Orbient
Encyclopedia
Orbient, known in Japan as Orbital, is a puzzle
video game developed by skip Ltd.
and published by Nintendo
for the Wii
's WiiWare
digital distribution service. It is one of seven games in the Art Style
series of video games available for WiiWare
and DSiWare. It is a remake of a Japan-only Game Boy Advance
video game titled Orbital, released for the bit Generations
series of video games.
The objective of Orbient is to control a white star which grows larger by absorbing blue stars and collecting smaller gray stars to form orbiting satellites.
While the original bit Generations version was met with mixed reactions, The WiiWare version of Orbient was very well received, holding an average score of 82.3% and 82/100 from Game Rankings
and Meta Critic respectively.
. Red stars are bigger than the white. The white star is able to orbit red stars to help travel through space. Whenever the white star grows large enough, the target star glows orange, and is able to be a satellite; as soon as that happens, a small crescent star appears, and having it successfully orbit the white star will give the player bonus points, (and collecting all different crescent stars unlocks new galaxies and are the goal to complete the game 100%). Colliding with the orange star will take away a hit, but having it orbit the white star will clear the round. The player guides the star by pressing the A and B buttons on the Wii Remote
to utilize gravity and anti-gravity
, respectively, and attract it towards or repel against (also respectively) the gravitational wells of celestial objects. Players must be careful not to crash their star into the red stars or floating objects like asteroid
s, or be sucked into black hole
s, which takes away a hit (and in the case of black holes, restart the entire stage).
as Orbital under the bit Generations
label on July 27, 2006 exclusively in Japan. This version was announced on June 1, 2006. Nintendo announced that they would be giving free copies of the games in the series to 700 members of the Club Nintendo
web site in exchange to feedback on them, though only to people who own a Game Boy Advance
or Nintendo DS
. Nintendo filed for an ESRB rating for this title in the US. It was later remade for the Wii
's WiiWare
service in the Art Style
series. Both versions were developed and published by skip Ltd.
and Nintendo
respectively.
, receiving a 7/9/6/7 from them. The WiiWare version was more well-received, average score of 82.3% and 82/100 on Game Rankings
and Meta Critic respectively. IGN
praised the simplicity of the gameplay and the improvements made to the original, and called it "an incredibly mellow, relaxing experience", yet at the same time "one of the most challenging games you'll ever play". GameSpot
found the physics-based puzzles to be clever, but criticized it for lacking that "must-play, addictive appeal" and for its lackluster presentation. EuroGamer
called it a quietly brilliant game, and called it the most interesting and rewarding of the three WiiWare
games released so far. It was nominated for multiple Wii-specific awards from IGN in its 2008 video game awards, including Best Action Game and Most Innovative Design.
Computer puzzle game
Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion....
video game developed by skip Ltd.
Skip Ltd.
Skip is a Japanese video game developer that has a close relationship with Nintendo of Japan. Nintendo has published all of their Japanese releases; with the only notable exception being LOL , which Skip Ltd. published independently. The company's staff includes prominent developers from Square...
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
digital distribution service. It is one of seven games in the Art Style
Art Style
Art Style is a video game series created by skip Ltd. for WiiWare and DSiWare. The first game in the Art Style series, ORBIENT, was released for WiiWare in September 2008. Another two Art Style games, CUBELLO and ROTOHEX, were released during October 2008 while two more were added in 2010...
series of video games available for WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
and DSiWare. It is a remake of a Japan-only Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
video game titled Orbital, released for the bit Generations
Bit Generations
bit Generations is a video game franchise for the Game Boy Advance, published by Nintendo. It was first announced under the name Digitylish at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2005. Each of the games in the series feature simple controls, gameplay and graphics...
series of video games.
The objective of Orbient is to control a white star which grows larger by absorbing blue stars and collecting smaller gray stars to form orbiting satellites.
While the original bit Generations version was met with mixed reactions, The WiiWare version of Orbient was very well received, holding an average score of 82.3% and 82/100 from Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
and Meta Critic respectively.
Gameplay
In Orbient, players control a white star. The game starts with the white star able to take 5 hits before it is destroyed. To make it grow, the player must collide his/her star with a similar-sized, blue star. Stars smaller than the player's star are gray-colored. Colliding with these stars will not change the white star's size, but if the player positions the white star just right, the gray star will orbit the white and become a satelliteNatural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
. Red stars are bigger than the white. The white star is able to orbit red stars to help travel through space. Whenever the white star grows large enough, the target star glows orange, and is able to be a satellite; as soon as that happens, a small crescent star appears, and having it successfully orbit the white star will give the player bonus points, (and collecting all different crescent stars unlocks new galaxies and are the goal to complete the game 100%). Colliding with the orange star will take away a hit, but having it orbit the white star will clear the round. The player guides the star by pressing the A and B buttons on the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
to utilize gravity and anti-gravity
Anti-gravity
Anti-gravity is the idea of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or to balancing the force of gravity with some other force, such as electromagnetism or aerodynamic lift...
, respectively, and attract it towards or repel against (also respectively) the gravitational wells of celestial objects. Players must be careful not to crash their star into the red stars or floating objects like asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
s, or be sucked into black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
s, which takes away a hit (and in the case of black holes, restart the entire stage).
Scoring
At the end of each round, the player gets scored on the number of stars consumed or collected as satellites, bonus points for clearing the stage with a time faster than the set "official time", and bonus points for collecting the crescent star as a satellite, and adds it to the total. Times or total scores that shows in red are new records. Satellites, including the orange and crescent stars, are then converted into extra hits for the next stage.Development
Orbient was originally released for the Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
as Orbital under the bit Generations
Bit Generations
bit Generations is a video game franchise for the Game Boy Advance, published by Nintendo. It was first announced under the name Digitylish at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2005. Each of the games in the series feature simple controls, gameplay and graphics...
label on July 27, 2006 exclusively in Japan. This version was announced on June 1, 2006. Nintendo announced that they would be giving free copies of the games in the series to 700 members of the Club Nintendo
Club Nintendo
Club Nintendo is the name of several publications and a more well-known customer loyalty program provided by Nintendo. The loyalty program is free to join and is committed to providing rewards in exchange for consumer feedback and loyalty to purchasing official Nintendo products...
web site in exchange to feedback on them, though only to people who own a Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
or Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. Nintendo filed for an ESRB rating for this title in the US. It was later remade for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
service in the Art Style
Art Style
Art Style is a video game series created by skip Ltd. for WiiWare and DSiWare. The first game in the Art Style series, ORBIENT, was released for WiiWare in September 2008. Another two Art Style games, CUBELLO and ROTOHEX, were released during October 2008 while two more were added in 2010...
series. Both versions were developed and published by skip Ltd.
Skip Ltd.
Skip is a Japanese video game developer that has a close relationship with Nintendo of Japan. Nintendo has published all of their Japanese releases; with the only notable exception being LOL , which Skip Ltd. published independently. The company's staff includes prominent developers from Square...
and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
respectively.
Reception
The bit Generations version of Orbient received mixed scores from FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
, receiving a 7/9/6/7 from them. The WiiWare version was more well-received, average score of 82.3% and 82/100 on Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
and Meta Critic respectively. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
praised the simplicity of the gameplay and the improvements made to the original, and called it "an incredibly mellow, relaxing experience", yet at the same time "one of the most challenging games you'll ever play". GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
found the physics-based puzzles to be clever, but criticized it for lacking that "must-play, addictive appeal" and for its lackluster presentation. EuroGamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
called it a quietly brilliant game, and called it the most interesting and rewarding of the three WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
games released so far. It was nominated for multiple Wii-specific awards from IGN in its 2008 video game awards, including Best Action Game and Most Innovative Design.