Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute Collector's Edition (PS4)

Three Saturn-era shmup legends on one disc, buried inside a collector's edition that only 1,000 people will ever own. The Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute Collector's Edition for PlayStation 4 is a Strictly Limited Games exclusive, individually numbered, and it's one of the most loaded packages in the limited-run shmup space.

This tribute collection bundles Cotton 2, Cotton Boomerang, and Guardian Force, three late-90s shoot-'em-ups that were once locked behind expensive Saturn imports. Cotton 2 introduced rival character Appli and shook up the formula with a life bar and the ability to grab enemies and weaponize them. Cotton Boomerang expanded on that foundation a year later with eight playable characters, each sporting unique magic and shot patterns, plus redrawn stage backgrounds. Guardian Force rounds out the trio with its own brand of innovative gunplay that, while different in flavor, shares Success' creative DNA with the Cotton series.

The collector's extras here are substantial. A tea cup figure, yunomi cup, A5 arcade flyer, ten character cards, an art book, an enamel pin, marquee stickers, two sticker sheets, a reversible A2 poster, the OST, and the PS4 disc with manual. The art book and arcade flyer in particular tap into that Saturn-era nostalgia in ways that digital collections simply cannot replicate.

1,000 copies worldwide for three games that defined an entire sub-genre on the Saturn. This collector's edition doesn't just sit on your shelf. It commands it.