Saturn Tribute: Cotton 2 + Boomerang, Guardian Force, 9/21

[Sengoku Strider]

Didn't see a dedicated thread for this. City Connection have announced Saturn Tribute, a collection of 3 Saturn games: Cotton 2, Cotton Reboot and Guardian Force for Switch & PS4.

Trailer went up last night, looks like physical + CE is a go, coming Sept. 30 in Japan:

https://youtu.be/4dg3YXK73F4

They seem to have taken criticism of the Psikyo collections to heart, this looks much more feature rich.



Official site:

https://city-connection.co.jp/cotton/

Official shop:

https://clariceshop.com/products/g_cotton-gf

[Astro City II]

Would've bought this if they'd bothered making an Xbox version, Always enjoyed Cotton Boomerang.

[Ms. Tea]

I'm really, really excited for this. Cotton 2 & Boomerang are longtime faves, and I'm looking forward to discovering Guardian Force. The trailer looks great, and those accessibility features are going to be fantastic for people new to the games and the genre.

Cross-posting from the general Cotton thread...

City Connection have confirmed this will have full English text except for the story. They also don't have plans for a western physical release, but are encouraging western fans to import.

Here's the list of preorder incentives for the physical release:

• Clarice Shop - Mini Cotton figure, looks like maybe a small acrylic standee
• Beep - teacup (LE only)
• Amazon - clear file
• Amiami - transit card case
• 1983 - shitajiki
• Neowing/CD Japan - can badge
• Rakuten - acrylic coasters
• Wondergoo - water absorption coaster
• Ebten - special LE containing a repro calendar, notebook, and acrylic keychain

[Astro City II]

Some good news.

The website has updated today and they've added an Xbox One version too. Not sure if it launches at the same time as the other versions. Will update if anything changes!

https://city-connection.co.jp/cotton/

[EmperorIng]

I need to figure out which of these sites I'mma sick-grab this from. I can't believe it's already (presumably) weeks from release!
The amount of Cotton 2 players in the world is about to increase by about 800%, I guess I better pre-emptively make some new score threads.

[neon guide]

I've got the switch version preordered from Amazon. Absolutel no brainer for me because each of the Saturn versions of these games are out of my price range. I'm particularly excited abou it Guardian Force

[BulletMagnet]

I need to figure out which of these sites I'mma sick-grab this from. [...] The amount of Cotton 2 players in the world is about to increase by about 800%

...and just imagine if someone else preorders it!

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Looking forward to getting this collection. Always wanted to pick up Guardian Force and just never got around to it for whatever reason. Will be cool to add this one to the collection at a decent price. I’m not really familiar with the Cotton games either so those should be interesting too.

[Creamy Goodness]

I've got the switch version preordered from Amazon. Absolutel no brainer for me because each of the Saturn versions of these games are out of my price range. I'm particularly excited abou it Guardian Force

Was trying to pre-order the Switch version through Play Asia, but it is still in a coming soon status. Do you need like a Japanese gift card to irder from Amazon JP?

[Jonpachi]

Do you need like a Japanese gift card to irder from Amazon JP?

Nope, you can pay with a regular old debit/credit card. There are certain things they won't ship outside of Japan, but it's mostly very easy and painless to set up a JP account.

[Ms. Tea]

Yeah, importers like Play-Asia are a lot less important now that you can easily buy straight from Japanese stores like CD Japan and Amazon. I preordered Saturn Tribute (plus Illvelo+Radirgy Swag) at CD Japan since they still had Cotton pins left.

[xxx1993]

Right on Earth, Wind, and Fire's favorite day. Also Hayate Immelman's birthday from Macross Delta.

[MachineAres 1CC]

Just got an email from Strictly Limited Games today announcing they will be bringing this to the West physically, but I'm guessing it'll be just about the same as their edition of the Cotton Reboot, which was kinda overpriced for what it was, and also took several months after the Japanese release to actually come out. Western digital release will probably also follow several months later, just like Reboot.

They also mentioned something about a "special announcement" from the devs later this year, not sure if that's something about the Rock n' Roll game or what, but it's pretty cryptic.

[Samildanach]

They also appear to be releasing physicals of Cotton 100% and Panorama. There wordage is slightly vague, but I don't think those two will be on the same disc as the Saturn Tribute trio. Having pre-ordered the latter from playasia, I might be tempted to get Cotton 100% if it is indeed a standalone release. Not too bothered about Panorama though.

[Ms. Tea]

Yeah, I posted about that in the other thread too. Unclear if the three games from Saturn Tribute will be any different, eg with translated stories compared to the international digital releases? Probably not though.

[MachineAres 1CC]

They also appear to be releasing physicals of Cotton 100% and Panorama. There wordage is slightly vague, but I don't think those two will be on the same disc as the Saturn Tribute trio. Having pre-ordered the latter from playasia, I might be tempted to get Cotton 100% if it is indeed a standalone release. Not too bothered about Panorama though.

Yeah, I forgot about that part from the email too. I'm guessing it's probably just going to be producing repro carts/boxes for 100% and Panorama (like the recent Super R-Type and Toaplan repro releases,) not any kind of remaster or release on modern platforms, but I guess we'll have to wait on details for that.

[pablumatic]

Yeah, I forgot about that part from the email too. I'm guessing it's probably just going to be producing repro carts/boxes for 100% and Panorama (like the recent Super R-Type and Toaplan repro releases,) not any kind of remaster or release on modern platforms, but I guess we'll have to wait on details for that.

Thats what I'm thinking since we've heard nothing about 100% or Panorama elsewhere. Guessing retro physical releases for Genesis and SNES until we hear otherwise.

[Samildanach]

I think 100% and Panorama may be getting released on modern systems too going by this Gematsu article:

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/09/cotton- ... st-in-2021

I have no working retro consoles, so fingers crossed the above is true.

[MachineAres 1CC]

I think 100% and Panorama may be getting released on modern systems too going by this Gematsu article:

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/09/cotton- ... st-in-2021

I have no working retro consoles, so fingers crossed the above is true.

The article is pretty strangely worded, and also weird they would be releasing 100% and Panorama as separate releases, so the whole thing is a little confusing. Also not sure what their source is, as they don't specifically talk about it. Unless some kind of "secret" communication was sent out only to Japanese press outlets or something, it seems oddly conflicting with the offical statements from SLG. Guess we just need to wait and see for all of this to get clarification

[BulletMagnet]

Also not sure what their source is, as they don't specifically talk about it.

The Gematsu article links to this ININ page, which states that 100% and Panorama will be available "as digital downloads", though it doesn't specify where.

[Sengoku Strider]

I got this email from Strictly Limited today, looks like it's coming westward...I'm unclear from the wording if Panorama Cotton & Cotton 100% are also included, or will just be additional releases coming to the "Strictly Limited lineup of games":

[Koa Zo]

I got this email from Strictly Limited today, looks like it's coming westward...I'm unclear from the wording if Panorama Cotton & Cotton 100% are also included

Panorama Cotton and Cotton 100% will be separate releases.

Note how they say Saturn Tribute collection will be home to Cotton 2 and Boomerang (with Guardian Force)

Presumably they're doing a Mega Drive/Genesis release of Panorama Cotton. I hope they got their manufacturing figured out with the long delayed Darius release, otherwise we might be waiting until 2023 for Panorama Cotton.

[Ms. Tea]

Switch eshop pages are up for the standalone digital versions. Looks like they'll be Y1980 each, so you save money by buying the physical.

Cotton 2 - https://store-jp.nintendo.com/list/soft ... 40775.html
Cotton Boomerang - https://store-jp.nintendo.com/list/soft ... 40774.html
Guardian Force - https://store-jp.nintendo.com/list/soft ... 40776.html

EDIT: Oh, looks like international listings are up too. $18 each.

Cotton 2 - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/c ... te-switch/
Cotton Boomerang - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/c ... te-switch/
Guardian Force - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/g ... te-switch/

[pablumatic]

Strange that they're all sold separately as digital titles. I thought they'd be a collection in both formats.

[Ms. Tea]

Nah, they've always said the digital versions would be standalone.

[Sima Tuna]

Can anyone name a good City Connection port? Aren't these the guys who do the barebones ones with no training features or save states? I'm not saying every port needs to be M2 quality. I'll take Hamster and be perfectly happy with one of their porting jobs. But I have Dragon Blaze on my switch and it has no training modes or save states or anything, plus it supposedly has extra lag (not that I can play well enough to tell.)

Edit: I guess it sounds like they're taking some of the criticisms of previous ports into factor for these new games. I'll wait and see what happens when it drops.

[Ms. Tea]

The Psikyo games are all by Zerodiv before City Connection bought them; AFAICT these are being done by a different group of people. Seems like it's probably the same people as Psyvariar Delta, which was good.

[Astro City II]

With that price point it makes me think they might be trying to make this an ongoing series.

I'll pick up the Xbox versions next week (be interesting to see if they release those internationally) and hope more comes of it.

[Johnpv]

Can anyone name a good City Connection port?

The Cotton Reboot port was absolutely fantastic.

[Astro City II]

An English language page has been added:
https://city-connection.co.jp/cotton/en/

The download section has changed showing each three games with their so far unlinked stores [Switch, PS4, Xbox, Steam]

and with a little text at the bottom:

* Information on the Xbox One version and Steam version will be announced soon.