Orbitals Is Nintendo's Retro Anime Love Letter

Orbitals on Nintendo Switch 2 feels like a lost anime from the 90s

Ever wondered why some games grab you before you even understand the mechanics? Orbitals does that by leaning hard into the feel of a late-80s or 90s anime, all soft colours, hand-drawn warmth, and teen drama energy. The Kotaku take on the game, from reviewer Ethan Gach, is pretty clear about that mood, and honestly, the comparison makes sense.

The game is a Nintendo exclusive for Switch 2, and that matters. Nintendo rarely builds its image around this kind of wistful, retro-tinted romance, so when Orbitals shows up with dreamy space backdrops and a tone that feels closer to an anime movie night than a blockbuster action game, it immediately earns attention. No exaggeration: this is the kind of release people will remember when they talk about the first weirdly strong year of Switch 2 games. But that's not all.

What Kotaku liked, and why the comparison to It Takes Two matters

Trust me on this one: the strongest way to understand Orbitals is to hear how it plays, not just how it looks. Kotaku's review frames it in the same family as It Takes Two, which is a smart reference point because that game made co-op design feel playful, emotional, and a little chaotic. Orbitals seems to follow that path, but with a more nostalgic anime soul. Sounds weird, but it's true.

No wonder, because the best co-op games aren't just about solving puzzles, they're about making two players feel like they're inside the same emotional story. Orbitals apparently builds around that idea, using its Nintendo-exclusive status to put polish on a concept that could've felt small elsewhere. Speaking of which, Nintendo fans know this pattern well: a strange first-party-adjacent idea arrives, looks risky on paper, then becomes the game everyone keeps recommending after midnight. From my experience...

The retro anime angle is the real hook

A great example: the visual language here isn't just "anime-inspired" in the lazy marketing sense. Think of the kind of frame-by-frame emotion you'd see in classic TV anime, with a soft romance tone, big eyes, expressive pauses, and space imagery that feels more hand-crafted than glossy. For Japan learners, that's a neat reminder that anime isn't one style, it's a whole visual vocabulary. Words like 星空 (hoshizora) for starry sky, 心 (kokoro) for heart, and 夢 (yume) for dream describe exactly the sort of atmosphere Orbitals is chasing.

What I especially like is how this kind of game quietly teaches cultural reading skills. If you've watched older anime, you can feel the influence immediately, from the pacing to the emotional beats. Nintendo doesn't often market a game through that lens, which is why Orbitals feels so memorable. Wait, there's more.

Why Orbitals matters for Switch 2 Summer Preview 2026

By the way, the timing is half the story. Orbitals is being talked about as part of the Switch 2 Summer Preview 2026 conversation, which makes it feel less like a random release and more like a signal. Nintendo is clearly willing to use its new hardware to host experiments that sit outside the usual Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon orbit.

That matters for fans watching the Switch 2 library grow in 2026. A strong console needs a rhythm, big tentpole hits, but also oddball exclusives that make the platform feel alive. Orbitals fits that second job perfectly. Let me show you why this is good news for Japan fans: a console that's home to stylish, emotionally tuned games often becomes a great place for players who already love anime, visual novels, and story-rich Japanese media. Here's the catch: it doesn't just attract those fans, it gives them a new reference point.

Why Japan learners should care

No joke: games like Orbitals can be surprisingly useful for language learners, even when they aren't full-on study tools. If the game leans into romance, friendship, and emotional dialogue, you'll often run into everyday vocabulary, simple sentence patterns, and culturally familiar expressions. Looking out for phrases like 頑張って (ganbatte, do your best / hang in there), 大丈夫 (daijoubu, it's okay / alright), and お願い (onegai, please / request) in context can help you build listening confidence, even if the game itself is in English.

And because the whole experience is shaped like a retro anime, it also helps you spot how Japanese media uses tone, silence, and character archetypes. That kind of media literacy is a real advantage when you later watch anime, read manga, or visit Japan and notice how pop culture overlaps with daily life. My tip: if a game gives you a strong visual mood, use that as a memory hook for language study. Simply brilliant. But that's not all.

My verdict on Orbitals as a Nintendo exclusive

From my experience, the most interesting Nintendo exclusives are the ones that make you ask whether the company is quietly testing the edges of its identity. Orbitals feels like one of those games. It isn't trying to be loud in the usual Nintendo way, it's trying to be tender, stylish, and a little strange, and that makes it stand out more than many bigger releases do.

If Kotaku's review is any guide, the game isn't just coasting on anime vibes either. It seems to have enough design intent, co-op energy, and emotional framing to justify the attention it's getting ahead of the Switch 2 Summer Preview 2026 season. For Japan enthusiasts, that combination is catnip, especially when the game feels like a letter to the anime era that many of us grew up loving. Wait, there's more.

Orbitals may end up being one of those releases that people describe years later with a grin, not because it was the biggest game of the year, but because it had style, heart, and a very specific point of view. And honestly, that's the sort of game I want Nintendo to keep making. more Japan news on jpnerd.com

In pictures

Sources

1. Kotaku: Orbitals review/article