Penny's Big Breakaway DF Review: 4K 120FPS Perfection on PS5/Xbox Series X/S - All Consoles Tested!

Penny's Big Breakaway is one of the best games of the year - brought to us by the developers of the stunning Sonic Mania. Evening Star does for 3D platforming what Sonic Mania did for 2D, offering up a fresh new take on the genre, delivered by flawless technology. John Linneman describes what makes the game so special, how the various consoles - and PC - stack up, and reveals a curious performance-enhancing tip for Switch users we've never seen before, that seems exclusive to this game.
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00:00 - What Makes this Game So Good?
02:15 - The Gameplay - Sonic Physics in 3D
04:42 - The Three Pillars of Platforming Perfection
04:55 - The Graphics - Star Engine Shines
08:45 - Platform Comparison
09:59 - Performance on Switch
13:48 - Sound and Music
14:19 - Listen to the Awesome Soundtrack
17:37 - Let's Wrap This Up

[@lunnyt00n]

As a late 40's year old gamer, platforming games are among my favourite genres as i grew up with so many of them. Tried the 45 minute demo and immediately bought. Thank you DF as i didn't know this game existed.

[@entra80]

Im mid 40, and i don't know when im gonna stop playing video games. Take care

[@NekoFever]

This looks like a lost Dreamcast game, with that simple visual design and ultra crisp, clean video output.

[@2sallads]

It's more going for Sega Saturn aesthetic and they nailed it for sure

[@brandogg]

Doesn't look nearly as good as a Dreamcast game

[@KannX]

@@brandogg More like a GameCube game! ^^

[@David-ln8qh]

@@KannX Billy Hatcher is the first thing I thought of when this game was revealed.

[@rick-deckard]

in cleanliness but Saturn DC aesthetic for sure

[@Derongarcia]

"Once you reach that center, that creamy, warm center" Sir! Calm down! why are you sweating!?

[@nickmotsarsky4382]

Which word of that sentence was a swear?

[@zayjayy2]

@@nickmotsarsky4382Sweat lmfao

[@BouiBoui12]

Note for the CRT users, the game supports 4:3 resolutions on PC

[@timo0947]

Thanks for the info, that seems like another reason to try it! This in 160hz on a CRT sounds great.

[@wenimechoinasama2]

that is such a good idea omg

[@ChristopherAndersonPirate]

Nice, I found a 32” sony Trinitron and I gotta get it out of the car

[@krupniok]

yeah, the 10 people who own one ^^

[@seasonsalt3228]

Amazing

[@paulgraham3902]

I think you might have sold me on this one in just a few minutes

[@ArtificialXD]

Between the studio having Sonic Mania's talent, the publisher having a good track-record for games they support, and the clear vision this game's trailers have shown from the start, I was optimistically curious. Considering everything seems to have come together properly, I'm happy Penny's Big Breakaway is getting recognition like this, even if it mainly appeals to a specific crowd.

[@SENATORPAIN1]

I agree

[@ultram2561]

Why didn't the devs just lower the render resolution on Switch in performance mode? If setting the Switch's output resolution to 720p make for a stable 60fps experience I don't see why not. Maybe 720p in Docked and 540p in Handheld

[@dethskullcrusher]

If the CPU is the limit no ammount of lowering resolution is going to help, if memory bandwidth is the limit is feasible.

[@ultram2561]

​​@@dethskullcrusherAt 10:30 he starts talking about the Switchs performance mode. In it he says lowering the Switchs output resolution to 720p in docked mode fixes the performance mode making it a locked 60fps. This means that the game is GPU limited not CPU limited.

[@dri_him]

Without this video I didn't even know the game existed!

[@LS95774]

In your defense, they shadow dropped it on all platforms during a Nintendo Direct lol

[@90lancaster]

Me neither.. it was as invisible as the Xbpx release of Death Stranding.

[@xDD90x]

@@90lancaster Except Death Stranding isn't available on Xbox consoles; it's on Xbox on PC. Meaning Game Pass and the Microsoft store.

[@90lancaster]

@@xDD90x Indeed, I was still surprised it was on the Microsoft Xbox site though even for PC. I wonder if some years down the line (say after 6 years or even 10) all the exclusivity deals will lapse and they can publish it on whatever other formats are around. As one issue that seems to go fairly un-noticed is a lot of Games contracts last 10 or 12 years and so when they lapse a game can either get edited or vanish completely. & other times the licence changing makes a game disappear (like has happened to some Turtles games). For example that is why you can not actually buy Area 51 anymore as the contract for David Doucovny;'s voice acting had a cut of date so they pulled it from sale. It is a kinda worrying that the history of videogames can disappear like that. As for Death Stranding maybe the sequel will be cross format and as such the original game could get bundled on another format at some point.

[@StarrCreations]

The inclusion of the TC Tugger sold me. FINALLY a dev team that knows what the people want!

[@LS95774]

Hey DF, love the shoutouts given to the composers! Just a note that someone forgot to change the track title at 17:21 , it should be "Proxima", but the artists seem correct 👍

[@Bimmy_Lee]

The fourth pillar of platform goodness is having a physical copy.

[@SubsonicSparkle]

Amen!!

[@StriclySegaEurope]

Would buy it in a heartbeat!

[@Richbroth]

Need a physical version asap

[@funkychicken4509]

in a custom made dreamcast box

[@theexile4694]

... Not from Limited Run Games.

[@nopelol8718]

They wrote their own game engine, that's commendable.

[@tiguilherman_plays]

not really as it is still very buggy

[@vncube1]

With the AAA gaming space being an hot mess in the last few years, I'd love to see DF analyse more 3D indie games (edit: relatively small scale 3D games, I didn't know about Christian Whitehead's expertise nor Private Division's portfolio ). So many indie (edit: or small scale) devs show up on my twitter algorithm looking to revive and modernise older gen console aesthetics and genres but don't get much coverage.

[@Fusionade]

This is Digital Foundry. There isn’t much to analyze when it comes to indie games, they don’t push technology or graphics forward. The best looking games are always AAA. I don’t know why people on the internet say “AAA has been a mess” after a year like 2023. AAA is still producing the absolute best games.

[@kupokinzyt]

@@Fusionade Yea this is closer to Katamari, an upscaled PS2 game than it is a modern game lol.

[@epicjubjub02]

This isn't really an indie. It's behind a major publisher.

[@yewtewbstew547]

@@epicjubjub02 True. I think people just call stuff "indie" based on vibe and/or perceived budget nowadays more than anything else. I kinda get it though because, going by the literal definition of the word, The Witcher 3 and Baldur's Gate 3 were both technically indie titles.

[@DroneCorpse]

@@Fusionadereminds me of full-time COD/ Fortnite streamers complaining that there are no good games.

[@Kamunchu]

Thanks for doing a video on this. More exposure for these guys is a good thing.

[@Mittzys]

the magic of a custom game engine

[@johnsimon8457]

I know, right? How much performance are developers leaving on the table when going within an off the shelf engine and realistic rendering vs what Penny is doing?

[@gothpunkboy89]

The magic of running a Sega Genesis game on modern hardware.

[@georgejones5019]

Yeah. Look at Creation Engine. It's a custom engine, too. Even off the shelf, game engines can be tailored, and they feature a lot of optimization tools as well.

[@Christopher-md7tf]

The magic of your game looking like a 360 Arcade title lmao

[@LS95774]

​@@Christopher-md7tflol what does that even mean

[@onepiece190993]

John is selling games again

[@bb5307]

Really diggin the early 90's 3d look. Like it's early 90's cgi but in realtime. It gives me nostalgia despite never having played this game.

[@C1K47]

Forgot about this game. Bought immediately. John needs to bring attention to more gems like this

[@maxchronicler]

Never heard about this game before. Looks amazing. Buying it right now. Thank you!

[@kewa_design]

Its awesome

[@hawkgoggles]

While it can be frustrating I really did enjoy my time with this game. Not only does it feel good to move in you do have extra missions and collectables in the levels to unlock more content. But I really do think this games shines the brightest in time trials, which are there just for fun.

[@ecu4321]

this is what sonic in 3d should have been. Or knuckes chaotix!

[@Fellipe2k5]

No 😅

[@battman505]

Nah.

[@ThibautMahringer]

Let Penny be its own thing. I like variety and new IPs

[@AlexanTheMan]

Yeah a lot of people said that, it pretty much makes Sonic Adventure look like an unloved tech demo. Which in ways it is because both games were rushed.

[@summus314]

They could have replaced him with Sanic: Sonic's slightly slower and clumsy younger brother.

[@handcoding]

Just to say-if this video review could’ve included some 120 fps footage, that would’ve been the icing on the cake!

[@johnsimon8457]

5:37 what exactly is that programming language that hasn’t been used in a shipping game until now?

[@rs10269]

I think its their own language, like language in Godot engine

[@spiral7399]

​@@rs10269yeah, kinda like the original language naughty dog used for Jak & Daxter.

[@HuGiv5]

It's PyCharp++

[@stonechen4820]

I'm gonna go for a stretch and say something like Zig

[@mathiaslange7707]

Beef; Devs been on its Discord

[@NicolausCamp]

The most fun I've had with a game so far this year. Thank you for giving it some extra time in the spotlight!

[@Lishtenbird]

8:10 I think that the squiggly depth-of-field is there to deal with different frequency of detail in background and foreground. Without textures, foreground looks more empty, and background more busy but unevenly; if you force the shimmer onto all of the background, though, you get more explicit separation of the world into two planes - the immediately important one in front of you, and scenery.

[@cube2fox]

I was actually thinking the game would benefit from stereoscopic 3D, because of its lack of lighting and textures not giving it a lot of depth.

[@amirhm6459]

wow the camera works and the gameplay mechanics is so good

[@rahulpandey9472]

I never heard about this game but bought it before your video ends. Thanks for introducing me to a great game and keep up the good work.

[@soulsmith4787]

It reminds me of those 90s prerendered scenes that you'd see on screen savers and binders back then. This is an opportune time to explore that aesthetic as it's being popularized by The Amazing Digital Circus. I recently received a new old stock Viewsonic G220fb and I'd like to run this and Sonic Robo Blast 2 at its max refresh of 180Hz.

[@THEnohandsman]

TC Tugger mentioned... as if I couldn't love DF's content anymore than I already do! Great video, John, and please keep the ITYSL references coming haha.

[@axeldeeker5644]

I haven't been this hyped for a DF video since Kirby and the forgotten land. I thought the video had been cut since the release was so long ago, so this was a very welcome surprise!

[@RudeGerbil]

Fantastic coverage John! The game is definitely on my wishlist now!

[@bananaboy482]

Looking forward to that tech video on the engine. Always love that stuff

[@joshuau.]

Great video! Thanks for showing some smaller developer games ever so often and also showing the triple AAA games! I really enjoyed this game! It has a lot of depth! It took me a little bit to learn the all the available control mechanics, but after I did it was a lot of fun and showed some fun combo movement options. There are some really challenging platforming parts as well. Some of the music is also some of my favorite video games music in the past couple of months! Especially “Sparks of The Cobalt Sands” 🎶🔥! Such a great game and effort by this small team!

[@GameTechLead]

John thank you for showing me this! I will be playing this with my daughter next :D

[@mhjmstultiens]

Another great vid, John! Thank you for sharing your passion with us.

[@FSAPOJake]

My favorite videos on this channel are videos where John gushes about 3D platformers he ends up loving.

[@rloasby]

Nice TC Tugger reference!!

[@Capricorn_IV]

Awesome, the game looks so much fun! I loved the small box which displays the song, composer and song countdown, is this new or has the overlay been used before?

[@rutterer9684]

Thanks for shining a light on this absolute gem!

[@OllyDee123]

Man that soundtrack really is bangin'. Definitely got that "big-riff energy" of classic Sonic games, which I guess goes without saying if Tee Lopes is involved.

[@Toptom924]

Thanks John I was following this game for a while and loved it but I’m glad someone is getting it out there so many comments are people saying they didn’t know it existed which is a shame. Fantastic video always great to see your passion come out in these !

[@malcolmar]

Well done and well said. This game is such a breath of fresh air. I bought it for the Switch and for PC to play on my Steam Deck. My teenage daughter loves it as well. After hearing all the craziness in gaming lately from Xbox and Sony, games like this give me hope for the industry.

[@Soul-Burn]

Waiting for the technical interview. That procedural level design thing sounds interesting!

[@jesusbarrera6916]

my only gripe is the severe lack of shadows.... from the video alone it's hard to gauge where you are exactly

[@YerkDiff]

I'm dying to learn about Evening Star's procedural level building tools!!

[@tyo101]

8:43 The respect here for Series S is very appreciated because a lot of gamers can't afford the Series X or PS5, which we must respect.

[@Starless85]

Hadn’t heard of it, off to buy it. Thanks John.

[@MoonSarito]

I was thinking... if the game changes its resolution according to the system resolution on the Nintendo Switch (I even put it at 480p just to see if it really changed and it did) that means that if the Switch 2's successor supports it 4K resolutions on the Dock will the game be able to run at this resolution without the team having to make any patches? I'm starting to wonder if that's why they did it and if any other games on the Switch work this way.

[@TubularAnde]

I think the track at 17:20 is one of the bonus mission tracks called "Proxima", but the credits are otherwise correct!

[@BENergizer1]

I tried this game out on PC and kinda bounced off of it, mostly because of the momentum platforming mechanics; I've never gelled with that style of game, even going back to 2D Sonic games, I've never had that "click" moment where it all starts to feel right like John describes. I'm sure I'll go back and give it another shot at some point and try to at least finish it because I don't like to leave a game unfinished, and I do want to support a small indie team making games in a unique style, especially 3D platformers.

[@robf]

The exact same thing for me. I bought it at launch for much the same reasons. Didn't click, I don't think it's the games fault. I just couldn't enjoy it always feeling disjointed and stilted and I also get that from 2D sonic games. I love platformers with recent games like the new Prince of Persia or Celeste. Something about this particular style that never felt right personally or rewarding.

[@MichaelJohnson-yw6du]

This game is just not that good.

[@carn9507]

@@robf I dunno. I like this game. I got bored with the new PoP (it's decent but it lost me and I really didn't get on with Celeste at all (I can't do those fiddly twitchy platformers).

[@AfterBurnerTeirusu]

"Penny's" and "penis" are pronounced in the same way in my mother tongue, which makes the name quite amusing.

[@Lollikips]

Incredible comment, very good

[@user-ec8zd8zp4x]

LoL! The other one is a different game, i guess... 😉

[@LS95774]

Believe it or not, there was a mod on Gamebanana to change the title screen to that within a week of release

[@AfterBurnerTeirusu]

@@LS95774 How wonderful.

[@Pedro_The_Neco]

Português?

[@jgrocketpup]

John, you're making the case that I should finally, after a long wait, check this out. What you're valuing in a game like this reminds me of Vividlope, my favorite game of last year, and anything reminding me of playing that will shoot to the top of the list!

[@frankynakamoto2308]

A 640p Resolution mode for Switch with FSR3 would work excellent for a much higher frame target, also all other modes should also have a second option for FSR3 to upscale to 6k would be awesome, they need to improve the HDR to increase color saturation , also I like to see new moves for Penny, and a new Extreme difficulty that is much more difficult, and new music added some of those sounds don’t cut it for me..

[@TechMetalRules]

I've been waitin' for this one!

[@jameswalt1]

Thank you. Buying now.

[@Sh4un1r1k]

The vibrancy and colour choices are closer to Zool, a graphically stunning game for a megadrive game.

[@markrolle2527]

Loooove the depth of field filter. The way it was done in skyward sword was so cool, glad someone finally did it again

[@NeoCyrus777]

Thank you for covering this John, I wouldn't have heard of it, if it weren't for you, I'll definitely give it a try. Oh, and I'm glad to see Alex is doing well, I was really scared that he might not make it after the release of Stellar Blade, glad he survived the heart attack + aneurysm from having to see a character that's not repugnant degen garbo!

[@ElioCossu]

Never heard about it, thanks for the recommendation! Little fun fact: that music at 21:46 "Tutto finisce a tarallucci e vino", the title is a way to say in italian that we use when a drama ends up in nothing. I wonder why the composer chose this title...

[@catoblepag]

Quel titolo ha stupito anche me... 😅 The composer is american/portuguese, maybe he likes italian culture.

[@MechaPig227]

This review is PERFECT TIMING for me. It feels like fate that last night I remembered this game existed and was thinking of finally getting it.

[@stephenmeinhold5452]

thanks for the review i am going to give it a go, will you be covering another crabs tresure?

[@Gunfart01]

Bonus points awarded for Tim Robinson reference!

[@toonaurz2620]

Love this game a lot and am really enjoying the Ultra Performance mode on Switch. The framerate does still drop in a few areas but it's much more stable than before.

[@entertainmentwizard2703]

Great video, the game seems to be pretty solid, hopefully it gets a physical release!

[@BlackPlated]

I haven't heard of it. Thanks for the recommendantion.

[@shiuerus]

The fact that this game sits on 74 on Metacritic is beyond me.

[@ThomasVvV]

Sonic games never good

[@wmvnotmp4]

​@@ThomasVvVthis isn't sonic, so I don't see why that comment is relevant

[@aledandrian]

Probably because it doesn’t have a lot of content and isn’t the most polished game, but the core gameplay is still a ton of fun so I don’t mind

[@kewa_design]

There are some 10h- Games in the top 20 of Metacritic 😅 lenght barealy leads to better Reviews ​@@aledandrian

[@pobbityboppity1110]

I haven’t played it, but this seems like a solid 7 or 8 for me. Really good at what it does! A good first attempt.

[@ArchThaBoss]

I really really wish we could get more games like this. Just good, fun games like back in the day

[@axeldeeker5644]

I wonder if John left out some movement options on purpose, these things are probably best left ambiguous since they're so much fun to discover.

[@TerrorOfTalos]

I think he really forgot about the dashing, quite noticable how he wasn't utilizing it in his gameplay.

[@axeldeeker5644]

@@TerrorOfTalos Might have been on purpose as to keep some movement options a surprise

[@TerrorOfTalos]

@@axeldeeker5644 Hope so lol

[@David-ln8qh]

Tee Lopes was pretty dang good with Sonic Mania but I feel his style fits even better here. The slower, sillier, more chill vibe really sets a particular mood.

[@ThatsGooodJason]

It's such a shame that this game was shadow dropped. Hopefully these deep dives will contribute to at least a slow burn of sales.

[@toonpik7]

Played it since day one, the visuals and music are such a treat! I definitely enjoyed that unique depth of field effect, it kind of reminds me of quirky rendering techniques from back then, like the dithering in Sega Saturn games. As a huge Mario fan, the momentum based platforming took some getting used to but it’s so worth it!

[@leighsherval1023]

Never heard of this, looks amazing

[@sacb0y]

My main problem with that dof effect is that it's constantly moving. It should be a static noise not a moving one.

[@astreakaito5625]

A little late? John, it's never too late, as your retroDF series constantly proves 👍

[@denisruskin348]

Perfomance Mode on the Switch is the perfect OC candidate. Butter smooth 60 at 1080p.

[@sixteenbitter]

The visual design reminds me of the Japanese Dynamite Headdy cover.

[@spiral7399]

Reminds me a lot of Sonic Robo Blast 2 with its visual style and performance

[@georged7627]

As you said you have to try and try again with the controls because when i first played i thought nah this games not for me but when i watched this review i had another crack and i got a little better each time and when you get the controls down then you start to have that fun 🙏🏽

[@nimbulan2020]

I wouldn't mind the DOF if it was a standard effect, but that swimming graininess they went with would drive me crazy.

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

This is the timeline where Sega Saturn won the console war! Beautiful game!

[@ReveriePass]

I've been having fun but it hurts my poor hands! Any tips?

[@kewa_design]

I love this game, i think its too unnoticed nice you made a video about it. Its a masterpiece more people should keep an eye on it ❤

[@SebastianSkadisson]

Perfect timing, it's on sale on the Nintendo e-shop! :D

[@KrashyKharma]

Just think, if SEGA had any idea what they were doing and actually respected their devs and their audience, we could be having brand new Sonic games that are this good

[@peterGchaves]

Never heard of it before... But after the first 20 seconds of this video I went straight to the PS Store to add it to my wishlist! 🙂 Will buy!!!

[@ScyrousFX]

Series S running this game at 4K120 is a curious one. Why not have Series X and PS5 render it at 6K or 8K? The Touryst did that for its 60fps mode and it looks wonderful.

[@spiral7399]

Because those systems can't even output at 8K currently. There's no point.

[@ScyrousFX]

@@spiral7399 Render, my dude. Not output. Of course there is a point. Rendering a game at 8K and then downscaling back to 4K essentially gives you 2x SSAA. It leads to superb anti-aliasing. Again, there’s already games that do this, like The Touryst and the Ori games.

[@spiral7399]

@@ScyrousFX No, I said render. The systems physically can't output 8K currently and the AA gains from supersampling aren't really significant enough to justify that mode. It's why there's only 1 game that does it on PS5.

[@GATES-KEEP]

Yeeah the music is class in this haha 🔥🔥👌

[@gorofujita5767]

Imagine a 3D Sonic Platformer that worked with mechanics and a camera similar to this one. Literally what I've been asking ever since the Saturn days

[@wssayer]

And now it's on sale!

[@pobbityboppity1110]

I’m not sure about that depth of field effect. I like it in Skyward Sword but here it sort of looks like FSR2 when it can’t recreate the image.

[@slowmercy69]

Yay missed you John ❤

[@silverfox__12]

I overlooked this when it came out as I was not a fan of Penny's design. It is unfortunate, because I really enjoyed everything the team who created Sonic Mainia has done for the community and even gaming as a whole. Thanks Digital Foundry for releasing this review. Just purchased it for my PS5 and can't wait to play it

[@steveybiggunzgaming8118]

My problem with sonic is whenever I get going I end up hitting somthing, like if they pulled the screen back a bit when you go faster it’ll allow me to actually see what’s coming and react. I was playing sonic superstars earlier and idk maybe it’s a skill issue, but unless u take the time to memorize where the baddies and spikes are, going full speed almost always makes me loose my coins.

[@donniedarko4497]

Never heard of it before and now I got to play it

[@devinforman8213]

Man john you sold me on it. Had it on my wishlist for a while. Im going to go and take the plunge. Plus 4K 120fps is a rare space on consoles

[@JamieRobert_]

Probably could have done 8K on ps5 considering the series s can even do 4k 120 on this game

[@AngryDrunkGamer]

Yes and 16k 240 on the series x

[@KingVulpes]

​@@AngryDrunkGamer💀

[@Bateluer]

Looking at the 2 decade old visual quality, I suspect most semi-modern smartphones could also handle it at 4K120 too. This isn't an achievement, guys. Did anyone really buy a PS5 or Series X to play something like this?

[@WaddleDee105]

@@Bateluer Who hurt you?

[@JamieRobert_]

@@Bateluer ok but why does every ps5 game have to be graphically intense for it to be playable? If the game is fun why complain.

[@XINTSUAI]

The audio really sounds like would be a Genesis with the current audio tech.

[@videogameobsession]

Why shouldn't you hit the attacking penguins? I'm confused about the "anti-ring" part.

[@3dmarth]

I think the idea is that the more you engage with the penguins, the more you risk getting swarmed. (If any of your attacks miss, the penguins could slip past and latch onto you.) You can fight them, but it's safer to just avoid them.

[@videogameobsession]

@@3dmarth Thanks for the reply. I actually just played the demo last night (poorly played on a recorded video on my channel), and you are right on! It all makes sense now. I have to remember to not bother the penguins! Haha.. What a fun and impressive game.

[@alistairblaire6001]

Never heard of this game but I’m glad I know now. The character art looks very much inspired by 90’s Sega 3D platformers. Almost like I’ve seen it before. Gonna check this out on Steam tonight.

[@robsmall6466]

Same developer as Sonic Mania

[@DJBV]

Its weird that the switch cant hold a stable 60 at 1080p it shows how much we need a new switch asap. And as for the double buffered vsync i would have preferred an adaptive vsync option i prefer drops to 50's or even 40's than directly to 30fps.

[@g0g2151]

I had no idea this game existed, thanks for spreading awareness. I'll definitely be buying it :)