Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams is an arcade shooting game published by Success. It is the sequel to the first Cotton, which was out back in 1991. The Sega Saturn version was released in winter 1997.
The shooting genre has been flooded with very orthodox mainstream games, either Toaplan style (very fast enemy shots, mostly games of bullet evasion) or Konami style (games of careful joystick maneuvers against terrain, and memory or 'precognition'). While the original Cotton seemed rather orthodox in game play (despite an innovative setting and theme), Cotton 2 is a well-executed game with a fair amount of innovation.
In Cotton 2, the player controls Cotton, a cute little girl and witch on a flying broom. (She has a mental age of 5, and thinks about nothing but food all day.) She is accompanied by Silk, a cute, scantily clothed fairy. A second player, if available, controls Appli, a cute teenage princess. There is a very silly and cute game story, which is very good for the purpose of a laugh, very good for that purpose and little else. (You will fully understand what I mean when you see the ending; get the translation here if you can't read Japanese.) The story is acted out in intermissions between stages, in additional to the opening and ending.
Cotton 2 is a horizontally scrolling 2D shooting game. You attack with normal shots and "command shots", and may also use "spells" in emergencies. By executing a command shot with some +-key motion, typical of vs. fighting games, you do a powerful attack to your front or either flank. The strength of your shots is determined by your "experience level"; you accumulate experience by getting yellow crystals and defeating enemies, and lose some when you get hit. A yellow crystal appears when you shoot up an enemy formation with normal shots. You can shoot it to change its color; picking up a crystal (other than a yellow one) gives your shots the corresponding elemental power, and also adds another use of a spell (you can stock up to 3) to your arsenal.
What truly marks Cotton 2 as an innovative game is "sealing". You seal an enemy by defeating it with a command shot. You can then keep shooting the sealed enemy for "pursuit", which gives you more points and life recovery bubbles. Or, you can cause it to collide into other enemies for a "chain", which also gives you more points. When the chain ends (by the sealed enemy flying off screen or hitting a tough enemy, or after a short time without being pursued, chained or caught after touching terrain), a bubble appears which gives you yet more points and a large amount of experience.
You can use the "catch" button to catch and throw things, basically sealed enemies to facilitate chains, but there is an impressive collection of things you can catch and throw. You can also hold down the shot button, ceasing fire, to move around very quickly.
The elemental powers have distinctive qualities that have a large effect on game play, especially when you are going after pursuit and chains. Fire shots and spells are not spectacular, but the fire seal behaves like a light, bouncy ball, and is generally the easiest to keep in play (maintaining the chain) because you can easily manipulate its position (altitude) by shooting (pursuing) it. (If you shoot it, it bounces up, and if you leave it alone, it falls down.) Ice shots bounce off walls and are useful, but the ice seal tends to plummet, and is often difficult to keep in play, especially where the terrain below you is open. (If you catch and carry an ice seal, you will even sink noticeably, making control slightly difficult.) Wind shots are nice too: they are wide shots, with homing and pass through terrain abilities. The wind seal tends to float away like a helium balloon, but retreats slightly towards you when shot, so it is excellent for pursuit, but also difficult to keep in play for chains. (It expires quickly after touching terrain.) Finally, light shots are the most powerful, but the light seal seems even less versatile than the wind seal. The white crystal of light appears only in stage 6 and beyond, or when the player loses a life.
These are my observations; players with different playing styles may find different uses with the elements. As previously mentioned, to change the element, you need to pick up a crystal, which are plentiful if you concentrate on getting them. If you are really desperate to change the element without a crystal, you can do so by firing a spell.
The game has pretty graphics and nice music. The game engine is very well-executed and provides a very interactive environment (such as throw-able things, and things colliding and bouncing off one another). For example, when you seal a big, tough enemy, the seal appears and behaves as a big one. The game gives its unique sense of realism and playability that is unusual among shooting games. Rather than just dodging bullets and moving into memorized positions as in orthodox shooting games, in this game there is a fair amount of action with the seals. (A seal is not only the key to high score and life recovery, but also a quite powerful weapon towards the basic function of defeating enemies and helping you stay alive.)
Personally, I dislike the "command shot" concept, because I hate having to do joystick/pad manipulation. (It is the leading reason I have stayed away from vs. fighting games.) Fortunately, by clearing the game at the harder difficulty levels, I gain access to the option of executing each command shot with a single button. Even so, I find having to use so many buttons clumsy: I would prefer to execute command shots by pushing a single fourth button in conjunction with the +-key (just) indicating direction, if only that option were available. Controls aside, command shots are a nice concept, and a well-executed one too.
The software is of quite good value. Besides the faithful arcade translation, there is also a Saturn mode with re-arranged enemy patterns and graphics. There are four difficulty levels, and the game balance is quite good. The first press also includes in the package a pretty, cute desk calendar for 1998.
Cotton 2 is a shooting game with fresh, innovative game play. The "chain" concept from vs. puzzle games has been successfully adopted into a shooting game through the well-executed element of "sealing". The result is a game that is fun to play for players who are not shooting maniacs, yet also a fresh taste for players who are. Being able to read the Japanese instructions (rather than story) may enhance the understanding and enjoyment of the game, but this review has been written in such a way as to make it up for those who cannot. I recommend this game to all players, especially players who enjoy innovative games, unless they have a fiercer hate for joystick commands than me. However, players who are very dedicated to orthodox shooting games and not innovative games may be disappointed.
Copyright 28 March 1998 Alan KWAN Shiu Ho
Alan Kwan / tarot@netvigator.com / created 28 Mar 98