Penny's Big Breakaway (2024)

Penny's Big Breakaway is that one girl in highschool who was lanky, awkward, and made embarrassing jokes but also won State for Pole Vaulting.

Like there is so much to complain about with Penny's Big Breakaway. The mechanics can be janky, the glitches are ever present needing active avoidance, and the story meanders to a slump. And if any of those are deal breakers for you, I think you are totally justified in not liking PBB.

But if you instead prize things like locomotion, music, and visuals, you will probably forgive Penny for her sins. The mechanics are a little crusty, but once you get used to it, Penny can really cruise. Like you could play this game like Tony Hawk- trying to get one big combo the whole stage. And you are encouraged to reach for high scores because the music gets you into a groovy flow that pushes the player toward excellence. Moving to each new world was exciting just because I wanted to hear the funky, thematic, and energizing tunes. That and each world is gorgeous. The Sonic Mania team created a 3D experience that captures the essence of Sonic stylistically.

I think Penny's Big Breakaway is an interesting first test for what Evening Star can and will do when separated from the enormous IP that is Sonic the Hedgehog. I hope they continue to make games that are energetic, beautiful bops.

I'm having some trouble getting into this one. I was looking forward to it from the first video as I adore 3d platformers, but it's lacking a certain control characteristic that was present in Tinykin. Definitely need to give this one another shot, it just feels very flaky with the controls initially. I kept missing platforms and falling into the abyss which is.. odd for me. Movement has a brief bit of momentum build-up which results in either falling short or too long. This mimics my main issue with Sonic games (and surprise, it's from the Sonic Mania team) where maintaining momentum is key.

Plus, when you throw the yoyo twice in the same direction, it activates a Dash move, which if you're breaking a bunch of boxes quickly, you tend to launch yourself accidentally.

I'm going to keep playing it because I love all other aspects of it, it looks great and I dig the style (and I love yo-yos). From what I've read in other reviews the controls and abilities have a learning curve.

EDIT: Also want to point out that the music sounds straight out of a Klonoa game, which I absolutely LOVE! Super happy cheery music is my jam for these types of games.

IDK how to post a video that I've made into a very long gif, but I want to show you a glitch which is inhibiting my good time. I'm having fun with this game so far. While made by the Mania team, it reminds me most of Super Mario 3D World. You get these crunchy snacks of levels where the joy in gameplay is found in locomotion and discovery. It looks great. It sounds great. It plays pretty well. I wish Penny moved with more snap like Mario, but I imagine the Sonic Mania team wants you to feel the acceleration.

I really want to emphasize my praise of this game as I am enjoying it and I think other folks should check it out. That being said, I have had to soft restart three times now because Penny has gotten stuck endlessly falling on a bump on a wall. Maybe the play testers are people who have played this game a fair amount and aren't having this issue, but I've dealt with it three times in roughly an hour and a half of playtime.

I am hopeful that they will patch this out as it is a large blemish on an otherwise fun experience.

So this is what the Sonic Mania devs have been working on. It's looking great! Really makes me think "HD remaster of a bizarre unreleased Dreamcast game... by Treasure?" ha ha. Hope this turns out as well as it looks. I get the feeling speedrunners are going to be able to pull off some really crazy things with that yo-yo.