ORBIENT

ORBIENT
Developer	Skip Ltd.
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Game Boy Advance, WiiWare
Release Date	Game Boy Advance JP July 27, 2006 WiiWare US September 29, 2008 EU December 19, 2008 JP May 12, 2009
Rating	ESRB: E

ORBIENT (also known as Orbital) is puzzle game where you control a miniature star. It was originally released as part the Japan-only bit Generations series for Game Boy Advance, but later released overseas as part of the Art Style series on WiiWare. It costs 600 Wii points.

Gameplay

In ORBIENT, the player doesn't control the star as it moves around the galaxy but rather controls the the gravitational pull of all the planets. One button will pull the star into their orbit, the other will repel it. The player can also manipulate the star to cause smaller stars to rotate around it.

To complete a stage, the star has to grow to a certain size. This is done by absorbing planets with a blue aura. Planets with a red aura are too large for the star. Planets with a gray aura are able to be absorbed by the star but will not contribute to the growth. Additionally, they can be pulled into the star's gravitational pull for extra points. When a certain size is reached, a glowing satellite will appear. The goal is not to absorb the satellite, but have it rotate around the star. Along with the satellite, a crescent moon will appear and float around the level. The player must carefully guide the star to pull the moon into its orbit, otherwise it knocks it out of the stage.

If the star crashes into a red planet, satellite, or asteroid, the player takes a hit and will respawn at a clear point. Black holes will cause the player to restart the level.

By default, there are 6 galaxies with 5 stages. As the player progresses through the game and collects crescent moons, additional galaxies will open up with a much higher difficulty level. Stages that appear in blue have been completed normally while those that appear yellow have been completed with the moon collected.

Trivia

• The game was originally going to be released in America as Digiluxe: Orbiter.
• The game's Earth icon was used as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• The black holes and the visualization of gravity were not present in the original GBA version.