Jam Out To The Penny's Big Breakaway OST, Now Available To Stream

where is the revieeew?? :/

@rex_rex "Keep an eye out for our official Nintendo Life review of Penny's Big Breakaway soon."

idk why it is taking you so long to get a review out smh

Maybe when we have the review and see if the game is worthy...

The critic reviews for the game itself aren't particularly great but the music seems to have been well liked so probably better to just give this a listen and skip the game.

With the shadow drop it's likely codes weren't supplied in advance. A few youtubers have already complained about this as their potential review deal was "get it out within one day of us supplying the code" which is insane.

PBB isn't a small game either. I only finished it last night and there's quite a lot to do which might be why NL are taking their time (not to mention - other games).

Long story short - the game is OK, but undercooked and needed more time. There's a ton of bugs, glitches & soft locks in the Switch version that I would constantly encounter (and disappointingly it runs at 30fps instead of 60fps which should be standard to this kind of reactionary platformer).

The momentum based physics this dev is known for is here and is working, but it's also hindered by bad choices elsewhere; a locked camera which doesn't always give you the best view to platform or attack, a target lock-on which is incredibly unreliable for the yo-yo, the visual information is often crammed onscreen making it difficult to decipher what's going on, what is an enemy / friend / an attack / a landing or target... it confusing. But there is also an inabilty to often tell where you are landing... which is pretty vital.

I think the level designs, concepts and soundtracks are great, even the bosses look cool (just not fun to fight against whatsoever, especially when they glitch out). I dig the Sonic 1 Zone aesthetic which seemed to be tuned up to 11 to take it into the Saturn era.

So we're looking at a Solid 6, or 7 (out of 10) experience here - maybe an 8 if they can clean up the jank in a future patch.

I've seen people complain that it's "unplayable" which isn't true, but that's not to say that this game doesn't make you feel that way sometimes.

A lot of marketing for a game that hasn’t been widely reviewed smells fishy.

The soundtrack is really great when it chills out instead of being abrasive parade music.
@Janeygo
They released the game out of nowhere seemingly without supplying review copies a week in advance that’s what caused reviews to take longer to publish, marketing has been eh especially with the way they just released it like that.

@Sonicka I'm playing at the moment and that's kind of where I land too. I had a soft lock literally within 10 minutes of booting the game up which was a sign of things to come. The targeting is quite annoying as there's an icon showing what you aren't locked onto right now but will be when you get closer, but it's similar at a glance to the icon showing when you're actually locked on. I've messed up so many times because of that. The penguins are also just an unfun mechanic to have to deal with, and it's quite hard to tell what's going on when they all jump you.

I don't mind the fixed camera so much, the momentum is fun and the levels look nice and interesting so far (a few too many bottomless pits though!)

@SalvorHardin yes they did - and do you think that was an accident? Do you think the prominent ads on this site and the ost release are not marketing?

It’s always nice when a shadow drop with no reviews turns out to be great. But sadly it seems to often be used as a sales tactic on substandard games.
I was excited for this but I’m glad I held off for the reviews. It may still be a purchase down the line at a discount if they sort the issues.

The game is landing between an 7.0 and an 8.5, but all reviewers are saying a lot of the same thing.

Conceptually the game is interesting and unique, and the gameplay mechanics are fun when they work.

But there’s a few dud levels and bosses, sometimes the camera messes with depth perception, and there’s a general lack of polish leading to clipping and soft locks.

I would describe it as a Nintendo-quality idea with a Sega-quality execution, fairly priced at $30 for those who like 3D platformers, even if it could use some cleaning up.

https://youtu.be/W4l_oyWn7zQ

i do not understand releasing a game in an unfinished state, let alone "shadow dropping" one that people werent exactly clamoring for in the first place.

the only explanation i can think of, is that you want to get sales of the game ahead of inevitable negative reviews, which is straight up disgusting to me.

It's a real shame after all the genuine good will this team generated over sonic mania. I was relatively excited/interested in this title, but that's sullied now and I won't be there for them on the next one. I'm having "sports story" deja vu here. 😐

@-wc- This is not the disaster that was Sports Story, and is perfectly playable. It could just use some polish for sure.

@tapdancingtommy

i appreciate you saying that, and I wasn't trying to say it was (and I havent played it for myself.)

OTOH, I was burned badly by Sports Story, and my opinion of that studio and of "shadow dropping" is forever changed by that experience.

I no longer believe that a studio with faith in their game would release it without allowing their potential users to read and share reviews and perceptions ahead of its release. ✌️ and this situation has helped me get there.

EDIT - I also very much appreciate your "mini review" above, you seem like a fair minded and helpful person 🙂

EDIT 2 -

"It could just use some polish for sure."

this is particularly damning combined with the "shadow drop." what were they thinking if not what I characterized above? 😕

@-wc- Very very fair. The scam that was Sports Story, and how Nintendo promoted it for years, should make everyone wary of any shadow drops. I just don’t want people thinking this is remotely close to that.

@-wc- exactly what I’m getting at. There’s lots of marketing, including this article (which is let’s face it born out of a press release), not so many reviews. People in the comments are being naive about the motivations of the publisher (perhaps conflating them with the devs, who won’t be involved in marketing decisions).

I’ve also got in mind that the switchup YouTube channel had an advertorial (not a review) up on the day of release. It’s just all a bit tacky and dishonest.

@Janeygo

I've noticed over time that people are better at projecting themselves optimistically onto others than they are at imagining what the others' true intentions might be. ✌️ It's almost and sometimes definitely is a form of political correctness.

"I’ve also got in mind that the switchup YouTube channel had an advertorial (not a review) up on the day of release. It’s just all a bit tacky and dishonest"

ew gross 🤢

I can't stand "advercontent" (look i did one! this is fun 😊) filling in all the dead air on these platforms, and i especially don't like it here on Nintendolife (since this is the one I've chosen to train my eyeballs on over the years.)

but I do understand that journalism is hard and you've got to keep the lights on. I'm not a monster 😅✌️

Way to gloss over the contributions of Sean Bialo, Hunter Bridges, Christian Whitehead, and even Jonny Atma