COTTOn 2 – Saturn Tribute Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

COTTOn 2 – Saturn Tribute Switch NSP Free Download This trio of retro shmups — Cotton 2, Cotton Boomerang and Guardian Force — have released under the “Saturn Tribute” umbrella (bundled together on a physical cartridge in Japan that’s recently been announced for the West, or available individually via your local eShop at the time of writing) and offer more than a mere respectful nod towards Sega’s beloved underdog. These are actual Saturn games, emulated on the Switch. In fact they’re so emulated Cotton 2 still flashes up the same “EXT— RAM FOUND!” message on the title screen, indicating the (virtual) presence of a Saturn’s 1MB RAM expansion cartridge. ROMSLAB.COM BEST SWITCH GAMES

COTTOn 2 – Saturn Tribute Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

It’s not the first instance of Saturn emulation on the Switch (that honour appears to go to the phenomenal roguelike dungeon crawler Baroque) but it’s a trend we’re more than happy to see continue, especially as “cheap” Saturn copies of any one of the three games here costs at least £150 on a good day, making Saturn Tribute appear on the surface to be an absolute bargain. The emulation settings for all three games are identical, and accessed by pressing the minus key at any time. Two language settings are available, English and Japanese, however this only affects the option menu text — the games themselves remain completely untranslated.

Cotton Is Back!

Along with Magical Night Dreams Cotton Boomerang and Guardian Force, the Saturn Tribute brings three legendary classics to modern audiences. Cotton 2, which is actually the fourth game in the Cotton series, takes a well-established genre and formula and turns it on its head. Cotton 2 might look like a traditional title, but it is far from it. Right off the bat, if you play Cotton 2 like any other shmup on the market, you are going to have a bad time. Cotton’s damage is pitifully low, her sprite is huge and she moves like a tank. Add to this a high bullet density and buckets of enemies, and things are looking grim. But all is not lost. ACA NEOGEO THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2002 Switch NSP

COTTOn 2 – Saturn Tribute Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Cotton 2 has many systems and mechanics that not only make the process easier to manage but also uniquely brilliant. Cotton 2 controls more like a fighter than anything else. Your basic shot acts more like a jab than a primary method of attack. Inputting in half circle motions, and various other fighting game inputs causes Cotton to unleash a special attack. This could be a powerful tornado shot, a wide shot, or even a burst of bullets aimed above and below her. These attacks are not only more damaging than her standard shot, but also key to messing with the Seal system.

The story make in a shmup

What difference does not being able to understand the story make in a shmup? Quite a lot, actually. For both Cottons it strips away a whole layer of  charm that’s supposed to be there and supposed to be part of the player’s experience of the game and also takes away a reason to engage with them beyond scoring/perfection, making it harder for newcomers to find a friendlier way into the wonderful world of shmups. It also means English players can’t read the context sensitive help (sometimes tactical assistance, sometimes just cheering you on) that show up on Cotton 2’s continue screens or even the names of Guardian Force’s bosses. ACA NEOGEO THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2001 Switch NSP

COTTOn 2 – Saturn Tribute Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

All buttons are fully rebindable  (Directional inputs are confined to the analogue stick/D-pad, however), with the default setting mapping the Saturn’s ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ to the Switch’s, ‘B’, ‘A’, and ‘ZR’. It makes sense as far as transferring the physical layout from one console’s controller to the other goes (the leftmost button is ‘A’, the rightmost button is ‘C’) but it does mean in-game you’re usually using ‘B’ on the Joy-Con to confirm actions, a fact only made worse by the emulation setting menu still using standard Switch labelling. Need to reset the game using the emulator’s menu? It’s as easy as bringing it up in the settings and then pressing ‘A’. That’s A ‘A’ — Joy-Con ‘A’ — not B ‘A’, which is the in-game ‘A’.

Confused? That’s just how these games (don’t quite) work.

Anti-aliasing is another option that technically-sorta does[n’t do] what it’s supposed to, covering the screen in a very mild fuzz and… actually that’s it. There are no scanline options at all, nor any chance to turn the meshes sometimes used over 20 years ago to simulate see-through colours into true transparencies, a feature that’s been offered by some Saturn emulators for years now. As far as screen sizes go, there’s original, max (mercifully maintaining the correct aspect ratio rather than stretching the image out), and absolutely nothing else. On a more positive note the presence of quick saving/loading (one slot only) as well as a short rewind feature and slow-motion mode all make it easy to practise. ACA NEOGEO SHOCK TROOPERS 2nd Squad Switch NSP

COTTOn 2 – Saturn Tribute Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

A tricky spot or simply put the games down and have a break, and a brief playing guide can be brought up for every game at any time, showing a few pages of basic information on controls, chaining, and so on. Unfortunately this is as close to any sort of manual you can get with these games, and the controls page is so basic it doesn’t even list what every button does (Boomerang for example only lists the default shot/catch/change assignments, completely failing to mention that the other five free buttons on this virtual Saturn pad can be used as shortcuts for many of the slightly awkward command input shots). So unless you either already know otherwise or take the time to experiment, these games might appear far more superficial than they really are.

Add-ons (DLC): COTTOn 2 – Saturn Tribute Switch NSP