Cotton Rock ‘N Roll Headed To Arcades Worldwide Via exA-Arcadia

For the past while, I’ve been seeing things posted about a new game in the Cotton series that would be going to Japanese arcades via Sega’s APM3 digital distribution network. Called Cotton Rock ‘N Roll, and developed by Success, this is the sixth entry in the series, which first got its start in arcades way back in 1989. If you’ve never played it, it falls within the subgenre of a “cute’em up,” that being a cutesy side-scrolling shoot ’em up game.

Now because it looked like it was going to stick just to Japan, I think I’d only mentioned it once in passing on a Newsbytes; The new title is set to launch on the aforementioned APM3 next week, with a console port coming soon after. However, in a surprise announcement that just hit this evening, the game will also be made available in a physical form on exA-Arcadia, along with some exclusive content additions that neither the APM3 nor the console version will enjoy. This also means that users in the West can also grab one for their exA systems. First, the teaser trailer:

Since that’s a teaser and doesn’t tell us much, here’s some more info. The game already has an info page, where we get this info:

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the classic shooting series, COTTOn ROCK ‘n’ ROLL is the sixth and latest entry into the series blasting its way into arcades everywhere on exA-Arcadia. Join Cotton on her quest to find the ultimate fairy made sweets. In addition to series regulars: Cotton and Appli, 4 guest characters from other SUCCESS franchises like Psyvariar, Sanvein and Umihara Kawase are also selectable and feature their own totally unique play mechanics! Play with a friend in an exA-Arcadia exclusive 2 player mode and journey through 8 stages + special bonus stages and aim for the high score! Includes A1 poster, instruction sheet and instruction strip (Japanese and English).

As mentioned there, exA is getting a 2-player mode – something that is not available on the other two versions. I’ve confirmed with exA that this also includes game content that will not be present in the APM3 version, along with “better rendering and much less input lag.” This extra content is taking a little time to complete, so the game will begin shipping sometime next month, but if you want to get in on it, you can order the kit now.

What do you think about this surprise?