Retro Game Review: Panorama Cotton (Mega Drive, 1994)

Blessed Processing.

Panorama Cotton title screen

From playgrounds in the early-90s to message boards today, there has been a longstanding argument raging regarding which 16-bit system was better, the Sega Genesis or the Super Nintendo (while a lone TurboGrafx-16 fan gently weeps in the distance). Sega loyalists would cite the near-perfect ports of Sega arcade titles, a lower priced system, the “better” versions of EA Sports games, and maybe even Blast Processing if they were desperate. Nintendo fans would probably talk about the incredible RPG library the system boasted (thanks mainly to Squaresoft), their amazing first-party exclusives, the extra buttons on the controller, and the fact that the Super Nintendo was simply a more powerful system. This last fact was an unfortunate reality to Sega supporters. In colors, processing power, and sound, the SNES was simply the superior machine. However, some games released on the Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in the rest of the world) pushed the system’s limits to extremes that blew away many titles on the more powerful Super Nintendo. One of these titles was Panorama Cotton.

One of the early staples of the “Cute-em-up” genre (twitch shooters with cute girls or animals rather than spaceships), the Cotton series began in 1991 as a 2D sidescrolling arcade shooter. For the 1994 Mega Drive version, series developer Success completely flipped the script. While keeping the cute and colorful aesthetics, Success brought Cotton into glorious sprite-scaling 3D for a Space Harrier-esque romp. While impressive in screenshots, the game looks unlike anything seen on the Mega Drive in motion. If your 10-year-old self thought the 3D stages in Sonic 2 were mind-blowing, Panorama Cotton would have made you crap your JNCOs. The game also sports a better-than-average quality soundtrack, despite the limitations of the Mega Drive sound chip.

Panorama Cotton looked absolutely incredible in 1994.

In the game, you control the eponymous heroine Cotton, a pink-haired witch who fires energy bolts and has a limited amount of powerful magic spells, which can often clear the screen of enemies. These spells are gained by collecting corresponding colored crystals. The crystals, depending on their color (which can be changed by shooting them), can also provide Cotton with extra life or experience. Yes, Panorama Cotton has an experience system, complete with an EXP bar in the lower left corner of the HUD. When the bar is filled, Cotton gains a level and her attacks become stronger. Gaining levels is essential in Panorama Cotton because, well, the game is pretty damn difficult. There are oftentimes many enemies on the screen at the same time and it gets pretty tough to avoid their attacks, not to mention walls and other physical obstacles. Cotton can move at three different speeds, and while the fastest speed may look cool with the world racing past (and most likely into) you, it’s tantamount to suicide to play at that setting.

Donkey Kong would have been stoked, but he was too busy starring in his ugly pre-rendered side-scroller at the time.

Regardless of its brutal difficulty, Panorama Cotton is a massive technical achievement that oozes charm and personality. It’s unfortunate that the game was never released in the West, because the visuals would have certainly turned heads and Panorama Cotton could have served as an excellent introduction to an under-appreciated series and developer.