Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams

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Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams

System(s): Super CD-ROM²

Publisher: Turbo Technologies Inc. (US), Hudson Soft (JP)

Developer: Success

Hudson Soft

Original system(s): Arcade (Sega System 16)

Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

Number of players: 1

Official in-game languages:

日本語

中文

English

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1993-02-12		HCD3043
US	1993-04^[1]		TGXCD1038

Non-NEC versions
Arcade Neo Geo Pocket Color X68000

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Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams is an arcade "cute-'em-up" that was brought to Super CD-ROM² hardware.

Story

Introduction

In the mystical land of Fairyland, an evil mist has appeared and thrown the Prism of Light out of order. This has covered the world in darkness and agitated the people of the land, who are unsure if they will ever again see the morning.

A fairy named Silk comes across the young witch Cotton, who is obsessed with the magical candy called Willow. She begs Cotton for help in restoring light to the world. Cotton is initially dismissive but is eager to help once she learns that she can obtain Willows by defeating the boss of the evils.

Gameplay

Tea Time

The game is a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up game where players assume the role of a young witch named Cotton who rides her broom through a series of stages in a magical haunted kingdom on a quest to vanquish evil and obtain her Willow candy. Players must blast various monsters and avoid being shot while collecting crystal power-ups to enhance Cotton's firepower and unleash powerful magic spells on enemies.

Cotton moves in any direction using the D-Pad. She shoots her forward-facing shot with Ⅱ and drops bombs toward the ground with Ⅰ. Both weapons are unlimited, but they cannot be used simultaneously. Additional fairies can be rescued by shooting the fairy statues that sometimes appear in the stages. Holding Ⅰ causes the fairies to fly around Cotton; when the button is released, the fairies quickly fly away and attack an enemy. Fairies latch onto enemies and attack them until they are destroyed.

On the bottom of the screen is an experience gauge, which is increased by destroying enemies (with larger enemies awarding more experience) or collecting yellow or orange crystals. When the gauge fills, the power level of Cotton's main shot is increased, up to ten levels (indicated by diamonds beside the gauge). Bombs are leveled up separately, up to five times, by collecting items. Initially, only one bomb can be dropped at a time, but the first upgrade allows a second bomb to be dropped and the second upgrade allows a third bomb to be dropped. The remaining upgrades replace one, two, and then all of the bombs with red bombs, which burn along the ground after dropped.

Yellow crystals are sometimes dropped by defeated enemies and fall to the ground, but they float in the air while being shot. Shooting crystals also changes their color: red or blue crystals give Cotton access to special elemental spells, which are limited and appear in the bottom of the screen, and orange crystals award more experience than yellow. Up to six elemental magic items can be held in reserve at a time. Cotton can fire an elemental shot by holding Ⅱ to charge the attack and then releasing the button. Cotton is momentarily invulnerable while casting a spell. The fairies can perform a different elemental spell if the player charges Ⅱ+Ⅰ.

Cotton has a limited number of lives, depicted by brooms in the bottom-left corner of the screen. She loses a life if she is hit by an enemy, but touching terrain does not harm her. When she loses a life, a fairy explodes and destroys all on-screen enemies. Cotton respawns in place after a moment if the player has extra lives remaining, but her weapon power is halved in level and her bomb level is reset to baseline. Extra lives are awarded at certain points thresholds. The maximum weapon level can only be obtained by never losing a life. If the player runs out of lives, the game ends, but it can be continued a limited number of times. The player can choose the number of starting lives (between 1 and 5) before starting the game by pressing SELECT at the title screen.

After completing the game once, the player can play it again from the beginning with an increased difficulty.

Magical abilities

	Red Magic
	Cotton's ability summons a fire dragon that sweeps across the screen, destroying enemies in its path. The fairy ability causes all of the fairies to ignite, then seek and destroy targets.
	Blue Magic
	Cotton's ability fires a blast of lightning across the screen that lasts for several seconds. The fairy ability encases Cotton in a protective bubble that renders her temporarily invulnerable. The bubble dissipates after a short duration or after contacting an enemy (which damages the enemy).

Items

Items are dropped by destroyed enemies or brought by flying urns.

	Urn
	If these monsters are shot but not destroyed, they fly away and return with an item.
	Fairy Statue
	Urns sometimes carry fairy statues. If they are shot, the fairy unfreezes and the urn changes to a bonus item. The fairy joins Cotton, following her and attacking enemies. Up to 6 fairies can follow Cotton at a time.
	Acorn
	Dropped by fairies when they are rescued. These items can be collected for bonus points.
	Bomb Upgrade
	Upgrades Cotton's bombs by 1 level.
	Double Bomb Upgrade
	Upgrades Cotton's bombs by 2 levels.
	Tea
	Appears at the end of the stage after defeating the boss. Awards bonus points when collected.
	Crystal
	The yellow and orange crystals provide bonus experience (with orange crystals awarding more experience than yellow). The red and blue crystals give Cotton another stock of elemental magic. Shooting a crystal changes its color.
	Fat Crystal
	The yellow and orange crystals provide bonus experience (with orange crystals awarding more experience than yellow). The red and blue crystals give Cotton two stocks of elemental magic. Shooting a crystal changes its color.

Stages

	Town Outskirts

	Forest Graveyard

	Island in the Sky

	Inside the Temple

	Underground Waterway

	Lava Cave

	Cave Exit
	The last stage consists solely of a fight against the final boss, Wool.