The Light Side of the Moon – Art Style Orbient Reviewed

Obient for Wii is the first game in Nintendo’s “Art Style” series of WiiWare games, which continues the spirit of Nintendo’s “bit Generations” series of games for Game Boy Advance (released only in Japan). The Art Style games intend to bring simple yet great gameplay with artistic graphics for a low price. While these could be considered “casual games” I’d be hesitant to place such a title on them. Like the PixelJunk series on PlayStation Network, Art Style games are casual, yes, but are very much aimed at hardcore gamers as well. Gamers that don’t just want something to pass the time, but a fun, solid and complete game, “casual” or not. Orbient is a sequel to Orbital, part of the aforementioned bit Generations series for Game Boy Advance. Some things were tweaked and added but the basic gameplay remains the same. I’ve read that some stages are recycled from Orbital though I’ve yet to confirm this. (I have both games and on a quick comparison the stages I checked appeared to be different.)

The gameplay is somewhat comparable to Katamari Damacy‘s get-bigger-to-get-bigger gameplay though it’s quite unique at the same time. You start each stage as a tiny mass floating amongst other celestial bodies in space. Each stage has no perceivable edge as you simply loop from one side to the other. (Similar to the ship in Asteroids flying off the edge of the screen but less apparent since the “camera” follows you.) Your in-game controls are strictly limited to intensifying your gravitational pull and reversing it. That’s it. Surprisingly, this actually gives you quite a bit of control with an interesting challenge. Your goal is to avoid collisions with dangerous or larger masses, using your ability to orbit and repel, while gathering small masses to increase your own mass. Once large enough, some masses can even be caught in your orbit, orbitting you wherever you go. Eventually you’ll become large enough to take on an orbiting sun and the stage will be completed once you do so. (Look the other way astronomers, the game is worth it.) An extra challenge is added in each stage by the appearance of a tiny crescent moon once a sun is attainable. If you manage to grab the moon before the sun you’ll get a significant point boost.

Regardless of whether or not you’d define astrophysics as “fun”, the game definitely is. The physics are realistic enough to be challenging yet arcadey enough to feel comfortable. The developers found a great repetitively untapped gameplay mechanic and struck a good balance of challenge and fun in making the game. New types and configurations of celestial bodies are implemented in stages as you progress to keep things fresh. In addition, scoring is set up so that replaying completed stages to increase your highscore can still be a lot of fun, adding to the game’s replayability.

The graphics and sound are definitely part of why Nintendo could bring us such a good game for so cheap. While the graphics are attractive with nice effects (the first encounter with a black hole is pretty memorable), they are very simple with only slight variation as you progress through the game. The sounds are simple yet well done but the music, while at times quite beautiful and meditative, can also be extremely repetitive. As you progress through a stage the music adds more and more samples to the looping melody but should you take your time in a stage some samples may become repetitive to the point of being irritating. While some may not find it too much of an issue, some may want to turn the music down or even off. (Space is silent after all…) Still, overall the graphics and sound do a good job of inspiring a retro feeling which compliments the gameplay quite well.