Rainbow Cotton (レインボーコットン) is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Success and released in 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast in Japan only. A remastered version was released in May 2024 for all modern platforms.
Story
"Willow". A limited number of valuable and expensive foods in all York Fields. Willow comes in 7 different colors and is said to have various effects.
On the outskirts of the fairy land of Filament, there is a castle called "Lasha Castle" where the Legendary Willow sleeps. Around the castle of Lasha, craftsmen who produce Willow from Willow Grass, which is rare in the fairy land, gather to form four towns. Although these towns are famous for their Willow origin, they have been protected by magical barriers in the name of making Willows.
However, for some reason, the demon Tweed came to know of the existence of this Legendary Willow. Willows are said to enhance the potency of one's magical powers, but when it comes to the Legendary one, "one can expect even more effects beyond the imagination." With that in mind, Tweed broke the barrier and occupied the town in order to obtain the legendary Willow.
If the four towns that cover most of the Willow production are occupied by monsters, this world will be surrounded by darkness and become all-you-can-eat. Queen Velvet, who is most concerned about the welfare of her country gathered the fairies in desperate hopes they can drive away the monsters.
At that time, one of the fairies, Silk, reminded her of a witch. Called Cotton, she had many defects but also great magical talents. However, Cotton was also famous for having her eyes on the Willows. If she heard about Willow's origins and the Legendary Willow, she may no longer be a monster. But needless to say, the Willow was very important to their country.
Silk succeeded in bringing this story to Cotton with her proud storytelling technique. In order to protect the fairyland, Cotton and Silk embark on a new adventure.
Gameplay
Rainbow Cotton plays much like Panorama Cotton, being a rail shooter with the camera set behind Cotton. Instead of controlling Cotton directly, however, the player controls the aiming target, with Cotton moving after it as the player moves the target around. Magic spells work much like before, while the player also has a health bar like in Cotton 2.
Characters
- Cotton
- Silk
- Knit
- Surari, Pukuri and Chibiri
- Queen Velvet
- Tweed
Stages and Bosses
| Stage | Name | Mid-bosses | Boss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bellcour: Moon City | Donbura Pumpkin Tiny Magnum |
Gebo Gebo |
| 2 | Sunmuumu: Cloud City | Canyon Guard Blimp Magnum |
Hulahoop |
| 3 | Micaleica: Bubble City | Dobeam Octopus Legs |
Osashimi |
| 4 | Pelgummon: Flower City | Tekkadon Red Tekkadon Blue |
Chururira |
| 5 | Lasha Castle | God Hand | Medusa Tweed Moja and Tweed |
Gallery
Videos
Cheats, Unlockables & Differences
New to the Remaster are 3 cheat codes that were distributed by ININ Games (All cheat code references are below in the External Links section).
The first cheat they disclosed allows the player to give themselves a continue (Which can be repeated infinitely but the limit is 9 at a time and this can be done in Retro Mode as well). Use the D-Pad while you're playing, enter:
Left, Left, Left, Left, Right, Right, Right, Right, Up, Up, Down, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down.
If you hear Cotton or your system voice make a sound, you have done it correctly.
The next cheat code they disclosed a bit later, adds the better movement control and Fairy Lock on to Retro Mode.
On the main menu, enter Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Left, Right, Right, Up, Up, Up, Up, Down, Down, Down, Down.
Same as the first code, if you hear Cotton or your system voice, you have done the code correctly.
The last code they disclosed disables the Retro Shader in Retro Mode.
During gameplay on the D-Pad, input Up, Right, Down, Left, Up, Right, Down, Left, Up, Right, Down, Left, Up, Right, Down, Left. (or Up, Right, Down, Left 4 times).
If the code is done right, the shader will turn off and revert to normal.
Next is the Unlockable of the game, if you beat the game once, you unlock a voice select for the menus, Success Call, cheat code activations and whatnot, voices include Cotton, Silk, Knit, Surari, Pukuri, Chibiri, Queen Velvet, Gebo Gebo, Hulahoop, Osashimi, Chururira & Tweed
Now for differences of the Remaster and the original game.
Starting simple, Cotton now flies on the title screen along with Silk, Surari, Pukuri and Chibiri whereas in the original game, she did not and it was barren (extra note, the copyright was changed from Success 2000 to Success 1999)
Next, in the options screen is a standing and running model of Nata de Cotton previously leftover from a time where she was meant to be on foot and travel that way.
The HUD has been changed during gameplay to where you now see Cotton’s face and reactions as she gets hit, knocked out as well as bouncing off of walls (the level indicator is below the face icon, smaller than before).
During levels, there is a new Green Arrow and Blue Arrow to disclose paths you can take in the stage (in Stage 3, it’s the sign that gets these arrows), as well, during mini boss fights (Except Octopus Legs) and the main bosses, there are health bars to determine how close the enemy is to defeat.
Lastly in the battle against Moja and Tweed, there is now a new barrier Tweed will use if you hit certain damage thresholds before set stops, which means unless you use rapid/turbo fire or are just that good, it is entirely possible for the boss to time out on you.