Yeah, I know what I said, 4 people on one system over WiFi.
Overall, it if fun, just like any other Bomberman game. Haven't really gave the full look into it, I haven't seen an option to use your Miis anywhere... Overall, I'm just curious about that.
Does this bit generations remake keep the spirit of the original game intact?
Back in 2006, Nintendo published a series of games on the Game Boy Advance in Japan called bit Generations. The bit Generations games were a sister series to the DS%u2019s Touch Generations games and were meant to illustrate the beginnings of video games, and one of the games released in this interesting series was Orbital. It%u2019s quite clear that Art Style: Orbient (or %u201COrbient%u201D for short) is a remake of Orbital, but we don%u2019t want to spoil the details of the game in the first paragraph.
Let%u2019s begin with the premise. The bit Generations games really strip things down to the point where there is little to analyze except for the game itself, and the point of this game is rather simple. You assume the role of a little gray star, and you need to absorb stars of equal size (coloured blue) to grow and eventually become large enough that a %u201Cgoal star%u201D begins to glow yellow. Once this occurs, you must manoeuvre the grey star so that the goal star falls into your orbit to complete each stage. This is easier said than done, however.
Besides your little star, there are many other stars of various sizes within each stage. You can use the A and B buttons (sorry, no waggle) to use gravity and anti-gravity respectively to pull and push your star around the level. This helps avoid obstacles and allows you to bring your star into another%u2019s orbit. Keep in mind that when you%u2019re trying to move into another star%u2019s orbit, that you need to come in at a gradual angle. If you%u2019re on the right track to locking in to another star%u2019s orbit, this will often be indicated by a curved dotted line on screen, but don%u2019t rely on this as many levels require lots of adjustment in your trajectory. Once you%u2019re locked in orbit a little white line will circle around the larger star. To get out of a star%u2019s zone of orbit (indicated by a red circle around it), simply use anti-gravity to push yourself out.
With all this said, it's probably wise that we provide you with some details about the types of obstacles within the game. The larger stars (which are always red) will end up both helping and hurting you. Yes, they%u2019re the main sources of gravity and anti-gravity, but many of them will also hinder your direction, particularly when your gravity prowess causes you to run into them. Outside of these though, everything is out to prevent your progress. Asteroids (always purple) come in various forms (small, large, ring shaped, etc) and are often either in orbit or stuck to a set path. The other major obstacles of the game (and possibly the most deadly) are the black holes. These structures are naturally black in the centre, but you have to be careful since they have their own gravitational pull. When you are attached to the black hole's pull, purple streamlines appear that connect to your star. At all other times these lines just rotate around the centre of the black hole. Like planets, black holes do have anti-gravity, and you can enhance its pull by pushing the gravity button on your Wii Remote. If you get pulled into the centre you have to restart the level with one less hit.
Health in this game is indicated in the top right of the screen. Your star has a limited number of hits that it can sustain before it disintegrates into a shower of tiny pixels. There%u2019s a little more to health though as each thing that you have orbiting your star when you beat a level awards you an extra hit that you either earn back or gain for the next one.
That's right - you can have other things orbit your star. First and foremost, when your star has grown to a point where it is larger than other stars, the other stars turn grey and you can make them orbit your own by passing them while having them fall into your %u201Corbit circle%u201D which appears when you%u2019re near something that can fall into your gravitational pull. When these other planets do lock in, they trigger layers of a piece of music that gradually builds into a pretty nifty song (the song is the same for all the levels). Keep in mind that if you cause the yellow crescent moon (it only appears when the goal star has become active) to fall into your star%u2019s orbit, the moon triggers its own little blurb of sound and cancels out that music you%u2019ve been building up. The benefit of the moon though is that it awards bonus points at the end of the level, and if you beat all the levels with the moon in orbit, something special happens. That%u2019s really all there is to the game and after a few minutes of play it won%u2019t even feel as complex as we've made it sound in this review.
A review wouldn%u2019t be complete without the nitpickings though. Graphics-wise, we have to say that we came away quite disappointed. It%u2019s not that we were expecting the most incredible 3D models of all time but considering this game has Nintendo%u2019s name attached to it, the low quality visuals left us perplexed. To the game%u2019s credit though, it is based on a GBA title that was meant to emphasize simplicity, and it has a really nice ethereal aesthetic that really stems from the merging of the game%u2019s look, sound, and gameplay.
When it comes to music, the game is really more reliant on its sound design. Granted, there's the orbiting star's old-school symphony of greatness, but besides that there are only really short, basic, background loops. The sound effects are very nice though and almost catchy. There are also a couple of differences between Orbient and Orbital in addition to the updated graphics and sound. Orbient has a more zoomed in perspective than its portable counterpart, making navigation more precise. It is also worth noting that in the original game all the planets were fixed to their original location, whereas in Orbient many of the planets move about. Another difference is that the only indication of the pull and push of the planets in the original version was a small ring of coloured light (red for gravity, blue for anti-gravity) around the star, but in Orbient the planets that are pulling and pushing you are highlighted via particle effects.
Extras are also available in this game in the form of additional levels that range from very hard to extremely hard. These begin to be unlocked by beating the main game, but as far as collecting the moons are concerned, we can only speculate as to what you can unlock since we haven%u2019t completely obliterated the game yet. The highlighting of *****es is almost over, but it's worth pointing out that there are no multiplayer or online modes in Orbient.
Conclusion
Putting our incessant nitpickings aside for a moment (and to be fair they are really observations as opposed to complaints) this game rocks. Many WiiWare games lack depth, but Orbient nips that stereotypical quality in the bud. The game may be conquerable within a matter of hours but after a few levels the genius of the gameplay really starts to shine through. It%u2019s great to see a bit Generations game be released outside of Japan that has improvements over the original, even if the changes are fairly meagre overall. You should strongly consider checking Orbient out, for a measly 600 Wii points, it would be rude not to!
Anyone check out Gradius 2 on Turbografx yet? I'm curious to know how it stacks up to the SNES Gradius III. For the longest time, I treated that one like it was the only one in the series. :)
today was meh day for vc instead of getting Phantasy Star IV and Mega Man 3 like the EU did last week, the US gets metal slug 2- the slowed down version of metal slug
of 15 badges
In Bomberman u can have 8 people per system, not 4 (wiimotes & gcn controllers)
of 10 badges
Yeah, I know what I said, 4 people on one system over WiFi.
Overall, it if fun, just like any other Bomberman game. Haven't really gave the full look into it, I haven't seen an option to use your Miis anywhere... Overall, I'm just curious about that.
of 15 badges
of 6 badges
Super Turrican 2.... WOOOOT! :D
(Listens to 'Wormland' on infinite repeat and does the Turrican dance.)
Stuff like this just reminds you of the greatness of classic games.
of 12 badges
Back in 2006, Nintendo published a series of games on the Game Boy Advance in Japan called bit Generations. The bit Generations games were a sister series to the DS%u2019s Touch Generations games and were meant to illustrate the beginnings of video games, and one of the games released in this interesting series was Orbital. It%u2019s quite clear that Art Style: Orbient (or %u201COrbient%u201D for short) is a remake of Orbital, but we don%u2019t want to spoil the details of the game in the first paragraph.
Let%u2019s begin with the premise. The bit Generations games really strip things down to the point where there is little to analyze except for the game itself, and the point of this game is rather simple. You assume the role of a little gray star, and you need to absorb stars of equal size (coloured blue) to grow and eventually become large enough that a %u201Cgoal star%u201D begins to glow yellow. Once this occurs, you must manoeuvre the grey star so that the goal star falls into your orbit to complete each stage. This is easier said than done, however.
Besides your little star, there are many other stars of various sizes within each stage. You can use the A and B buttons (sorry, no waggle) to use gravity and anti-gravity respectively to pull and push your star around the level. This helps avoid obstacles and allows you to bring your star into another%u2019s orbit. Keep in mind that when you%u2019re trying to move into another star%u2019s orbit, that you need to come in at a gradual angle. If you%u2019re on the right track to locking in to another star%u2019s orbit, this will often be indicated by a curved dotted line on screen, but don%u2019t rely on this as many levels require lots of adjustment in your trajectory. Once you%u2019re locked in orbit a little white line will circle around the larger star. To get out of a star%u2019s zone of orbit (indicated by a red circle around it), simply use anti-gravity to push yourself out.
With all this said, it's probably wise that we provide you with some details about the types of obstacles within the game. The larger stars (which are always red) will end up both helping and hurting you. Yes, they%u2019re the main sources of gravity and anti-gravity, but many of them will also hinder your direction, particularly when your gravity prowess causes you to run into them. Outside of these though, everything is out to prevent your progress. Asteroids (always purple) come in various forms (small, large, ring shaped, etc) and are often either in orbit or stuck to a set path. The other major obstacles of the game (and possibly the most deadly) are the black holes. These structures are naturally black in the centre, but you have to be careful since they have their own gravitational pull. When you are attached to the black hole's pull, purple streamlines appear that connect to your star. At all other times these lines just rotate around the centre of the black hole. Like planets, black holes do have anti-gravity, and you can enhance its pull by pushing the gravity button on your Wii Remote. If you get pulled into the centre you have to restart the level with one less hit.
Health in this game is indicated in the top right of the screen. Your star has a limited number of hits that it can sustain before it disintegrates into a shower of tiny pixels. There%u2019s a little more to health though as each thing that you have orbiting your star when you beat a level awards you an extra hit that you either earn back or gain for the next one.
That's right - you can have other things orbit your star. First and foremost, when your star has grown to a point where it is larger than other stars, the other stars turn grey and you can make them orbit your own by passing them while having them fall into your %u201Corbit circle%u201D which appears when you%u2019re near something that can fall into your gravitational pull. When these other planets do lock in, they trigger layers of a piece of music that gradually builds into a pretty nifty song (the song is the same for all the levels). Keep in mind that if you cause the yellow crescent moon (it only appears when the goal star has become active) to fall into your star%u2019s orbit, the moon triggers its own little blurb of sound and cancels out that music you%u2019ve been building up. The benefit of the moon though is that it awards bonus points at the end of the level, and if you beat all the levels with the moon in orbit, something special happens. That%u2019s really all there is to the game and after a few minutes of play it won%u2019t even feel as complex as we've made it sound in this review.
A review wouldn%u2019t be complete without the nitpickings though. Graphics-wise, we have to say that we came away quite disappointed. It%u2019s not that we were expecting the most incredible 3D models of all time but considering this game has Nintendo%u2019s name attached to it, the low quality visuals left us perplexed. To the game%u2019s credit though, it is based on a GBA title that was meant to emphasize simplicity, and it has a really nice ethereal aesthetic that really stems from the merging of the game%u2019s look, sound, and gameplay.
When it comes to music, the game is really more reliant on its sound design. Granted, there's the orbiting star's old-school symphony of greatness, but besides that there are only really short, basic, background loops. The sound effects are very nice though and almost catchy. There are also a couple of differences between Orbient and Orbital in addition to the updated graphics and sound. Orbient has a more zoomed in perspective than its portable counterpart, making navigation more precise. It is also worth noting that in the original game all the planets were fixed to their original location, whereas in Orbient many of the planets move about. Another difference is that the only indication of the pull and push of the planets in the original version was a small ring of coloured light (red for gravity, blue for anti-gravity) around the star, but in Orbient the planets that are pulling and pushing you are highlighted via particle effects.
Extras are also available in this game in the form of additional levels that range from very hard to extremely hard. These begin to be unlocked by beating the main game, but as far as collecting the moons are concerned, we can only speculate as to what you can unlock since we haven%u2019t completely obliterated the game yet. The highlighting of *****es is almost over, but it's worth pointing out that there are no multiplayer or online modes in Orbient.
Conclusion
Putting our incessant nitpickings aside for a moment (and to be fair they are really observations as opposed to complaints) this game rocks. Many WiiWare games lack depth, but Orbient nips that stereotypical quality in the bud. The game may be conquerable within a matter of hours but after a few levels the genius of the gameplay really starts to shine through. It%u2019s great to see a bit Generations game be released outside of Japan that has improvements over the original, even if the changes are fairly meagre overall. You should strongly consider checking Orbient out, for a measly 600 Wii points, it would be rude not to!
8/10
From WiiWare World
of 3 badges
My Aquarium is the best game ever, Everyone knows it, everyone else should just shut up.
of 15 badges
lol yeah iti s WAY better than MegaMan 9, LoZ Ocarina, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Mario World combined!
of 12 badges
Hey guess what you guys that don't get World Of Goo for Wiiware... well now you do! But the PC version (Extra content) will also come out too.
of 6 badges
Anyone check out Gradius 2 on Turbografx yet? I'm curious to know how it stacks up to the SNES Gradius III. For the longest time, I treated that one like it was the only one in the series. :)
of 10 badges
today was meh day for vc instead of getting Phantasy Star IV and Mega Man 3 like the EU did last week, the US gets metal slug 2- the slowed down version of metal slug
of 12 badges
We've already got Mega Man 3, though. It came out two or three weeks ago.
of 15 badges
Hmm.... any NES games anyone want to be uploaded on the VC?
of 10 badges
Captain Skyhawk!
of 6 badges
Wanted NES games? Plenty.
Kung Fu HeroesGun-NacLegacy of the WizardS.C.A.T.Dragon Warrior (all of 'em)
Lots of others I can't think of at the moment... :P