Cotton Fantasy western release pushed back to spring

The Wait for Willow continues…

ININ Games has announced that Cotton Fantasy, the all-new sequel in the long-running cute ’em up franchise, will not see a western localization this winter as originally scheduled — While the colorful sequel is already available in Japan, fans on these shores will now have to wait until spring 2022.

Cotton Fantasy — miserably remonikered from the far superior “Cotton Rock ‘n’ Roll” — is the first full-on Cotton sequel in some 20+ years, the last release being 2000 Dreamcast entry Rainbow Cotton. The new sequel sees the titular worst witch return alongside her space fairy pal, Silk, as the duo embarks upon another cartoonish shmup adventure.

Cotton, Silk, and a gaggle of pals battle their way through 16 cute ‘n’ colorful stages, with gameplay bouncing between horizontal, vertical, and even into-the-screen shmup action. Each hero is loaded for bear with their own unique skills and attacks, which offers a lot of replay value for those who still yearn for the glory days of the high score table. The dazzling visuals are dressed up with charming and extremely daft anime cutscenes, as Cotton and friends solve the mystery of the disappearing fairies.

While I’m yet to play the new title myself, it certainly looks to be a fine evening filler. The Cotton games strike a nice balance between intense shmup action and cheerful, light-hearted gameplay — perfect for those late-night hours and lazy Sundays. While numerous re-releases and reboots have already hit modern platforms in recent times, it’s neat to see an all-new adventure taking to the skies.

Cotton Fantasy will launch in the west this spring on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Various physical editions and related merchandise are available to pre-order right now from Strictly Limited Games.