Playing Rainbow Cotton

Since the early days of gaming, a small software company named Success has been responsible for a series of shooters called "Cotton." The most recent incarnations had appeared on the Sega Saturn, and Success seems determined to continue those Sega-ways with its latest and first 3D Cotton game called Rainbow Cotton. Fans of the series will certainly recognize and appreciate seeing Cotton, the main character, riding her funky broom in full 3D. The game features "the most wonderfully colorful graphics seen since NiGHTS Into Dreams!" spurted news editor Sam Kennedy. However, despite the oomph-tastic joy of the hi-res Day-Glo visuals, underneath the surface lies a game worth loathing, as we found out when we recently played an imported version.

Success tried a neat angle with Rainbow Cotton, placing the player directly behind Cotton in a neo-Space Harrier kind of way. While this seems neat-o in concept, in actual practice, it sucks. Someone decided to make Cotton so large that you can't see where you're firing. Wrong! That person was also probably responsible for the decision to make the targeting reticle automatically return to center if you take your finger off the analog pad. Wrong again! Unlike games like Panzer Dragoon Zwei - where it's technically possible to destroy every enemy that appears - there is no way you'll ever shoot down every invader you encounter here. Rainbow Cotton throws dozens and dozens of enemies at you, wave after wave, to provide what passes for challenge in this game. Since your targeting reticle moves in the direction you're moving, you will spend half your time shooting into the corner as you dive to avoid incoming projectiles. You also have a limited supply of magic attacks, which must be aimed manually, but given the haywire nature of the game, it's potluck if you fire the magic shot with any sort of accuracy. More often than not, you will completely miss your target.

The game is interspersed with anime-style cutscenes, which, objectively, are really poor. No self-respecting anime fans will want to sit through these static, uninvolving cinemas, even if their fans of the series. To make a long story short, Rainbow Cotton is not recommended. Although it could be a good game if camera angles were adjusted and some other elements were fine-tuned. As it is, this game stinks. Look for the full import review coming soon.