Superlative Night Dreams: Cotton Rock 'n' Roll

Overview

Cotton Rock 'n' Roll: Superlative Night Dreams is a side-scrolling cute-'em-up developed by both Success and Studio Saizensen and released by Success for arcades in Japan digitally via the ALL.Net P-ras MULTI Version 3 service for Sega's PC-based ALLS UX hardware on September 27, 2021.

The sixth installment of the Cotton series (and the first new installment in over 20 years, after Rainbow Cotton), Cotton Rock 'n' Roll celebrates the series' 30th anniversary by bringing it back to its 2D side-scrolling roots. It also features over six playable characters, most of which are guest characters from other Success and Studio Saizensen series (such as Psyvariar, Sanvein, and Umihara Kawase).

It received a home release for both the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Japan on December 23, 2021, with an overseas release on May 20, 2022 (under the title Cotton Fantasy: Superlative Night Dreams). It was also ported by Team exA-AM1 for exA-Arcadia arcade hardware, with a worldwide release on February 10, 2022. The exA version features two-player simultaneous play and an exclusive arrange mode.

Characters

By default, each character has different elemental attack types based on the last Crystal picked up (Red to fire attacks, Blue for lightning attacks, and Green for wind attacks).

• Cotton - The series' main protagonist. By collecting White Crystals, she can summon multiple fairies to shoot alongside her. She can also sacrifice one fairy to perform a screen-clearing bomb.

• Appli - Cotton's rival. She can catch enemies and throw them back.

• Kawase - Guest character from the Umihara Kawase series. She can throw a fishing lure to catch small enemies, then launch them out with a bazooka.

• Ria - Guest character, based on the ship from Psyvariar. She has no alternate attack types. She cannot level up through Crystals, instead gaining experience points and score multiplier by grazing enemies and bullets (similar to Psyvariar's BUZZ system). She has a smaller hitbox, a larger maximum level (which grants a temporary barrier every time she levels up), and can also perform a screen-clearing bomb (collected through Purple Crystals).

• Fine - Guest character, based on the ship from Sanvein. She can change her three attack types (Glu-On, Graviton, and Photon Shot) at-will, rather than by collecting Crystals. Instead of a lives system, she has a countdown timer that depletes over time (with a large penalty for receiving damage) and replenishes by collecting Crystals.

• Luffee - Guest character from Doki Doki Poyacchio. She has as no alternate attack types, instead firing a laser beam that can be charged up. She also has a screen-claering bomb (which is only replenished after losing a life).

• Tacoot - The main antagonist and an unlockable character. She has a satellite unit (her staff) that handles her elemental attacks. Similar to the Force Pod from R-Type, her staff's position can be adjusted around her (by charging her attacks) and can be both launched forward and retracted (both using the Special button).

• Silk - Exclusive to the exA-Arcadia version.