Penny’s Large Breakaway is a loving homage to a considerably awkward interval in gaming historical past. The early days of 3D mascot platformers had been outlined by garish saturated colours, exaggerated character designs, and a wide range of gimmicks because the style discovered its footing on this new atmosphere. Penny’s Large Breakaway suits proper into that legacy, like a misplaced gem that simply bought a shiny new remaster. However whereas its stylized look will most likely be an acquired style, it makes good use of its gimmick to keep away from some pitfalls of the period it emulates.
The story revolves round Penny, an aspiring yo-yo performer who goes to a expertise present audition placed on by a stodgy Emperor. Alongside the best way, her toy prop fuses with a creature, turning into a type of sentient and voracious pet. The creature grants her all types of particular skills but additionally causes bother on the expertise present, angering the Emperor and placing her on the run from his military of penguin goons. Her “huge break” became a breakaway, get it?
That units the stage, so to talk, for a couple of totally different components. For one, it units the expectation that levels will probably be propulsive with fixed motion. You are a wished fugitive! In consequence, levels aren’t large open worlds to discover a lot as they’re programs to navigate, typically with nice pace, as you stunt and trick your well past traps and obstacles. You’ll be able to often pause to catch your breath or discover a collectible, however for essentially the most half, every stage has you operating from Level A to Level B as quick as you possibly can.
The premise and stage design ethos additionally facilitates the most important menace of the penguin military. Whereas there are customary enemies and a life bar such as you would possibly anticipate from any 3D platformer, this can be a extra novel factor. As an alternative of getting your well being whittled down by enemy crash harm, the penguins try to seize you. They do not harm you in any respect, however they do cling onto you and gradual you down, and if too many swarm you directly, you will be captured. You’ll be able to fling them off in small doses, but it surely’s simple to get overwhelmed if too many come directly. They don’t seem to be a continuing presence within the levels, however the menace permits them to be peppered in at key moments to maintain you in your toes or frivolously encourage you to select up the tempo. It is a intelligent little transfer that I appreciated extra as I noticed the best way the stage design slyly inserted them at key moments.
Lastly, there’s the yo-yo. That is the most important gameplay gimmick of Penny’s Large Breakaway, and the impetus in your entire suite of particular strikes and talents. You’ll be able to fling it at enemies, naturally, however you may also use it to cling onto ziplines, to spin large screw-machines, journey like a unicycle, and facilitate acrobatic mid-air strikes. You’ll be able to yank your self ahead for a pseudo-air sprint, or make the yo-yo stick in mid-air a single time to swing off it like a grapple level. It is a versatile set of strikes that feels very pure after just a few hours, which helps you are feeling correctly outfitted all through the progressively rising problem.
On high of your common skills, the yo-yo may get a wide range of particular skills when it eats sure meals. A hamburger will make it further heavy and in a position to knock down partitions, and a pink pepper provides you a pace increase in your unicycle potential, whereas a cake allows you to spin into the air and flutter your approach down. Like the usual skills, these are scattered all through levels so as to add just a little spice and selection.
By default, the usual yo-yo assaults are mapped to the proper stick, which suggests you don’t have any digital camera management. That is principally nice, as the degrees are constructed to maneuver in a single route and the automated digital camera tracks your actions properly sufficient that it is not typically an issue. However the very uncommon event that I did hit an impediment or pit I did not see made me want for my very own digital camera management, and moreover that, I did not really use the stick-based yo-yo controls typically anyway–aside from the spinning maneuver, which may solely be carried out with the stick controls, I favored button-based controls. The appropriate-stick management does assist you to fling your yo-yo in a single route whereas operating in one other, which is a pleasant contact, however not typically vital. Perhaps it is simply because I am used to the usual leap and assault button placement, however I used these rather more typically, so the trade-off for full digital camera management left me wanting.
Generally, although, and particularly in later chapters, the extent design is just a little too sparse with its checkpoints. Since ranges are designed to be chains of traversal, tips, and stunts, it is easy to get despatched again to a checkpoint after which must battle your approach again to the place you died simply to attempt it once more. Happily, there is not any actual penalty for loss of life aside from a value to your excessive rating, since even in the event you run out of life, your checkpoint spot is retained.
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Then, in fact, there’s the visible fashion, essentially the most direct homage to the period that it is imitating, and the one which leaves me with essentially the most combined emotions. The transition to 3D was a very thorny one in gaming historical past, because the rudimentary polygon-pushing may solely achieve this a lot with its energy and settled on easy shapes and saturated colors–think sequence like Banjo Kazooie or Klonoa. It is a distinct fashion, but it surely’s one which was outlined by very early limitations, and so it isn’t one which has aged gracefully. Penny’s Large Breakaway approximates this fashion properly, with characters who are sometimes little greater than bulbous spheres with faces drawn on and draped in a couple of different bubbly garments. I am not nostalgic for video video games having that look, so I did not discover this visible fashion interesting, however I can think about it is going to really feel cozy for avid gamers who got here of age alongside the N64 and PlayStation.
The story involves a candy little conclusion, although I could not even start to elucidate a lot of what occurs in between. The story meanders, typically seeming as if it is coming to a head solely to leap off in another route. One in every of my favourite boss-baddies was a strident, by-the-books choose, however his half was so minor and fast that I wanted for extra time with him on the expense of much less memorable antagonists.
However then, even a hazy, dreamlike story might be interpreted as a tribute. Penny’s Large Breakaway is a loving tribute to a bygone period, warts and all. Its new and ingenious concepts, just like the acrobatic yo-yo mechanic or the penguins sizzling in your tail, present a stage of cleverness, however it’s also a candy, earnest throwback. I would wish to see Penny return, although perhaps subsequent time, this lost-gem motif might be utilized to a much less restrictive period in 3D platforming.