Earlier this year we had a Western release of Cotton Reboot!, which took a well regarded but niche arcade shoot 'em up title - or more accurately the best port of the arcade - and introduced it to a wider audience. It's pretty darn good, too.
Strictly Limited Games and ININ Games are now teaming up to bring more Cotton titles to consoles soon. One that is already known to be definitely coming to Switch is Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute; this includes 1997 title Cotton 2 and the 1998 releases Cotton Boomerang and Guardian Force.
Two more games are on the way; right now we know they're coming to 'consoles' and are making an educated guess that they'll also tap into the Switch market.
Cotton 100% was originally on Super Famicom in 1994 then PlayStation 1 much later in 2003; the look and difficulty of this game is supposed to make it a good start point for newcomers to the series or shoot 'em ups in general.
Perhaps the big news, though, is that Panorama Cotton is getting a digital release - released originally on SEGA Mega Drive in 1994, this "pseudo 3D' shoot ‘em up was considered a technical prodigy". It's also rather rare and expensive as it was a Japan-only release - our resident collector Damien McFerran highlighted the fact it has listings on eBay north of £500. It's great that it'll be introduced to a new audience at a far more accessible price.
The press release didn't specify platforms, but we have been told 'consoles' will be featured and it seems a relatively safe bet that the Switch will be supported.
As mentioned before there'll be digital releases for these titles, while Strictly Limited Games and ININ Games will open pre-orders on Limited Edition and Collector's Editions 'soon'.
We'll keep an eye out for more detailed release information; in the meantime let us know if you're planning to pick up any of these Cotton titles.
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Comments 21
I've never heard of Panorama Cotton before now, but it immediately looks unique and interesting amongst other shmups, even today!
Good, these are great games. They should also release more Saturn games in general!
Yipes. Looks like I've been missing out...
That said, hopefully Success and Studio Saizensen bring the first three Umihara Kawase games to the Switch as well.
Umihara Kawase Fresh! was still an excellent entry for the series in spite of its "changes" and while the multiplayer component was a neat idea, Umihara Kawase BaZooKa! just wasn't that good to me.
Wow the Switch has had a lot of Cotton candies as of late. Can't wait to try em all.
Never can have too many shmups on Switch. Very much looking forward to Deathsmiles I&II from SLG as well. I've always enjoyed their CEs above any other boutique publishers' CEs.
So, this is what I understand of the situation:
Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute can already be ordered as an Asia region import from the likes of Play-asia or Bazaar-Bazaar.
SNES Drunk tackled a Cotton game just today. Uncanny (https://youtu.be/bwwcXw3WSks)
Yes, yes and yes please.
I never expected out of all of the dormant shump franchises that Cotton was going to be the one but I'm all down for it
I'm not falling for that again, Strictly Limited Games.
So I’m gonna say this I wouldn’t rely on strictly limited games for anything.. it’s going on a year since I pre-ordered games and I still have not received them..and trying to get a hold of anybody is next to impossible… I’m not sure if anybody else has had this issue with them but just kind of giving you a heads up.. these games can be found at PlayAsia.com in English no less and they’re a lot more reliable than strictly limited games. Just sayin folks.
Huh, so it's Space Harrier | Cotton, interesting.
@vasteel1ne Good advice, thanks for that!
Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute? All we need now is the And Knuckles to complete another ridiculously long title!
In all seriousness, I'm excited for this, and especially for Panorama Cotton. I'm actually developing a game that will end up playing a like that at the moment, so it will be nice to have an example of the style that isn't Space Harrier.
I've played Panorama Cotton and it's a great game similar to Space Harrier. It performs very well, better than Space Harrier II on the Mega Drive.
As a Panorama Cotton owner, I couldn't be more thrilled! Now all we need is Rainbow Cotton fron the Dreamcast and that should just about be all of them! Shame they have to milk individual releases and couldn't have just given us one big Cotton Collection. Still, we're living in a magical time for retro gaming.
Both are stunning games, and unique Cotton entries for the MD and SNES. Day one, for sure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOPK8iPowqM
What a coincidence, Snes Drunk released a video about Cotton 100% today
@Hck hi, another Panorama Cotton owner here........although I don’t have the mug ;(
I need to actually play and beat Ikaruga before I can justify anymore shootemup games. Like it looks neat but I’m not sure if the genre is for me.
I don't know how they're going to manage physical editions. Even if Cotton 100% and Panorama Cotton stay in Strictly Limited Games.
The Saturn collection is a standalone release, and not a SLG exclusive (let's hope it comes to standard stores as Cotton Reboot did, and at a similar low price), but what are they going to do with the SNES and Mega Drive entries? A Cotton 16-bit Collection? I wish! As long as it comes to stores too. That would leave Rainbow Cotton (Dreamcast) as the only title in the series not re-released.
These games are garbage but then again nintendo has nothing but that.
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