A port of Panorama Cotton
In 1994, Panorama Cotton raised the bar for what's possible on the Mega Drive/Genesis consoles. The game's more colorful pallet makes every stage a treat to look at and fly through!
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Panorama Cotton is the third game in the series on the third platform for the series. Originally released on the Sega Megadrive / Genesis in 1994 it unfotunately never got a Western release until recently where the series started getting emulated ports to modern platforms. So far I have only played Cotton 100% of these modern ports of this cute 'em up shooter series. I enjoyed it quite a lot so seeing the next game, Panorama Cotton on a deep PSN sale recently I figured I would splash down the cash of the price of a sandwich for this. I had heard that it's not going to be as good as Cotton 100% based on what I'd read and sadly the impressions I got are pretty accurate.
Unlike it's predecessor this game shifts perspective to a pseudo 3D front scrolling rail shooter Space Harrier vibe and frankly it's all the worse for it as I knew it would be. I'm just not a fan of this view and there is a reason most games of this genre are either side scrollers or top down shooters because with the camera directly behind the player it blocks a lot of the view of enemies coming towards you or exactly where you are firing. The depth perception of enemies at distances is a little skewed thinking I would hit them and don't and most of the damage I took was simply from things I couldn't see coming. It's just not that fun frankly. After I completed the first level my girlfriend and I laughed for two reasons, the weirdly fan service level complete screen (though I love the 80's art style) and that she said just by watching the way it plays going towards the screen was giving her a headache. It's a shame because I think on a technical level the game is very impressive for a megadrive / genesis game. The scrolling scenery looks fantastic in places thanks to it's sprite scaling and the colours and enemy designs with a pretty thumping quirky soundtrack all come together perfectly. Honestly I think this game visually looks better than it's piers on the system like Space Harrier, Superthunder Blade and Galaxy Force by a long way.
As a port though? It all feels low effort considering it took 27 years to get released in the West. The text hasn't been translated in game with just some subtitles in a transparent box dumped on the bottom of the screen with few extras except for an easier mode. The story isn't really an issue as it's nonsense anyway no one cares for but seeing every Cotton port that never got a recent western release being treated like this at a fairly steep asking price for a megadrive port of just an ok game feels kind of unimpressive.
All in all, this game is ok. Glad I played it as part of gaming history, less glad about the game itself or the cash in port version that's officially available outside of Japan.
Next up in the series, Cotton 2 electric boogaloo.
+ Technically impressive.
+ Nice visuals and music.
- On rails perspective isn't very good.
- Budget port, minimal effort for steep rrp.
Unlike it's predecessor this game shifts perspective to a pseudo 3D front scrolling rail shooter Space Harrier vibe and frankly it's all the worse for it as I knew it would be. I'm just not a fan of this view and there is a reason most games of this genre are either side scrollers or top down shooters because with the camera directly behind the player it blocks a lot of the view of enemies coming towards you or exactly where you are firing. The depth perception of enemies at distances is a little skewed thinking I would hit them and don't and most of the damage I took was simply from things I couldn't see coming. It's just not that fun frankly. After I completed the first level my girlfriend and I laughed for two reasons, the weirdly fan service level complete screen (though I love the 80's art style) and that she said just by watching the way it plays going towards the screen was giving her a headache. It's a shame because I think on a technical level the game is very impressive for a megadrive / genesis game. The scrolling scenery looks fantastic in places thanks to it's sprite scaling and the colours and enemy designs with a pretty thumping quirky soundtrack all come together perfectly. Honestly I think this game visually looks better than it's piers on the system like Space Harrier, Superthunder Blade and Galaxy Force by a long way.
As a port though? It all feels low effort considering it took 27 years to get released in the West. The text hasn't been translated in game with just some subtitles in a transparent box dumped on the bottom of the screen with few extras except for an easier mode. The story isn't really an issue as it's nonsense anyway no one cares for but seeing every Cotton port that never got a recent western release being treated like this at a fairly steep asking price for a megadrive port of just an ok game feels kind of unimpressive.
All in all, this game is ok. Glad I played it as part of gaming history, less glad about the game itself or the cash in port version that's officially available outside of Japan.
Next up in the series, Cotton 2 electric boogaloo.
+ Technically impressive.
+ Nice visuals and music.
- On rails perspective isn't very good.
- Budget port, minimal effort for steep rrp.