It is a shame that the seven-game “bit Generations” series never made it to America. This set of GBA games was an experiment in creating addictive games around a simple premise and a hell of a lot of style. That experiment succeeded, nearly every game in the series was a gem (even Sound Voyager). Nintendo made vague noises about releasing them over here with the Game Boy Micro, which seemed like a pretty natural pairing. The Game Boy Micro eventually made it over, but the bit Generations games somehow got lost in the shuffle.

Fortunately, they decided to revive the series on the Wii, giving it the slightly less catchy “Art Style” moniker. The first release in the Art Style series is my favorite game from the original GBA set, the gravity-based puzzle game Orbital (renamed Orbient).

What is Orbient? Think of it as Katamari Damacy for Astrophysicists. You begin with one tiny little planet in the depths of space. To grow larger, you have to run into slightly bigger planets (marked in blue). Your goal is to grown large enough that a sun is sucked into your orbit. You get bonus points for gathering satellites, absorbing extra planets, or for grabbing the crescent moon hidden in each level. Just watch out for red planets, slamming into them is a great way of getting crushed.

The key puzzle portion of Orbient comes with the movement. You can’t just wander through space; you have to use the gravity fields of other interstellar bodies. The A button propels you towards a planet and the B button repels. This takes a little bit of mental effort and timing to get right. Not only do you move in a circular arc, that movement is easily altered and disrupted by any nearby planets. If there are five planets surrounding you, you have to take that into account for movement. If you let off of the buttons and drift in the right direction, your planet will be drawn into the orbit of a larger body. This is the key to making large changes in direction and momentum.

Orbient does a fantastic job of easing you into the game. The first few levels start out simple and slowly adds in more to deal with. You’ll have to juggle more planets or asteroids that you can’t absorb. Those 600 Wii Points net you a lot of content; there are a total fifty stages in Orbient, spread out over six galaxies. Collecting all of the crescent moons scattered throughout the game unlocked a bonus galaxy in the GBA version, which I assume will be true in the WiiWare port as well.

One of the key premises of the bit Generations series is the synthesis of graphics, music, and gameplay in one complete style-saturated package, which can definitely be seen in Orbient. One of the first things that a new player will notice is how simple the graphics are. The monochromatic planets stand out over a black background speckled with stars. However, there is something undeniably eye-pleasing about the style. I do think that the aesthetic style worked a lot better on the GBA, but it isn’t a turn-ff on the Wii. The music is best described as laid-back, this is kind of a game that you just sit back and relax while playing. The musical lullabies echo from your speakers as you float through the heavens, slowly growing more frantic as the time limit approaches.

If a fantastic puzzle game (especially for those of you who are tired of endless falling block games) with catchy music and stylish graphics sounds good, there really isn’t a better use of your six bucks. Hopefully, Nintendo will eventually bring the entire bit Generations line to WiiWare, the entire premise is a perfect fit for the service.