This is a five page black-and-white comic review of Penny’s Big Breakaway.

Page 1

Panel 1 Narration: Review, Penny’s Big Breakaway, by Dan McAlister.

Panel 1 Art: Penny, a jester with medium-toned skin, curly white hair, a striped outfit, and a dual-pointed hat, does a yo-yo trick.

Panel 1 Narration Continued: Penny’s a performer, and the star of a new 3D platformer game. Will her Magic Yo-Yo help her stand out from the crowd as a unique artist? One problem though…

Panel 2 Narration: …her magic yo-yo has eaten the emperor’s clothes.

Panel 2 Art: A round man with a long mustache stands in his underwear and angrily directs his penguins to search for Penny.

Panel 3 Art: Penny and yo-yo hide behind a wall from the penguins. Yo-Yo is chewing on a shirt with a conspicuously large mouth.

Panel 3 Narration: …and now she’s on the run from his penguin army.

Page 2

Panel 1 Narration: Aiding Penny in her escape is her repertoire of acrobatic yo-yo maneuvers.

Panel 1 Art: Penny sends her yo-yo forward to do a wobbly trick.

Panel 2 Art: Penny is doing three different tricks in succession. In the first trick, she yanks herself toward her yo-yo. In the second trick, she rides her yo-yo like it’s a big wheel down a slope. In the last trick, her yo-yo hovers in the air as she swings below it on the yo-yo string.

Panel 2 Narration: The Pass Dash yanks her through the air at high speeds. The Radial Ride lets Penny build speed by rolling down slopes. The String Swing locks the Yo-Yo in the air, giving Penny a moment to position, swing, and launch herself.

Panel 3 Narration: Notably, the yo-yo tricks are mostly performed with the right analogue stick rather than buttons. It’s a learning curve.

Page 3

Panel 1 Narration: These maneuvers give penny a variety of ways to tackle the gauntlets ahead.

Panel 1 Art: Penny looks at a platforming challenge whose surface is covered in small circles.

Panel 2 Narration: Traditional platforming and exploration are supported through hidden collectibles and slower, more precise jumps.

Panel 2 Art: Penny stands atop a building looking around. A hexagonal trinket glows in a hidden nearby crevice.

Panel 3 Narration: The Radial Ride, with well-timed aerial tricks, can help you speed through levels in record time.

Panel 3 Art: Penny rides her yo-yo as it rolls along the ground.

Panel 4 Narration: Or you can focus on stringing tricks together into a ceaseless acrobatic performance.

Panel 4 Art: Penny rides her yo-yo along the ground, then jumps over an electrical tripwire, and then uses the String Swing to cross a pit a flames.

Panel 5 Narration: It’s rare for a game to support multiple play-styles well, but Penny’s pulls it off by combining level elements from both 3D platformers and skating games.

Panel 5 Art: Penny looks at the obstacle course before her, which is a half-pipe leading to a grip-bar over a chasm.

Page 4

Panel 1 Narration: The game excels when tapping into the sense of joyful flow from both of those genres.

Panel 1 Art: Penny is still at the obstacle course, and now she is riding her yo-yo down the half-pipe.

Panel 2 Narration: Of course, the crushing misses and flubs of mistimed jumps are also present.

Panel 2 Art: Penny leaps off the half-pipe to grab the bar, but slams into it instead and yells “OOF!”

Panel 3 Narration: That’s to be expected, but dealing with these misses is complicated by Penny’s dual-stick control scheme. Because the right-stick is used for yo-yo tricks, you don’t have camera control when back-tracking to re-attempt jumps.

Panel 3 Art: Penny reverses direction to re-attempt the obstacle course, and comes face-to-face with the comic fourth wall.

Panel 4 Narration: Speaking of controls, the game’s unique yo-yo system feels unwieldy early on.

Panel 4 Art: Penny does a trick that tangles up the yo-yo’s string. She looks at the yo-yo skeptically.

Panel 5 Narration: Missed swings and throws are common and felt punishing to me as a new player.

Panel 5 Art: Penny throws her yo-yo at a hamburger but misses, leaving the yo-yo chomping at empty air as Penny looks distressed.

Panel 6 Narration: Because the direction of the yo-yo tricks is always important, Penny’s Big Breakaway asks for more precision than its platformer peers and would have benefited form sharper tutorials. Still, I found the work I put into practicing these systems was well rewarded.

Panel 6 Art: Penny plays with her yo-yo while thinking “Ok, the basics!”

Page 5

Panel 1 Narration: That practice taught me much of how tricks with similar applications had subtle differences, informing my play-style and deepening my appreciation for the game.

Panel 2 Art: Penny swinging from her yo-yo as it is locked in the air.

Panel 2 Narration: String Swing. Converts momentum with up-and-down motion.

Panel 3 Art: Penny yanks herself toward her stationary yo-yo.

Panel 3 Narration: Pass Dash. Breaks momentum and redirects at high speed.

Panel 4 Narration: The hampered backtracking can inhibit some of this practice, which feels frustrating.

Panel 4 Art: Penny peeks through the crack of a heavy stage curtain.

Panel 5 Narration: But I found that jumping out onto the stage to learn on the fly was the way to go anyway.

Panel 5 Art: Penny bursts through the curtain with a big smile on her face.

Panel 6 Narration: Despite a higher learning curve, Penny’s Big Breakaway delights in the new ideas it brings to 3D platformers. It may be a yo-yo game, but the way it incorporates and blends different genres is a truly impressive juggling act.