Cotton, if nothing else, is a pretty fantastic journey. Statues, fountains, trees and more beautifully-drawn background elements served to place me in a lush and fantastic world that provided a wonderful distraction from the pressures of reality.

As is the norm in Cotton games, the hero is a youthful witch using a broomstick to fly through a variety of stages.It was one of the horizontal-scrollers in this series (other games are displayed from a “sort-of 3-D” perspective). As one might expect from a cute game, things aren't overly challenging for the most part, although the final stages have their fair share of tricky spots. To be honest, the majority of the few deaths I suffered during the early levels were caused by me losing track of enemies or their projectiles against the colorful and (at times) cluttered backgrounds.

Altered Beast

Altered Beast is the adaptation of the famous arcade game released by Sega in 1988. Zeus' daughter, the beautiful goddess Athena, has been abducted by the cruel Lord of the Underworld. The hero of the game is brought back to life from the dead to defeat the approaching army of zombies and monsters. To fulfil his mission, has has been granted amazing powers - the main one being the ability to transform into powerful mythical beasts. Altered Beast is a horizontal action game - the action first takes place in a grave yard but our hero soon travels through five large areas, from dark caves to creepy swamps. Power orbs can be picked up along the way by killing two-headed white wolves. Once three orbs are collected, our character turns into a powerful beast. Each stage features a new transformation (which gets recycled in later levels) such as human-wolf, human-dragon or human-bear, and they all come with their own set of powers and special attacks. Once the the 'beast-form' is reached, the Lord Of Underworld appears and casts a powerful spell which turns him into a huge creature that must be defeated to unlock the next area.

ADVANCE VARIABLE GEO

Like the Asuka 120% Burning Festival series, Variable Geo is another fighter that had spawn from the anger of the 2-D video game fighting world that had seemed only for men. So, despite having to shed some dignity, they came in and kicked collective butt as well. But unlike its rival, VG doesn't have such a strong combo engine. It seems to have captured the essence of all the fighting games out there during its time. Only certain characters can do certain stuff. But each lady has her strengths and weaknesses, thereby being all around somewhat.

AI CHô ANIKI

Ai Chô Aniki (aka Love Chô Aniki), is a horizontal shooter by NCS and is the sequel of Chô Aniki. The two winged heroes from the first game, despite being shortly mentioned in the introduction sequence, are nowhere to be seen. This time around, players take control of bald and flying muscled men with holes at the top of their heads. They will look surprisingly familiar to those lucky players who know and have played the excellent pre-quel. After a closer look, we realize that these two weird men are nothing more than the flying options who used to fly next to our winged heroes. Are there here to avenge their owners ? Who knows ?... Players can either choose to play Adon, or his brother Samson (in two players mode). Curiously, the holes at the top of their heads allow them to shoot balls of energy - by default they fire homing energy-balls and executing combo-combinations on the controller activate deadly special attacks, in a way similar to traditional Street Fighter-like fighting game. Ai Chô Aniki is now famous for its weird graphic design and content - thanks to Adon and Samson, two beefy muscled men often fighting other flying muscled men with little clothing on.

AKUMAJŌ DRACULA X : CHI NO RONDO

Konami only released a handful of games for the PC Engine system, and Akumajō Dracula X is often considered as the most polished and one of the best 'true Castlevania' game. The player starts the game as Ritcher Belmont, descendant of the Belmont bloodline who's destiny is to oppose the evil spirit of Dracula. Our hero, like his ancestors did before him, is a mission to rescue his beloved Annette Renard from the hands of the evil vampire and his army of minions and servants. Players will also free more villagers as they venture deeper inside Dracula's creepy castle - and even play as the young Maria Renard if they happen to be skilled enough to find her. The game follows the Castlevania's tradition and Ritcher can strike his enemies with his whip or special weapons such as daggers, axes or crucifixes. The game offers seven huge areas to explore but also alternate routes, bringing the total to twelve stages. Thanks to the SuperCDRom² format, a long and full screen introduction sequence feeds the game story with elegance and... German voice acting. Konami put the icing on the cake by also giving players the ability to purchase clues and tactics to beat bosses and the total percentage of game completed. Their path to victory is for the most part linear but various stages are designed with alternate routes and side quests.