![[コットンブーメラン/Cotton Boomerang] Normal Cotton-Silk-Needle ALL CLEAR (Score: 3,901,200) [CC Commentary]](/images/yt/m8/cotton-boomerang-normal-cotton-silk-needle-all-clear-score-bw5x6.jpg)
[コットンブーメラン/Cotton Boomerang] Normal Cotton-Silk-Needle ALL CLEAR (Score: 3,901,200) [CC Commentary]
10I love this great and fun game, but I don't think the porting team love this game as much as I do...
This game is Steel Battalion before Steel Battalion was cool and the manual is insufficient. What were they thinking!?
The game is originally a 3-button hori shmup where you can input fighting game-style commands like Ai Cho Aniki. Yes, Ai Cho Aniki! The moves you get are simple, but that's a hassle to do, so in the Saturn ports of 2 and boomerang you can assign the other buttons as shortcuts for the special shots! So now the game is a... 1... 2... 3... 4...? 8 BUTTONS!? What is this, Steel Batallion!? Most shmups only need 2 buttons, but this game requires 8 buttons to comfortably clear! Ugh... if this mean victory, I'll turn Cotton Boomerang into Steel Battalion!
My control setup in this run is like this. The default mapping sucks:
B: Shot
Y: Change
A: Catch
X: Forward Special
R: ↗ Spread Special
ZR: ↘ Spread Special
L: ↖ Spread Special
ZL: ↙ Spread Special
You must learn how to control the game so I'll describe everything you can and have to do here so much it'll make Cotton Boomerang actually comparable to Steel Battalion!
Hold Shot button to not only charge your magic, but to speed up. Yes, SPEED UP. The default speed is slow, so when needed you need to stop shooting and charge your magic instead.
Doing Change also acts like a bomb, hence the limited nature of Change. When you only have 1 character left, it functions just like a very normal bomb. If you ran out of Changes, you'll be given 1. But if you have more than 2 Changes, your Change will be set to 2, making you lose the extra Change.
Catch also functions as Punch. When you "Catch" a small bullet or fire, you'll punch it instead, erasing the bullet out. Just a single bullet per punch, though, but it means a lot considering Cotton Boomerang's bullet density. You MUST remember this to survive the game!
There are other stuff that are better tried out, so why Fire Cotton, Silk and Needle? Their shots are different, but between the shot types the elements have unique properties. The most important one is the Light element. It's the game's Easy mode despite the game is not easy at all. Light shots have the best piercing property and the most powerful, but in a playthrough you can only carry 2 characters of the same element, so one element has to be a filler. I chose Fire Cotton since when in a capsule the capsule spreads quickly and won't get drawn towards you. Also I think it has a good DPS despite its 0 piercing properties? Oh, about Light's piercing property, it pierces both WALLS and ENEMIES. Not bubbles, though, because the game hates you, so keep in mind of the elements while in play!
I did say the game is great, but this game is a lucky good game case of moveset overload. Remembering the piercing property is already confusing enough but then there is the bubble trapping mechanic. Used right, this is very good! But on barrages of enemies that spews lots of bullets, oh boy, you'll be in danger. The bubbles will block your shots and block your movement space. I suggest that when you have the chance and you must do it, aim your throw towards off-screen. Yes, the Throw can be aimed! For Cotton and Appli, hold the Catch button first then aim at the trajectory you want, then release Catch. For Silk and Needle, aim at the trajectory you want then hold Catch. This can't be hold down though, so think quickly.
The port is on the expensive side with its 1980 Yen price tag and Capcom Arcade Stadium-class emulation features, which is not much. That would be fine for the fact of supporting the ports alone, but currently the input lag is around whopping 10+ FRAMES. But somehow opening the emulation menu, change languages, then return, the input lag is much better. Dunno why, is it just me? Hence, I can play the game comfortably enough like playing a Psikyo port.
This is a great, mechanics overload game that is really worth studying. May not be your cup of tea due to the relentlessness, though! And please, City Connection, not only you need to patch the input lag, but explain more about what you can do in the manual!
#stg #shmup #nintendoswitch