Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams/Strategy
Basic Strategy
- Include some good "starter advice" for a player interested in playing this game.
- It's probably not a bad idea to explain good "times" to take advantage of certain mechanics (such as, "leave lots of bullets on screen and then do a big cancel for big points").
- Let the player know of some techniques in shmups that the player might have to apply, such as macro-dodging / micro/tap-dodging, how to maximize damage, etc.
Advanced Strategy
- This section would contain particularly advanced gameplay techniques and more scoring information.
- Ideally, this is information that you probably wouldn't tell someone who just picked up the game. Players looking at this section are typically aiming to reach the next level of play.
Enemy Overview
In this section, detailed information (if available) about all enemies, mid-bosses and bosses would be included on this page. Each enemy would be accompanied with a graphic, a score value (if available), and description of its behavior. For bonus points, include some clickable diagrams that showcase the behavior of the enemy! For games that have disassemblies and debug modes available, this would potentially be an interesting way to isolate enemy behavior and really show how it works!
Individual Stage Breakdown
Stage 1
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Midboss
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Boss
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Stage 2
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Midboss
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Boss
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Stage 3
Midboss
Boss
Stage 4
Midboss
Boss
Stage 5
Midboss
Boss
Stage 6
Midboss
After you descend past the volcano, put your fairies below you to cover you from the birds. Now you are on the final approach, and it is tricky to be sure. Ideally your shot is fully powered so you can quickly kill all of the beefy enemies that appears in this tunnel. If not, use your spells liberally, or you will be overwhelmed. After the first manticore, there is a raised ledge with archers behind it. You can use your magic to hit them through the ledge, or get on the ledge to hit them with bombs, but kill them quickly as getting over the ledge gets harder the more enemies that fill into that section. The metal faces may block your shot here, so consider easing off at a safe moment to let them leave the screen before you continue firing. Before the boss there are three manticores in a row. They have quite a bit of health but you should be able to kill them before they reach your side of the screen.
Boss
This dragon will change position in a predictable pattern. He starts to the right of the screen, moves the the left, then to the centre, then repeats the pattern moving back to the right. Every time he moves to the left, you will have to move to his right and won't be able to shoot him until he moves again, so just focus on dodging. His fire breath is fast but the time between the attacks is always the same, so when you learn the timing you should be ready to move out of the way when it starts. He will breath fire four times, then move position. His other attack shoots fire from his torso, and this fire flies high then lower, and comes our at approximately the same time as the fire breath, so if you start at the top of the screen and dodge the breath moving downwards, you should avoid both attacks. The torso fire stops after the dragon has taken enough damage.
Final Boss
You can destroy the magic this boss throws at you if your shot is powerful enough, but there is an easier way. If you place yourself close to the boss on the left, she will wave her wand and cast her magic on the other side of you, and it will then circle around you both harmlessly while you pelt the boss with your shot and bombs. The boss will then move and you will have to resposition yourself. The safe space is quite wide though you will have to get a feel for the size of the boss's hitbox in order to safely execute the move every time. When you see the boss materializing, try and move yourself to where you see the outline of her wand. Line yourself up from above or below before you move into place. When she has fully materialized, Cotton will be halfway through the boss's shield, and totally safe from her attacks.
