COTTOn Rock'n'Roll -SUPERLATIVE NIGHT DREAMS-
- January 5, 2023
- Studio Saizensen
Get on Steam"COTTON Rock'n'Roll -SUPERLATIVE NIGHT DREAMS-" is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up game featuring the fan-favorite character, Cotton. This game offers remastered graphics, rearranged music, and new game modes that shake up the classic gameplay. Players can engage in intense battles with a variety of enemies and powerful bosses while enjoying the fast-paced, high-energy action of this charming shoot 'em up game.
Reviews
- The game features a diverse cast of characters, each with unique playstyles, enhancing replayability.
- The production values, including graphics and soundtrack, are top-notch, providing an enjoyable aesthetic experience.
- The gameplay is accessible for beginners while still offering challenges for veterans, especially in high-score competitions.
- The game lacks a compelling story, with only one narrative that becomes repetitive and does not change across playthroughs.
- There are significant technical issues on certain platforms, including graphical glitches and performance dips, particularly on AMD GPUs.
- The game is relatively short, with each playthrough taking less than an hour, which may disappoint players looking for a longer experience.
- story9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game features a single storyline centered around Cotton, which is entertaining but repetitive, particularly with recurring scenes. While the narrative offers some humor, players express disappointment over the lack of variety and depth, questioning the purpose of replaying the game with different characters when the story remains unchanged.
“The one story is Cotton's story, and it is entertaining, albeit it does repeat the same 'screaming for candy' scene 6-7 times.”
“Takes about 6 hours to 100% because you must play through story mode with all 6 or 7 characters.”
“Cotton's storyline was a bit corny in its writing, but that's just a nitpick.”
“There is only one story.”
“I was under the impression everyone had a story, which is why I bought the game.”
“What's the point in replaying the game if the story never changes?”
- music6 mentions
- 83 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised, with reviewers highlighting the fantastic original soundtrack (OST) that complements the gameplay well, particularly in the cute 'em up genre. The soundtrack is noted for its chaotic energy, enhancing the overall experience and contributing to significant replay value.
“The music is fantastic.”
“The soundtrack is also very good for this kind of cute 'em up.”
“Thumbs up for the excellent OST too and the very distinctive ship variety that adds a significant amount of replay value.”
“The music is definitely way more chaotic than in the first game.”
“I played the PC Engine CD port with the CD soundtrack, and it just doesn't compare to the original arcade version.”
“The soundtrack feels disjointed and lacks the charm of previous entries.”
- graphics5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their high production values and appealing art style, though some users report issues with graphical glitches in the port. While the visuals are considered nice, the overall experience is somewhat marred by these technical problems. Despite this, the game's design and challenge level remain strong points.
“The production values (both audio and graphics) are top notch and professional.”
“You may ignore or embrace the cutesy art style, but one thing that can't be denied about this game is how well designed, fun and challenging it is, this game is tight!”
“This game runs on my ancient ThinkPad X220 with integrated graphics, which is a bit mind-boggling.”
“The game itself is fine, but the port has several graphical glitches, like glitchy background sprites in some stages.”
“This game runs on my ancient ThinkPad X220 with integrated graphics (I lowered the resolution just in case but still) using Proton (haven't tried running it on regular Windows yet), which is a bit mind-boggling.”
- gameplay5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The gameplay is praised for its engaging mechanics and variety, with each character offering a distinct play style that enhances the overall experience. Players appreciate the fun and frantic gameplay loop reminiscent of previous titles, while technical adjustments can optimize performance for a smoother experience. Overall, the game successfully combines unique character abilities with a dynamic gameplay environment.
“Stage A is a great introduction to the game's mechanics.”
“Based on my first impressions, this game still retains the fun and frantic gameplay loop of those games.”
“The playable characters each have a very unique play style; for example, there's the traditional Cotton, another that plays a lot like Sine Mora with a time mechanic, and the final boss you can unlock who plays like R-Type with her staff that can be detached and placed in different directions to shoot.”
“The playable characters each have a very unique play style; for example, there's the traditional Cotton, another that plays a lot like Sine Mora with a time mechanic, and the final boss you can unlock who plays like R-Type with her staff that can be detached and placed in different locations to shoot in various directions.”
“You can use special K to force the game to output in borderless fullscreen mode (with flip model composition and HDR retrofitting), and then disable the in-game limiter (by enabling VSync in-game and using windowed mode, and then disabling VSync and engaging your own limiter with low-latency options through Special K) for a gameplay experience that reports 0 frames of added latency.”
“I personally like playing as Appli due to the similar gameplay style of 2 and Boomerang, but the other characters are no slouches either.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is generally well-received, with users reporting smooth performance on various systems, including the Steam Deck and high-end rigs, achieving impressive frame rates. However, some players noted occasional dips below 60fps and expressed a desire for updates to improve frame pacing and reduce stuttering, particularly in fast-paced scenarios. There are indications that the internal resolution may be fixed at 1080p, which could limit performance improvements at lower resolutions.
“The Steam Deck, when docked, is capable of getting close to a reported 120fps (can't go higher because of VSync being engaged). When using Special K to force disable VSync, my secondary ITX rig (with an i5-13600K and RX 6700XT) gets close to 700fps being reported, so game optimization clearly isn't an issue.”
“From what I see (even when testing other resolutions), it's entirely plausible (my hypothesis) that the in-game internal resolution is 1920x1080 regardless of the final output resolution. I noticed no difference in performance with anything lower, although this could be moot if it's simply a CPU-bound scenario.”
“Ran flawlessly in Proton, though the performance dipped below 60fps at times.”
“It would be nice if an update released that made the game run internally at the framerate that the overlay shows (even if it's simply interpolating animations and positioning of objects from 60fps), especially as fast-paced games would benefit from clearer motion and less frame pacing issues. Due to how the limiter behaves, you still have visible stuttering with VSync enabled because of the frame skipping phenomena, especially if your screen refresh rate does not evenly divide by 60.”
“From what I see (even when testing other resolutions), it's entirely plausible (my hypothesis) that the in-game internal resolution is 1920x1080 regardless of the final output resolution, as I noticed no difference in performance with anything lower. Although this could be moot if it's simply a CPU-bound scenario.”
“The Steam Deck, when docked, is capable of getting close to a reported 120fps (can't go higher because of VSync being engaged), and when using Special K to force disable VSync, my secondary ITX rig (with an i5-13600K and RX 6700XT) gets close to 700fps being reported, so game optimization clearly isn't an issue.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is generally stable, but the port suffers from notable graphical glitches, including issues with background sprites in certain stages.
“The game itself is fine, but the port has several graphical glitches, like glitchy background sprites in some stages.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews highlight a sense of humor that is often perceived as out of touch, with some players feeling that the game is more focused on a quick cash grab through its PC release than delivering genuine comedic value.
“The humor in this game is brilliantly absurd, making every moment a delightful surprise.”
“I couldn't stop laughing at the clever puns and witty dialogue throughout the game.”
“The characters' quirky personalities and their hilarious interactions kept me entertained for hours.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -300 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the high replayability of the game, citing the excellent original soundtrack and the diverse variety of ships as key factors that encourage multiple playthroughs.
“Thumbs up for the excellent soundtrack and the very distinctive ship variety that adds a significant amount of replay value.”
“The game lacks meaningful choices, making it hard to find reasons to replay it.”
“Once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to dive back in.”
“The gameplay feels repetitive after the first playthrough, diminishing its replayability.”
