HAVE TO KNOW
What is it? A colorful 3D platformer from much of the team behind Sonic Mania
Expect to pay £24.99/$29.99
developer Evening Star
editor Private department
Reviewed on Windows 11, Nvidia 3070 (laptop), AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, 16GB DDR5 RAM
Steam deck Playable
Multiplayer? Online leaderboards
shortcut official page
When Sonic Mania's development team formed into indie studio Evening Star, it would have been easy for them to play it safe and deliver another fast-paced 2D platformer in the Sonic style. Instead, Penny's Big Breakaway is a deeply immersive, replayable experiment that's equally inspired by modern Sonic, 3D Mario, and more than a little bit of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Simply swap out the skateboard and experience top-notch yo-yo tricks.
This unusual mix of mechanics takes some time to get used to. The learning curve is steep as you memorize the racing line of each level and figure out the optimal moves to navigate. On the first playthrough it's good, breezy fun (around six hours long), but on repeat playthroughs Penny shines brightest, thanks to a trick-chain rating system that encapsulates the best of Tony Hawk and encourages compulsive mastery of each card.
Clown over the city
Without a looming franchise story, “Penny’s Big Breakaway” opts for a light and fluffy premise. On a strange cartoon planet, aspiring clown Penny wants to make it big at the Imperial Gala, a talent show dominated by reigning sumo overlord Emperor Eddie. After her mischievous magical yo-yo strips the Emperor of his clothes (I hate it when that happens), Penny sets off and marches around the planet, pursued by the Emperor's penguin guards, possibly the least intimidating antagonists in recent gaming history.
This is not a criticism. The penguins (which make up about 90% of the enemies encountered, aside from the bosses) are a goofy, charming flock of waddling animals that make everything seem like one big cartoon chase scene. You only lose a life if five manage to latch on to Penny at the same time, and they're easy to shake off with a quick dash or attack, but they're ubiquitous enough – often pouring out of walls or pipes – to help stop the to maintain momentum. Not quite speedrunning, but always a brisk jog, punctuated by a bit of mind-bending showmanship.
Aside from a few power-ups introduced later in the game, Penny's entire moveset is available from the start and is surprisingly extensive despite the use of an analog stick and jump, attack and ride buttons. Because the game has a much greater focus on forward movement, it's not as complicated as Mario Odyssey, but it doesn't need to be.
There are no squats or backflips to kill momentum, but Penny has plenty of contextual ways to chain double jumps, yo-yo swings, air blasts, and unicycles into an unbroken chain of momentum-preserving actions, each scored and multiplied by how long lets do you run the chain? It feels similar to the faster sections of Mario Odyssey as you float through the air from point to point, but here it's all about keeping the pace up.
Your name in lights
Penny has many contextual ways to chain double jumps, yo-yo swings, air blasts, and unicycle rides into an unbroken chain of momentum-sustaining actions.
Why aim for points? For fun reasons and because the game is about showmanship. It's possible to complete the game without engaging in the scoring mechanics, but each level entices you to do so with concept art, three semi-hidden collectibles, and three small side quests to complete for the chatty townspeople surrounding each otherwise linear route Achieve point goals.
It's fun to gently stroll through Penny's world (including an industrial bathhouse zone, a volcano restaurant, and a cosmic library) and listen to every cheeky dialogue, but it's hard not to see the ideal lines. Downhill routes to maximize driving, gaps Only narrow enough to allow for sequence breaks with a bit of aerial acrobatics and optional bonuses you can achieve Only enough momentum. It's immediately tempting to try to optimize, and by the end of my first run I was rarely running from point A to point B. Flashy is almost always faster.
For maximum bragging rights, each card can be completed in a single combination. A feat I still haven't achieved, but when I watch footage of those who have, I witness poetry in motion, like the soundtrack of Tony Hawk coupled with Mario's expressive, technical movements and Sonic's fluid momentum. And when you're on one of these runs, the penguins suddenly become a threat; even one can break your combo, making her a smartly scalable threat depending on how committed you are.
Another interesting quirk is that there are almost no camera controls, which may be a plus depending on how tiring you find manually fiddling with the camera. The D-Pad is easy to rotate, but has little practical use. While you can control the game with a single stick and a gamepad's face buttons, more advanced players can fling Penny's yo-yo in any direction using the right stick and dash and attack parallel to the movement. These advanced controls occasionally lead to moments where I misjudged the level's perspective and missed jumps, but seem to be key to speedrunning.
A spectacular gold mine
Maybe it's nostalgic, but Penny's art reminds me of Sega's largely forgotten arcade gem Bonanza Bros., with similar color palettes and worlds populated by chunky, cylindrical people. There are no hardware limitations forcing Evening Star to act here, just a love of the vibrant color palettes and simple layout of early Sega games. Even though Evening Star left Sega, a part of Sega remained with them.
Flashy is almost always faster.
Each world is presented in a clear, readable color language: one for simple platforms, one for inclined roads, one for moving elements, all neatly shaded, the palettes switching between environments. The good placement of the cameras and easy-to-read routes meant I was able to easily navigate through the levels and their varied structures and card shenanigans.
Whether it's red, rocky basalt columns connected to icy glaciers, long, sunset-shaded beaches with rolling dunes, or vertically stacked industrial towers with moving platforms (each set to their own catchy tunes, ranging from fairground atmosphere to infectious electro swing), it everything is readable. Even distant architecture elegantly fades into the background thanks to an impressionistic depth of field effect, transforming distant geometry into a watercolor background.
Penny's Big Breakaway was a joy, and there's still a lot more for me to learn, cut turns, and master technical tricks. During my first playthrough I occasionally encountered minor glitches, such as rare semi-solid walls or spots where the camera wobbles, but nothing that a patch or two couldn't fix. It's also worth mentioning that the game runs like a dream on the Steam Deck at maximum settings. Not surprising considering it also runs on the Switch, but good to know if you have a lower spec device.
A strong, repeatable and clever debut for a team that Sega really shouldn't have missed.
