is a 1994

rail shooter Rail shooter, also known as on-rails shooter, is a subgenre of shoot 'em up video game. Beginning with arcade games such as the 1985 '' Space Harrier'', the gameplay locks the player character into a set path, only allowing for limited or no di ...

video game developed by

Success Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person mi ...

and published by

Sunsoft , is a Japanese electronics manufacturer, video game developer and publisher. They are known for their video games under the brand name Sunsoft. History In April 1971, Sun Electronics Corporation (alternatively called Sun Denshi) was founded i ...

for the

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

exclusively in Japan on August 12, 1994. ''Panorama Cotton'' is the third entry in the ''

Cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

'' series and made a major departure from the original gameplay formula of prior Cotton entries; instead of being a side-scrolling shooter like the others, it is a pseudo-3D shooter in the style of

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

's ''

Space Harrier is a third-person arcade rail shooter game developed by Sega and released in 1985. It was originally conceived as a realistic military-themed game played in the third-person perspective and featuring a player-controlled fighter jet, but techni ...

''.

Gameplay

''Panorama Cotton'' is a pseudo-3D scrolling shooter reminiscent of ''

'', set in an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

-style fantasy world. Various levels scroll "into the screen", vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. The player can move Cotton over the screen, shooting at oncoming enemies and avoiding obstacles in her way. Cotton can upgrade her weapon to higher levels as the player progresses, and can also cast magical spells by collecting special items.

Plot

The most important plot elements in all of the ''

'' games are magical candies called Willows. In the previous and first installment of the series, '' Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams'', the world had fallen into an endless night after a Demoness called Wool stole the 7 Willows that brought light to it. In desperation, the Fairy Queen Velvet dispatched a beautiful fairy named Silk to get the Willows back. Before long, Silk met up with Cotton, a witch who loved to eat Willows, and together, they defeated Wool and brought back the willows. Light returned to the world, and Cotton left on her own. ''Panorama Cotton''s story begins when Silk's sister Knit comes to tell her that Queen Velvet has started saying things which do not make any sense. Later, the Queen reveals that she believes the world is falling into chaos, and she is the only one who can save it. She rides off on an animal called "Pinky" to save the day, and disappears before anyone can stop her. Perplexed, Silk and Knit deduce that a burnt Willow which recently turned up in the castle garden is responsible for the Queen's odd behavior. Apparently, monsters north of the kingdom have been burning any Willow they see. Before doing anything else, Silk immediately decides that she needs to get rid of the burnt Willow in the castle first. Silk carries the burnt Willow far away, but before she can dispose of it, Cotton appears suddenly and snatches it from her. Not pausing for a moment to hear Silk's story, Cotton begins to eat the burnt Willow. However, she quickly spits it out, angry and disgusted. When Cotton discovers someone is burning Willows, she vows that she will not let it continue. From there, Silk and Cotton set off on their new adventure.

Development and release

GameFan ''GameFan'' (originally known as ''Diehard GameFan'') was a publication started by Tim Lindquist, Greg Off, George Weising, and Dave Halverson in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and imported video games. It was notable for it ...

'' reported Sunsoft only produced 4,000 copies in total. An unofficial English translation patch was released in 2019. In 2021, ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games announced ''Panorama Cotton'' would be launched for

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

across western regions in digital and limited formats on October 29, marking the game's first official international appearance. In addition, the original Mega Drive version will also be released in western regions under a limited run of copies. It also released for

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

on December 7, 2023.

Reception

''Panorama Cotton'' received positive reception from critics and players. ''

Mean Machines Sega ''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game journalism, video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. History In the late 1980s ''Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generatio ...

''s Marlon compared the game with both ''

After Burner is a rail shooter arcade video game developed and released by Sega in 1987. The player controls an American Grumman F-14 Tomcat, F-14 Tomcat fighter jet and must clear each of the game's eighteen unique stages by destroying incoming enemies. Th ...

'' and ''Space Harrier'', commending its fast pseudo-3D sprite-scaling visuals. Readers of the Japanese ''Sega Saturn Magazine'' voted to give the title a 8.0367 out of 10 score, ranking at the number 113 spot in a poll, indicating a large popular following. ''Gamers' Republic''s

Dave Halverson Dave Halverson is an American video game journalist who has been the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of ''GameFan'' (where he wrote reviews as E. Storm, Skid and Takahara), ''Gamers' Republic'', ''Play'', and currently the new versions o ...

regarded it to be the "pinnacle of 3D shooting" on the Sega Mega Drive.

Notes

References

External links

''Panorama Cotton''
at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a video gaming website that hosts guides and other resources, as well as an active Internet forum, message board forum. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and has been owned by Fandom (website), Fandom, Inc. since October ...

''Panorama Cotton''
at

Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time (maga ...

''Panorama Cotton''
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panorama Cotton 1994 video games Cotton (series) ININ Games games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Rail shooters Sega Genesis games Single-player video games Success (company) games Video games about witchcraft Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists