Remember when multiplayer meant actually having to share the TV? Couch co-op used to be gloriously chaotic. Friends huddled around a small screen, the joyous high-fives, the frantic shouting of instructions and a poor controller lobbed across the room. Split-screen play may not be as commonplace in 2026, but recent years have seen a welcome resurgence.
Co-op adventures like It Takes Two, A Way Out and Split Fiction are designed with two player in mind, not as an afterthought. Flip a switch whilst your companion zips across, time button presses to prove synergy, physics and bungee puzzles galore… absolute chaos. In a good way, of course! There’s something about couch play that, without getting too sentimental, delivers such a distinct social connection. It evokes bean bag chairs, VHS players, Cartoon Network re-runs, sleepovers and the glow of a late-night CRT. But you’re now in your forties.
Orbitals aims to capture that familiar feel in a game that scratches that nostalgic itch for the days of old, both visually and mechanically. With a strong roster of co-op games before it, does this Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive soar to new heights?
From the opening cutscene, Orbitals looks straight out of ’80s and early ’90s anime shows, full of pastel colours and retro pomp, with a distinctive hand-drawn appeal. There’s a Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and early Hayao Miyazaki feel to the movement – playful, elastic and with an intentional, slightly floaty, style. Developer Shapefarm adopt a more traditional approach to achieving a retro look, with collaborations with Studio Massket and assistance from veteran animator Tôru Yoshida.
Studio Massket has worked on the likes of My Hero Academia and Pokémon, with Yoshida known for futuristic designs on iconic series like Mobile Suit Gundam and Cowboy Bebop. With those credentials, this modern interpretation should be in good hands, and it shows. From interior spacecraft set pieces to the vastness of the outside, Orbitals sits comfortably alongside the names that inspire it. Not just the striking cutscenes, but a consistent visual language throughout – you feel like you’re actually part of the show. The game does, intentionally, run at a lower 24fps for characters, 12fps for backgrounds and overall capped at 30fps – essential for the old-school look. It is a little jarring initially, but quickly becomes second nature.
Orbitals follows the story of two protagonists Maki and Omura, space pals whose home, a crumbling space station, is on the brink of destruction. With the settlement in tatters and a cosmic storm approaching, the spritely companions head out into the wilderness to try to save their home. This is where co-op comes into play, with two players working together to salvage equipment and solve the mystery of what lurks beyond.
Jakob Lundgren, who previously worked on A Way Out and It Takes Two brings a familiar asymmetric design language to the mechanics. A split screen allows Maki and Omura to perform separate actions to allow the other, or both, to overcome obstacles. From simple setups like switch toggles to grappling hooks, melting icicles to create platforms to drumming together in time, there’s a strong emphasis on clever collaboration and unique set pieces throughout.
Where Orbitals excels is during the simultaneous sections, where careful timing and constant communication is key. One particularly strong example is within an area covered in lava. Lava, as you’d expect, is not ideal. One player fires water toward the ceiling in a room below, causing temporary platforms to appear above. The other needs to navigate these platforms to try to find a cooling switch. Left, right, up, down – it soon sounds like reading off a cheat code for Sonic the Hedgehog, but it’s hugely rewarding.
Another memorable segment involves travelling through a tunnel on a shared platform with two arrows that, you guessed it, tilts the thing. To make it even more challenging, one player also fires off the grappling hook to use as a pivot. Neat. The focus is figuring out smart solutions together, with numerous ah-ha moments.
Late game mechanics up the creativity significantly, too, and without going into spoilers, feels The Legend of Zelda-esque. The final set of puzzles are a standout, cementing all the learning so far. There are certainly some fiddly sequences throughout, nothing too head-scratching in terms of puzzles, more so the timed on-rails action sequences. There will certainly be retries, but Orbitals is forgiving in that the restart points aren’t too far back.
Where the game does slip, though, are the space-exploration sections. For the most part, the action takes place on foot, and these chapters are where the design works best. At other points, the action shifts to spaceflight, with one player piloting the craft while the other handles weapons. Whilst it look visually impressive, the battle sequences and environmental puzzles here can become tedious to navigate through. There’s a sense of hammering the boost button just to get to the next on-foot mission.
Orbitals also differs from similar games in that there’s a flexibility to character roles, too. Tools can be swapped, letting each adventurer experience something different on a run. Fancy being the pilot or the gunner? Easy switch. That playfulness really does evoke that youthful sense of freedom and curiosity, without swapping controllers.
That feeling also extends to the character dialogue and personalities too, with quips and anime-tropes slipping into conversation. It can be a little bit too much at times, occasionally cringeworthy; a barrage of one-liners modern games seem to be plagued by. The story, though, offsets some of the cheese by having a genuine curiosity about what’s going to happen to the cast.
There are moments, though, where Orbitals seems eager to move on to the next set piece, with dialogue occasionally rushing through important context and leaving a few blanks for the player to fill in. Or a quick, but important, in-game line that can easily be missed whilst trying not to be zapped. It’s not the longest campaign, and in some ways heads toward its conclusion without the breathing room to emphasise the gravitas of the ending.
Orbitals is, by its very nature and design, a two-player experience. Those without anyone in-person to play with can also take advantage of virtual couch options – handy for when physical co-op may not be possible. The game can be shared with a friend online or offline, with a handful of different configurations for flexibility.
