Cotton (series)

The games in the Cotton series follows a young witch named Cotton who has an addiction to Willow. She is accompanied by the fairy Silk.[1] Most of the games in the Cotton series are side scrolling shooting games.[1] Cotton is classified as a "Cute 'em up", which is a sub-genre of shmups that tend to have unusual, oftentimes completely bizarre opponents for the player to fight.[2] The character Silk functions similar to the "options" from the Gradius series.[1] Rainbow Cotton is the first game in the series to be fully 3D.[1]

Each Cotton game features a unique story that is loosely connected to the other games in the series. All of these stories revolve around the obsession of a young German witch named Nata de Cotton with a magical type of candy called "Willow". Cotton is a red-haired pre-teen German witch with a hunger for Willow candy that drives all of her actions. She is hot-headed, immature, and often overreacts. Although her quests in each game are ultimately to serve a higher purpose, she is never involved personally for any reason other than the prospect of getting to eat a Willow. In a typical Cotton game, Cotton will embark on her journey through the game's stages with the hope that she will be rewarded with a Willow at the end. However, when the game is over, she almost always winds up empty-handed.

The main character Cotton has had appearences in other works:

• Rondo of Swords: Although not a Cotton game specifically, the willow obsessed witch joins your party in this strategy role-playing title, also made by Success.

• Trouble Witches Origin - Episode 1: Daughters of Amalgam: The first time Cotton has appeared with her classic gameplay in nearly a couple of decades, her first video game appearance anywhere in a decade and the first time she has been in a video game not developed by her company of origin, Success. A game centering around witches and is similarly in the shmup genre, Cotton tags along as a DLC character. This also marks the first appearance of the fairy Silk since Rainbow Cotton nearly a couple of decades ago.

• Umihara Kawase Fresh! Cotton makes an appearance as a playable character.[3]
• In 1994 Cotton - Minakami Hiroki is part of Gamest Comics Collection.
• In 2012, A manga titled Toriaezu supīdoappu demo shite oku no Kokoro! (とりあえずスピードアップでもしておくのココロ！?)

• Success 40th Anniversary page for Cotton