Working on licensed titles, no matter how good they end up, can only take you so far. Sometimes you just want to break out into doing something new that you can own for yourself.

Take Evening Star, a 2018-formed group of developers whose claim to fame is making Sonic The Hedgehog relevant again. See, Evening Star is founded by Christian Whitehead, an avid Sonic fan game creator and the mastermind behind Sonic Mania and Sonic Mania+. That claim to fame is what made him and his small team gather together for its 2024 platforming venture: Penny’s Big Breakaway.

Ready, Set, Yo

Set in a fantastical 3D world straight out of the vivid imagination of a 2000s-era gaming landscape, Penny’s Big Breakaway is about the titular street performer -Penny- who is a whiz at the yo-yo. Upon finding a special yo-yo laced with a Cosmic String, she sets out to impress the Emperor in an annual Royal Audition to determine the main royal attraction of a yearly kingly celebration. Chaos ensues, and Penny is on the run from the emperor and his penguin minions.

How does Penny control in this 3D platforming chaos-ride she’s trusted upon? Well, she runs around the arena and world in 3D glory with your left analog stick. Your X button and right analog stick lets her whip out her yo-yo to hit enemies and do feats of acrobatics and stunts. These include lunging forward, doing a midair swing like a trapeze artist, and even riding on the yo-yo as a temporary vehicle when going downhill or down-and-up onto stunt ramps. Powerups can also be acquired, be it a hammer that gives your yo-yo block-breaking capabilities to a chili pepper that makes your yo-yo vehicle bigger and faster, and able to get across inaccessible lava pits and dark quicksand.

The game’s objective just requires you to reach from point A to B without dying too much, and getting there as fast as possible. Collectibles like magic bolts and special sidequests which tests your speed-running skills, your yo-yo tricks, and collecting prowess, sometimes all three of the above. Be it bringing towels without getting hit by penguins to just doing tricks atop lava pits using your yo-yo riding skills, these tests of agility can challenge even the most arduous of 3D platformer geniuses.

If you have noticed by now, I haven’t mentioned anything about the game’s camera being manually controlled. That’s because there isn’t any, as far as I know. We are giving complete trust to the developers over how the camera is placed as we move Penny around the world. So far, there haven’t been any issues with the first four worlds I explored. No crazy camera bugs pop-up as I jumped back and forth and proceeded forward; everything was laid out fine and easy to spot, without the camera backfiring onto the player in any form.

Check Yo Self

If anything, the game’s possible flaw is just being too much like a 2000s platformer (for good or ill). Checkpoints are few and far between at times, having to do over certain objectives along the way if you restart from a checkpoint be it a pitfall or actual death, and the fact that the game’s persistent enemies the penguins are just that: persistent. They don’t die easily, and chase you to the ends of the earth.

And this may be a hot take, but Penny doesn’t look like the most standout or appealing of mascot designs. Yes, she plays great, but she’s about as exciting to look at as a third-rate mascot like Croc or the first-ever Rayman design before its 3D sequels improved his look. This nitpick is totally subjective, mind you.

Still, a game like Penny’s Big Breakaway knows what it wants to be, and so far it’s shaping up to cater to that niche of 2000s platformer aficionados. With a Tee Lopes soundtrack that bops and a lot of charm going for it (mostly), Penny’s Big Breakaway sticks to tradition while offering lovely challenges, at least for the first few worlds I’ve experienced. From a bath-focused resort to a fire level revolving around cooking, there’s a half-and-half feel of the familiar and the fresh in this escapade.

Penny’s Big Breakaway will be out in 2024. No concrete release date has been announced, though it will be out for PC as well as Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles.

Preview code provided by publisher Private Division.