Penny’s Big Breakaway is a game I was looking forward to ever since it was announced: a 3D platformer made by some of the Sonic Mania devs and above all, the promise of a game revolving around interesting physics-based level design and controls. An ambitious project behind the cutesy aesthetic, and while I found the end result to be promising, it suffers from some limitations.
In addition to the usual controls in this type of game, Penny can perform 3 different actions: A dash, allowing the character to redirect her trajectory wherever on the ground or in the air, the possibility to use her yo-yo to swing around while midair and gain momentum depending on the timing with which you release the button, and mounting it on the ground, using the speed built with the two previous actions to roll. In term of controls, perhaps Penny feels a little less versatile than what I first thought looking at the trailers, and the main gameplay loop is a bit obvious, but she’s still incredibly fun to maneuver around. There's almost no automation and the degrees of freedom associated with these actions are respected. There is a certain margin for improvement in these sequences, which are necessary to master, as Penny is much slower and, above all, less interesting to control without them. I can't stress enough how good swinging and building momentum feels after understanding these mecanics and this is without a doubt where PBB shines. I should also note the presence of a scoring system which gives you points the more you link these actions without touching the ground directly, but since you can just stop somewhere and chain figures without moving forward, I found it a bit wonky.
The game is divided in multiple worlds, with level design that complement these qualities well. Slopes, jumps or looping, that can be used ingeniously depending on the speed you have upon reaching them, can reveal different passages rewarding the player understanding the core mechanics, in addition to the shortcuts that naturally emerges from this kind of game. When well mastered, Penny brings back a feeling of spontaneity and improvisation, reminiscent of the 2D Sonic philosophy from which this title obviously draws its inspiration. Adding to this, the charming visuals which mostly consist of simple shapes allowing for good readability with clever use of colors giving this game a unique personality makes for a pleasant experience.
To convey these ideas, PBB choose to use fairly open stages structured with side quests (which mostly do a good job at staying on your path while keeping your speed) and collectibles to get more points, and to opt for a fixed camera that guides the player thorough the level. For me, this is when things get tricky. While this design choice certainly makes for a very functional (at least in theory, more on that later) and easy-to-grasp game, it prevents it from really varying itself across each levels, the laters sharing very similar geometry beyond the few nuances that differentiate them on a smaller scale (presence of hazards such as fire, or different gimmicks depending on the world you’re in), and even the sidequests are in reality extremely similar between each levels, making it hard for them to really stand out. This isn’t to say that the level design is uninspired, far from it, PBB certainly feels smooth and goes straight to the point. I understand the choice to go for this safer approach especially for a first game with a small budget, still, I can’t help but sometimes feel like something more substantial could have emerged from this concept and the lack of striking thematic elements across levels can be felt when playing over longer sessions. In fact, a small look at the unlockable bonus stages shows that the devs understand how intricate levels could be with Penny’s movement. With all that being said, optimizing different routes with this kind of mechanics and level design is still a pleasure I can definitely enjoy after beating the game, though I wish the time attack mode was more flourished (there’s no quick restart and you can’t save replays). From what I’ve seen, shortcuts appear naturally without the need to do some crazy out-of-bound stuff, which is a good sign, showing that Penny’s movements and level design alone are enough to bring richness to the game.
Penny’s Big Breakaway sometimes feels like it could have been much more, an impression that is reinforced by the many glitches you can run into (far from making the game unplayable, but still present), its so-so presentation outside of gameplay, or its mediocre to atrocious boss battles (seriously, you can’t give us the traditional “hit this boss 3 times” with this kind of movements), but the overall experience is great and I really want to give my praises to a new 3D platformer that is actually good. I wouldn’t mind a more polished follow-up to this game, and I have trust in Evening Star for the future.
In addition to the usual controls in this type of game, Penny can perform 3 different actions: A dash, allowing the character to redirect her trajectory wherever on the ground or in the air, the possibility to use her yo-yo to swing around while midair and gain momentum depending on the timing with which you release the button, and mounting it on the ground, using the speed built with the two previous actions to roll. In term of controls, perhaps Penny feels a little less versatile than what I first thought looking at the trailers, and the main gameplay loop is a bit obvious, but she’s still incredibly fun to maneuver around. There's almost no automation and the degrees of freedom associated with these actions are respected. There is a certain margin for improvement in these sequences, which are necessary to master, as Penny is much slower and, above all, less interesting to control without them. I can't stress enough how good swinging and building momentum feels after understanding these mecanics and this is without a doubt where PBB shines. I should also note the presence of a scoring system which gives you points the more you link these actions without touching the ground directly, but since you can just stop somewhere and chain figures without moving forward, I found it a bit wonky.
The game is divided in multiple worlds, with level design that complement these qualities well. Slopes, jumps or looping, that can be used ingeniously depending on the speed you have upon reaching them, can reveal different passages rewarding the player understanding the core mechanics, in addition to the shortcuts that naturally emerges from this kind of game. When well mastered, Penny brings back a feeling of spontaneity and improvisation, reminiscent of the 2D Sonic philosophy from which this title obviously draws its inspiration. Adding to this, the charming visuals which mostly consist of simple shapes allowing for good readability with clever use of colors giving this game a unique personality makes for a pleasant experience.
To convey these ideas, PBB choose to use fairly open stages structured with side quests (which mostly do a good job at staying on your path while keeping your speed) and collectibles to get more points, and to opt for a fixed camera that guides the player thorough the level. For me, this is when things get tricky. While this design choice certainly makes for a very functional (at least in theory, more on that later) and easy-to-grasp game, it prevents it from really varying itself across each levels, the laters sharing very similar geometry beyond the few nuances that differentiate them on a smaller scale (presence of hazards such as fire, or different gimmicks depending on the world you’re in), and even the sidequests are in reality extremely similar between each levels, making it hard for them to really stand out. This isn’t to say that the level design is uninspired, far from it, PBB certainly feels smooth and goes straight to the point. I understand the choice to go for this safer approach especially for a first game with a small budget, still, I can’t help but sometimes feel like something more substantial could have emerged from this concept and the lack of striking thematic elements across levels can be felt when playing over longer sessions. In fact, a small look at the unlockable bonus stages shows that the devs understand how intricate levels could be with Penny’s movement. With all that being said, optimizing different routes with this kind of mechanics and level design is still a pleasure I can definitely enjoy after beating the game, though I wish the time attack mode was more flourished (there’s no quick restart and you can’t save replays). From what I’ve seen, shortcuts appear naturally without the need to do some crazy out-of-bound stuff, which is a good sign, showing that Penny’s movements and level design alone are enough to bring richness to the game.
Penny’s Big Breakaway sometimes feels like it could have been much more, an impression that is reinforced by the many glitches you can run into (far from making the game unplayable, but still present), its so-so presentation outside of gameplay, or its mediocre to atrocious boss battles (seriously, you can’t give us the traditional “hit this boss 3 times” with this kind of movements), but the overall experience is great and I really want to give my praises to a new 3D platformer that is actually good. I wouldn’t mind a more polished follow-up to this game, and I have trust in Evening Star for the future.