Developer: Success Publisher: Datam Polystar Release: 04/22/94 Genre: Shooter
It is strange looking back on it but shooters starring witches had their day in the sun like caveman platformers. At least in Japan. While a few hidden gems like Magical Chase and Cotton came over, we missed out on the lion’s share. Titles like Twinkle Tale and Panorama Cotton are lost classics that few have heard of. Speaking of Cotton, while most have heard of its exorbitantly expensive Turbo CD release the much better Super Famicom remake is readily available. Marchen Adventure Cotton 100% is a fantastic game and one of the best SNES shooters in my opinion. Snatch this one up!
The primary reason for this remake and its most striking aspect is its presentation. The overly dark and simple graphics of both the Turbo CD and arcade game give way to a literal explosion of color. The system’s color palette receives a thorough workout bringing life to each fantastical stage. The game has an almost pastel art look that makes it look truly unique for its time. While technically a remake you will be hard pressed to recognize some of the levels as they have been significantly overhauled. There really is no comparison; the original has sparse backgrounds while here every level is alive. And it does all of this with only the barest minimum of slowdown. It truly is incredible. The only area the game suffers from in is music. The beyond awesome CD soundtrack is sorely missed.
Cotton 100% avoids many of the standard tropes in the genre and forges its own path. Rather than collecting an array of exotic weaponry instead you upgrade your primary shot. Crystals dropped by enemies grant experience which increases firepower at every level up. By juggling crystals you can change their color to earn even more experience. However this has to be balanced while dodging enemies, sort of like Twinbee. Death sets your power back a level which is far more detrimental than it sounds.
About the only similarity to Gradius comes in the form of magic and your fairies. At the start you can choose from four groupings of 3 spells. The spells have their quirks; the fire dragon is a short burst attack, thunder is a continual assault while the twinkling stars are good for clearing the screen. The barrier…is self- explanatory. All four spells too powerful and able to one shot most bosses with proper use. The game is stingy about granting recharges until close to the end. I suppose that balances it out but they are still ridiculous.
One aspect that I also have to acknowledge is the controls. With the SNES controller’s six buttons Cotton 100% is far more intuitive than its prior incarnations. Possibly the greatest addition is freely selecting each spell. With the Turbo Grafx two buttons you had no choice but to use each depending on the order. You can manually reposition your fairies too. Both rapid fire, bombs, and magic have separate buttons as well. It sounds minor but the limitations of the original were really annoying. Once you experience this it is hard to go back, bitching soundtrack or not.
Cotton 100% is not an adrenaline thrill ride like many latter day shooters. Its pace is slower and more methodical with clear peaks and valleys. The first half of the game might even be a little too slow to be completely honest. Despite the sheer number of enemies they expect very little you beyond occasionally dodging fire. The same can be said for their mid and end level bosses. That completely changes by the midpoint. It is as though someone gave it a shot of caffeine. The enemy waves are more relentless, ground based targets more dangerous and even the environment plays a factor. It becomes very easy to lose yourself in the chaos and I Iove it. While I have no problem with the way the game’s pacing I do think the early stages could have been more exciting.
It may sound as though the difficulty spikes sharply but overall the challenge is moderate. Even though Cotton dies in a single hit you respawn immediately. The game is also pretty generous with extra lives. Most of your deaths will come from greed, chasing after crystals and crashing in to an enemy. The bosses have simple patterns despite their size but take a lot of punishment. If you time a spell correctly you can even take them out in one hit! I appreciate the dialed down difficulty. Most shooters relish in punishing the player (I’m looking at you Gaiares) so having one that is fair is welcome.
In Closing
Marchen Adventure Cotton 100% is a fantastic addition to the SNES library and an accessible shooter for novices to the genre. Insane production values and great gameplay combine to create a fantastic game I would recommend to everyone. This is another in a long line of import only shmups that shows the system to be truly adept in the genre. Do not pass this one up.
