I am no Cotton expert, and can only judge this game on its own merits as opposed to how it stacks up with the rest of the series... but goddamn is it addictive. A harmony of well-crafted, diverse levels, an easy-to-understand-but-difficult-to-master scoring system, and unfussy control and gameplay. You essentially do not have to dodge in this game if you score it properly -- and scoring is what makes it truly fun (something I would not, personally, say of very many shoot-em-ups).

The other thing that Cotton Fantasy has going for it is its massive amount of content. I played the game with one character (Cotton) using one route (the standard one) and had a blast. There are, however, 7 other characters to experiment with, each with its own style / gimmick that fundamentally affects the gameplay, and six secret stages that you're able to swap into a run in place of a standard one. There were a couple stages I really disliked (fuck Blue Sky) so I'm looking forward to exploring alternatives.

There are some visibility and hitbox issues that bugged me (background elements appearing dangerous but actually being harmless or vice versa; boss hitboxes being WAY smaller than their sprites) but with a little replaying and learning the irritation was assuaged. The game is just, insanely fun.