) under her belt, but when it came time to go for the hat trick, I guess the developers decided the Horizontal shooter genre was getting stale. So what did they do? Move the camera from next to Cotton to behind her.

Series: Cotton

Developer: Success

Publishers: Sunsoft, United Games Entertainment GmbH

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Sega Genesis, Nintendo Switch

Review Code Provided

Written by: Danny K

Remember Space Harrier? If not, it was an arcade game where the player was flying forwards rather than sideways, and could move freely around the screen to dodge enemy fire and obstacles. I guess someone saw that and said “That’s what Cotton’s been missing!” And thus, Panorama Cotton was born. Is this game worthy of being the third entrant in the Cotton Series? Or does it crash and burn? Let’s find out! Random aside. During the early development stages of Crash Bandicoot, the project was called “Sonic’s Ass” due to the game basically being a 2D platformer from behind the hero, rather than beside them. Does that make this game Cotton’s Ass?

The story for Panorama Cotton is...well it HAS a story. Like before, this isn’t a remake as much as it is an advanced port, so we have no English translation for the story. At least last time I was able to make out something about a Cotton Doppelganger. This time, the animations leave me clueless as to what in the world is going on. Again, I could just find a translation online, but I wanted to go into this with the perspective of someone who...well, was too lazy to do that, in other words, me. You can’t prove that’s just a lazy excuse not to do my homework.

Anyway, just like with Cotton 100%, we have two modes of play, Standard and Challenge. Standard mode is the arcade original with some modern add ons, like the ability to create save states, rewind, and use cheats (that are unlocked by completing the game in Challenge Mode) and Challenge Mode is just the vanilla game without enhancements.

Gameplay for Panorama Cotton is a forward flying shooter. No, there’s no 3D models here, we’re still using sprites, but no one ever said that was a bad thing. Like the other Cotton games, our titular witch needs to reach the end of the stage, shooting down enemies, dodging obstacles, and collecting power ups. There’s been a few changes to this adventure. Aside from the previously mentioned perspective change, Cotton now has a health bar. And she can change her speed. I’m not sure if there’s any benefit to faster flying aside from increased challenge, maybe it means a higher score? I couldn’t tell you. The controls are smooth as a ceramic mug and I never felt like the game was fighting me back. All the times I crashed into something, took a hit, or missed a power up felt like me playing poorly rather than the game controlling poorly.

Like last time, each stage has a midboss and an end boss, but the game also has checkpoints, meaning if Cotton bites the big one and needs to use a continue, she doesn’t have to start from the beginning, which is nice. But trust me, there is a lot to contend with and odds are your first few playthroughs will go up in smoke. Sadly, like with Cotton 100%, I didn’t have enough time for a full attempted playthrough, but I was able to get a few levels in. I had a blast for what I was able to play. It’s fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. I can totally see myself getting back on the broom and trying to get good at the game. While it might lack the polish and extra convenience that Cotton Reboot had, it’s still a fun time to play and will only take a few minutes to beat once you get good enough.

Presentation Wise, this game, like its predecessors, looks and sounds great. The graphics are quickly flying by, but what I was able to take in looked charming if nothing else. The backgrounds are constantly changing and varied, so they never get boring. The music and voice acting, what of it that there is, is good too. The soundtrack might not be anything you’d want to rip and put on your music player of choice, but it’s a jam that nicely compliments the action on screen. Although, it sounds like Cotton is saying something dirty when she dies.

Conclusion

If you liked the other Cotton Games, you’ll like this one too. So, get on your broom, perfect your dodging skills, and do...whatever it is Cotton has to do, with Panorama Cotton.

Author: Danny K