This Switch 2 exclusive’s retro anime style exceeds visual expectations

Thursday’s Nintendo Switch 2 Partner Showcase started with a bang Orbitalsan exclusive two-player co-op puzzle adventure game that looks like a long-lost anime episode. It’s a game with visuals that will amaze anyone, regardless of platform—and is a great example that sometimes power isn’t everything.

As fans know, the Switch 2 is a more capable machine than its predecessor, but the portable still falls short of the graphical capabilities of its competitors. Most of us have made peace with the fact that, if we’re playing on a Nintendo console, it won’t mean playing the game on ultra settings. But every now and then, Nintendo fans will be treated to a game that exceeds visual expectations, and it’s usually a title with strong art direction, such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Orbitals is the work of Tokyo-based studio Shapefarm, which was announced in early 2026. We don’t know much about it, other than it will be released sometime in the summer of 2026. So far, based on the trailer, Orbitals play like It Takes Twothe hit 2021 co-op action game from Hazelight Studios, but something seems strange Cowboy Bebop. The gameplay shows a young woman and a blue alien wandering through space, exploring a futuristic landscape, and shooting down enemy ships. It all happens via split screen, with each player controlling one of two characters side by side.

Apparently, no one could believe how good it was Orbitals‘ cel-shading appearance. I didn’t even realize I was watching a game the first time I saw it. The style is very strong, Orbitals easily the highlight of Nintendo’s entire 30-minute show.

“I like the thought of being in control [an] anime cartoon,” said one commenter on the newly released trailer.

“The fact that they perfectly recreated the old-school anime style with 3D models is phenomenally eye-catching,” read the top comment on the initial YouTube reveal last month.

“Absolutely bought this to support the art style more than anything else,” the reply read.

Orbitals is a breath of fresh air amidst the endless parade of Unreal Engine 5 games that are interchangeable on other platforms, or modern games that equate visual beauty with the number of particles a game can produce at once. Hopefully, Orbitals will be fun to play and watch.