Written By: Kyle Frederickson (Guest Writer)

Tired of Bust-A-Move clones? Wait til you get your hands on this…

ORBITAL ($0.99 On Sale)

ORBITAL is one of those games which has garnered critical acclaim and decent fanfare. It was only a matter of time ’til we cover this beautiful looking and equally satisfying game.

Presentation

While it isn’t as graphically intense as say Sandstorm, this futuristic game shines in its simplicity. From everything to the menu screen, with its bouncing logo and simple menus, to the in game details, such as the sparkle that follows each orb as its shot off.

Not to be missed is the gravitational fields shown by the orbs. Orbital does an excellent job with the small details, the things that matter most.

Controls

The controls are simple. Simply tap anywhere on the screen to shoot off an orb where the cannon is aimed at. It’s as easy as that!

Game play

The goal of Orbital is to rack up points by popping orbs which you shoot into the field from cannon located at the bottom of the screen. This cannon automatically rotates from the left to the right only requiring, as I said, a tap to fire off an orb. Once an orb has been shot off, it will slow to a stop and then proceed to grow until it touches an obstacle such as a wall or another orb.

After you have an orb in play, it simply needs to be hit three times by another orb to be destroyed and score a point. In order for it to be count as a hit, the orb that hits it needs to still be in motion. The number inside of the orb also acts as a friendly reminder as to how many more times that specific orb needs to be hit.

The game continues on this path until an orb is shot off and bounces back across the line at the bottom of the screen resulting in a game over. After the game has been finished, you can submit your scores to an online leader board which can be sorted by just your scores, the whole world’s scores, or, after you’ve logged in, just the scores of your Facebook friends.

There are two game modes in Orbital, Gravity and Pure. In Gravity, the individual orbs have their own gravitational field that affects the path of orbs shot towards them. The size of an orb will affect the strength of its gravitational field, and follows what you would think would naturally happen.

In the Pure mode on the other hand, orbs fly in straight lines with no pull what so ever felt from the other orbs. No matter what mode you choose, the rounds tend to be relatively short allowing for the perfect pick up and play game. The game also includes a multiplayer feature in which players take turns shooting orbs onto the same playing field attempting to last the longest in the round.

Suggestions

Orbital is an excellent game but as good as it is, it still has things that could make it better. Personally the one thing that I wish it had is online multiplayer. This would turn what is an amazing pick up and play game into an unbeatable one. Bitforge, if your out there I beg you to consider adding this!

Conclusion

With its short rounds, Orbital is an AMAZING game that will keep you coming back for more and is a game which has not received the attention that it deserves. If you have a few dollars to spare I defiantly recommend c