Polygon's review of Orbitals, a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive from Tokyo-based studio Shapefarm, hails it as the best pure co-op game since It Takes Two and the best platformer since Astro Bot. The game requires two players and offers no single-player mode, placing it in a niche largely dominated by Swedish studio Hazelight, whose creative director Josef Fares built a hugely profitable franchise with titles like It Takes Two. Shapefarm was co-founded by Marcos Ramos and Jakob Lundgren, a former Hazelight designer, and while Lundgren admits the studio follows the same design philosophy as his old employer, the review argues Orbitals refines the formula with sharper visuals, tighter focus and a faster pace of good ideas.

The game is set in a space-station society threatened by a cosmic storm, following two young characters, Maki and Omura, who can instantly regenerate after fatal failures thanks to consciousnesses uploaded into artificial bodies. Its distinctive 1980s anime-inspired aesthetic evokes shows such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop, rendered with 3D models animated to mimic jerky 2D cel animation. Gameplay has the pair piloting a retrofuturistic ship, one as pilot and one as gunner, to explore space junkyards and solve puzzles using tools such as a grappling hook, laser and water hose, with the review praising the constantly inventive combinations of these mechanics.