By Amr (@siegarettes)

• Cotton Reboot 
• Developers - Success
• Publisher - ININ Games
• Switch, PS4

Combining RPG mechanics and aesthetics, Cotton proved to be a longtime resident of many lists of shooter recommendations, especially for the cute-em-up crowd. With so many other shooters finding their way onto modern platforms lately, it only made sense for Success to return to it. Reboot, as you might expect, reboots the series, with a remaster of the first game that brings new art, an arranged OST and mechanics that feel at home with modern shooters. Conveniently, the original’s X68000 port is included as a bonus, making it easier to see just how much has changed. 

Cotton Reboot aims for a much more hectic energy than the original. Enemy attacks are faster and more frequent, and the powerup and scoring systems have changed to match. In the original, enemies dropped gems that had to be juggled to cycle them through experience points and spell powerups. 

The same system is at play in Reboot, but the gravity has been removed from gems, making them much easier to cycle through and collect. Grabbing multiples of the same color when your spell queue is maxed out will also create more powerful spells, and shot long enough, gems will even provide big scoring opportunities. The trade off is that the amount of gems and their lack of gravity can end up with them piled up in front of you, forming a wall that prevents your bullets from getting through if shot enough. 

The score system plays off this hectic pace, introducing a new Gem Fever mechanic that both powers you up, and sends scores of scoring gems soaring through you if positioned right. Bullets split as they hit gems, and hitting enemies with this split shot fills the Fever gauge. When activated, Fever imbues you with more firepower, and a stream of bonus points. Score enough and Fever will gain a level, giving you even stronger bonuses next round. 

The absurd tuning of Reboot’s speed undoubtedly makes it more fun, but it also makes playing Reboot with intention kind of a mess. The original Cotton’s gem system already made it difficult to pick up specific spells while navigating enemies, but Reboot’s more hectic pace and busier screen multiplies the difficulty. Slowly cycling gems through colors in the middle of a firefight is already asking for trouble, but activate Fever and you’ll be lucky if you don’t somehow get clipped by a bullet or enemy in the visual chaos a few times during a run. 

Cotton Reboot laughs in the face of any attempts to get a “clean” run through the game. The new pace and mechanics create a more dynamic game, but one that’s also inherently messy. Practice can give you more control over the situations, but you better expect to take a few inexplicable deaths, and rack up extends to counteract them. 

Cotton Reboot brings a splash of modern shooter sensibilities, without erasing the original’s charm or direction. For those wanting to perform surgical, calculated attacks on the leaderboard, the chaos of the new direction can make it a little too frustrating at times. For anyone looking for a more casual, dynamic game, Reboot adds more color and provides a spectacle when playing both for survival and for score. It’s a successful return to form, and if news is to be believed, the possible start of a grand return for the series.