Sonic Mania is easily one of my all time favorite platformers and I was left anticipating what the team would do next. What they ended up doing was not another sonic game, but a unique take on 3D platformers.
Penny's Big Breakaway offers unique controls that allow you to redirect momentum in interesting ways. This is all done with yo-yo throw on right stick, jump on bumper, and ride on trigger which is the smoothest way to play. It takes some practice to get used to, but the flexibility of it is impressive. The tools you have for this are a wall jump, a horizontal dash that also can be used in the air, you can hold the yo-yo in place to either bounce off it like cappy in Odyssey or in the air to swing, a double jump that doesnt gain height but allows you to control your arc, and the ability to ride the yo-yo across the ground. What makes these tools cool is how they can be chained together in combos and interact with one another, especially due to the momentum physics in place. One of the ways this works is that your vertical and horizontal velocity can be transfered into the ride to get yourself rolling faster, much like classic sonic in that regard. This also interacts with swinging in how falling from a greater height can let you have more momentum to work with for your swing and your swing can be angled in many ways to either get yourself to the ground faster to go into a ride or gain height to reach a platform. A great way to gain height if on the ground is to bounce off the yo-yo, wall jump, bounce, and wall jump which can allow for some interesting routes and skips.
The level design is fantastic at fascilitating a playground to work with for these mechanics. It takes a page out of Sonic in how it has some minor alternate routes you can use to navigate the level. There is a lot of neat opportunities to utilize the physics for skips and getting around quickly with lots of slopes to work with along with alterations in platform heights. It's addicting to play in time attack and try different routes and strategies to shave time. It's such a testament to the talent of Evening Star that I am continuing to grind time into it long after finishing it.
As fantastic as it is to play, there is some jank to it. Collision as of launch is a bit finnicky on some walls and objects, but nothing that can't be fixed in a patch. Time attack missing an instant restart button like in Sonic Mania is sorely missed as well. Boss fights are pretty whatever. The dilema system could probably have been dropped and just kept the showpiece collectables. Regardless of all that, this is such an impressive new IP from Evening Star and easily one of the best 3D platformers I have played as it leans into the thing I love most about the genre being fun movement with a lot of expression.
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Adding a fast restart and not having the timer start before leaving the start pad genuinely made me grind time trials more. This is the most engrossed I have been in a 3D platformer since Spark the Electric Jester 3.
Penny's Big Breakaway offers unique controls that allow you to redirect momentum in interesting ways. This is all done with yo-yo throw on right stick, jump on bumper, and ride on trigger which is the smoothest way to play. It takes some practice to get used to, but the flexibility of it is impressive. The tools you have for this are a wall jump, a horizontal dash that also can be used in the air, you can hold the yo-yo in place to either bounce off it like cappy in Odyssey or in the air to swing, a double jump that doesnt gain height but allows you to control your arc, and the ability to ride the yo-yo across the ground. What makes these tools cool is how they can be chained together in combos and interact with one another, especially due to the momentum physics in place. One of the ways this works is that your vertical and horizontal velocity can be transfered into the ride to get yourself rolling faster, much like classic sonic in that regard. This also interacts with swinging in how falling from a greater height can let you have more momentum to work with for your swing and your swing can be angled in many ways to either get yourself to the ground faster to go into a ride or gain height to reach a platform. A great way to gain height if on the ground is to bounce off the yo-yo, wall jump, bounce, and wall jump which can allow for some interesting routes and skips.
The level design is fantastic at fascilitating a playground to work with for these mechanics. It takes a page out of Sonic in how it has some minor alternate routes you can use to navigate the level. There is a lot of neat opportunities to utilize the physics for skips and getting around quickly with lots of slopes to work with along with alterations in platform heights. It's addicting to play in time attack and try different routes and strategies to shave time. It's such a testament to the talent of Evening Star that I am continuing to grind time into it long after finishing it.
As fantastic as it is to play, there is some jank to it. Collision as of launch is a bit finnicky on some walls and objects, but nothing that can't be fixed in a patch. Time attack missing an instant restart button like in Sonic Mania is sorely missed as well. Boss fights are pretty whatever. The dilema system could probably have been dropped and just kept the showpiece collectables. Regardless of all that, this is such an impressive new IP from Evening Star and easily one of the best 3D platformers I have played as it leans into the thing I love most about the genre being fun movement with a lot of expression.
update
Adding a fast restart and not having the timer start before leaving the start pad genuinely made me grind time trials more. This is the most engrossed I have been in a 3D platformer since Spark the Electric Jester 3.