Penny’s Big Breakaway comes from some of the main contributors to Sonic Mania and you can definitely see and feel the influences. This 3D platformer encourages speed, using momentum to your advantage and exploring colorful, open levels like SEGA’s mascot series. Despite the timeline, however, this game’s core mechanics set it apart from its genre peers — even if it takes some getting used to first.

Penny’s vibrant, cosmic yo-yo is a companion and helper for some super fun maneuvers. After initially struggling with the controls – which encourage sending the yo-yo with the right stick and jumping with R1, even though face buttons can be used – we eventually got down to it and discovered the rhythm of the game. Once it clicks, chaining together the swing in the air, Penny’s aerobics, and riding the yo-yo along the ground is great. Much of the level design encourages maximizing momentum to escape those pesky hunting penguins and find collectibles, mid-level objectives, and alternate routes. There’s a good amount here to encourage replay stages, not to mention aiming to improve your times and scores.

Coupled with the appealing visual style and ear-friendly music, there’s a lot to like about this title. However, it is not without problems. There are many examples of collision simply not working as it should. We had to agree to the license agreement each new day we booted it up. and the end-of-level minigame will not register certain inputs. Additionally, some of the boss fights are fun, others are hard to read and hard to fight with Penny’s abilities.

So Penny’s Big Breakaway is ultimately a flawed gem. Once you’re comfortable with the controls, the core gameplay actually works quite nicely, and there are some fantastic levels (especially in the second half) that really highlight this game’s unique ideas. It’s a shame it comes with some unusual bugs, as they take the shine off an imaginative 3D platformer with a lot of potential. Hopefully, after a few updates, this promising debut from Evening Star will please the crowds with a stronger performance.