What a journey it has been, being given the opportunity to play Penny’s Big Breakaway early as a preview and now being able to review the whole game. Penny’s Big Breakaway was developed by Evening Star and published by Private Division. Let’s dive right in.

Penny’s dream was to be a professional street performer, but a mistake in front of the emperor crushed all dreams of that happening. Even now, she is running from the royal guard, going through the city of Macaroon to try and clear her name. What a journey it will be.

You start the game with a little cutscene showing a flyer of a competition to be able to perform for the emperor. While collecting coins and trying to find your way to the palace, you come across some cosmic string, which upgrades your basic yo-yo to a magic yo-yo with special powers.

Still, with the palace being so overcrowded, you need to find an alternative way to reach the palace while learning the game mechanics and moves as you slowly reach your destination, like a tutorial.

After the mistake at the palace, you are on the run going through stages. Each map has collectables, and the option to help some of the citizens with quests that will give you bonus points at the end. The stages are timed and you get more points based on how fast you did the map, giving it a real enticement to competitive players trying to get the best possible scores, while also being able to replay the map over and over again.

Controls are not available with a mouse and keyboard except in the menus. The primary way to play is with a gamepad and controller, which feels more relaxed and fluid to sit back and play to your heart’s content.

Graphics are very similar to Crash Bandicoot, with 3D objects, animations, and bright and beautiful colours filling the screen with neat effects from the yo-yo with each different attack or ability. Although shadows and lighting aren’t very apparent, the game is bright. Shading on objects, and the detail is outright flawless.

Now, the sound was one that makes me think back to my preview with the voices being a jumbled mess of sounds, which to this day is still very obnoxious, but other than that the sound of attacks, use of abilities, and the sound of the penguins chasing you is very pleasant. The music in the game is also very bright and bubbly, giving off positive vibes all around.

Overall, my opinion of Penny’s Big Breakaway has stayed the same. It is still a compelling and fun game, even if the voices drive me up the wall, whether casual or looking for a challenge. This game has it all, with fantastic gameplay, beautiful visuals, and sound at the heart. It’s easy to see this is a great game to spend your free time jamming out each level.

Written by: TypicalCambieAU