The Next Penelope

About The Next Penelope

The Next Penelope is a single player and multiplayer arcade shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Aurelien Regard and was released on May 29, 2015. It received positive reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

Set in a futuristic Odyssey, The Next Penelope is a fast paced action racing game with loud colors, an original story and a challenging risk-reward system.  Weapons can be mixed and used at any time, but all these abilities cost vital energy, so the player is very powerful and close to death at the same time! As Penelope is looking for Ulysses through the galaxy, the player is free to explore the …

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Reviews

67%Audience ScoreBased on 184 reviews

story25 positive mentions

grinding7 negative mentions

Unique blend of top-down racing with combat, combining elements from F-Zero, Micro Machines, and bullet-hell shooters.
Striking and stylish neon-soaked visuals with a captivating sci-fi retelling of Greek mythology, supported by a fitting soundtrack.
Challenging gameplay with a rewarding energy management system and varied boss battles, offering intense and fast-paced action.

Camera is too zoomed in with a narrow field of view, making it hard to anticipate turns and obstacles; zoom-out upgrades are minor and costly.
Very punishing difficulty spike in later levels combined with some frustrating and unfair AI rubberbanding and cheating behaviors.
Controls can feel loose or slippery, especially with certain input methods, and the shared energy/health mechanic complicates combat and racing balance.

story
105 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24% positive mentions, 69% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions
The story in this game offers a unique, futuristic retelling of Greek mythology centered on Penelope’s quest for Odysseus, providing creative context that complements the gameplay without slowing its pace. However, many players find the narrative short, loosely connected, and not deeply engaging, with some criticizing its pacing and dialogue, while others appreciate its originality and thematic ambition. Overall, the story acts more as a thematic backdrop that enhances the atmosphere rather than a fully fleshed-out plot.
- “Character portraits and story moments complement this aesthetic, presenting mythological figures through a futuristic lens that reinforces the game’s unique identity without slowing the pace.”
- “Story elements unfold gradually as Penelope travels from planet to planet, encountering gods and adversaries inspired by Greek mythology.”
- “The story mode is split into several worlds, divided into three stages: the first stage is typically a tutorial that introduces one of the weapons, the second is a race against four opposing hovercars, and the third is a boss fight against such notable figures of Greek myth as the Minotaur, Sirens, Arachne, and Charon.”
- “- Story is a complete mess (seriously, ignore it if you want to enjoy this game).”
- “- The story isn't all that great, either: throughout the game, it was really hard to get involved in what I was doing, and the grammatical errors in the dialogue didn't help.”
- “- The developer is to be commended for attempting to incorporate such lofty inspiration, and with more of the themes and characters crossing over into the gameplay this could have been an interesting tale, but sadly, what little story there is on offer is largely forgettable and likely to go over a lot of player’s heads.”
gameplay
75 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25% positive mentions, 71% neutral mentions, 4% negative mentions
The gameplay of "The Next Penelope" blends high-speed racing and bullet-hell elements with challenging boss fights and tactical energy management, delivering a fast-paced yet sometimes clunky experience. While praised for its inventive mechanics, smooth controls, and fun local multiplayer, some find the auto-acceleration, life-as-energy system, and respawn mechanics frustrating, leading to occasional difficulty spikes and limited replayability. Overall, it offers solid, stylish gameplay reminiscent of classic racers but may feel brief and overwhelming for those seeking a deeper or more polished mechanical experience.
- “Boss encounters stand out, blending racing mechanics with bullet-hell patterns that require sharp reflexes and understanding of your ship's capabilities.”
- “The gameplay is fun and smooth, with simple yet challenging driving controls that require timing of movement, managing boosters, dodging enemy attacks, and conserving life-energy fuel connected to your power usage.”
- “Split-screen races and battles transform the high-speed mechanics into chaotic, competitive fun, making it an excellent party game despite the absence of online multiplayer.”
- “But extremely short and feels very underdeveloped mechanically with zero replayability.”
- “Coupled with no map of the stage (only a dinky progress bar at the bottom of the screen) it can lead to you failing over and over until you learn the stage by memory and the mechanics associated with it.”
- “Unfortunately those concepts fail to gel together with the core gameplay, resulting in a game that feels exceedingly clunky to play.”
graphics
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions
The game features a distinctive and polished retro-futuristic art style with vibrant, neon-infused graphics that blend 2D and 3D elements, evoking inspirations from classic arcade and racing titles like F-Zero. Character portraits and mythologically themed visuals add unique charm and narrative depth, complemented by energetic, synthwave-inspired music that enhances the overall aesthetic. While generally praised for its bold and memorable presentation, some users note that the visuals can become repetitive or straining over extended play sessions.
- “Character portraits and story moments complement this aesthetic, presenting mythological figures through a futuristic lens that reinforces the game’s unique identity without slowing the pace.”
- “The next penelope's visuals are spectacular.”
- “A brilliantly executed old school racer combined with modern gameplay and a futuristic artstyle.”
- “The only good thing this game has going for it is its visuals, but even they start to grate on the eyes after a couple of hours.”
- “The graphics and sound are okay but a bit repetitive.”
- “- Graphics are okay.”
- “- Graphics: as with anything related to taste, you may or may not like it.”
music
43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60% positive mentions, 33% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its fitting and immersive qualities, with an electronic, synthwave-inspired soundtrack that complements the visuals and gameplay well. While not always deemed memorable or universally liked, it consistently enhances the game's atmosphere without being distracting. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout aspect, contributing significantly to the game's appeal and charm.
- “The soundtrack is also suitably 80’s in its influences, incorporating elements of techno, synthwave and dance into a bass-heavy, adrenaline-fuelled sound which perfectly accompanies the art style while never being too obtrusive.”
- “Fantastic game, looking great, fun music that sticks so well to the modern visual style, starts as a top down run/race, and finishes with a ThunderForce IV style view to fight the final bosses.”
- “The gameplay, visuals and soundtrack are all top-notch, and the fact that they were all created by one man is just the icing on the cake.”
- “Music is repetitive.”
- “You can't turn off music, and if you're in the middle of a world and you leave you have to start the entire world all over.”
- “Music is ok.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Grinding in the game is often seen as tedious and repetitive, with some players finding it necessary to level up significantly to progress, especially in later stages. While not excessive for all, the required grinding can detract from the experience and feel frustrating for those seeking a smoother gameplay flow.
- “There is no winning through this method and it makes races an incredibly tedious, almost Sisyphean repeating of trial and error to pray you skip something or get lucky enough to pass the finish line first.”
- “One of the main drawbacks that comes to mind is the necessary grinding for later levels.”
- “This level is pretty much impossible if you haven't maxed out your ship, which means grinding the easiest boss (the flying minotaur head), and even then it's really hard.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 75% negative mentions
The game offers limited replayability due to its short length and lack of standard racing or time-trial modes found in most racing titles. While the unique local multiplayer format is novel, the absence of independent races and shorter content reduces long-term appeal. Some challenge and unlockable content provide modest replay value, mainly for arcade enthusiasts.
- “While the difficulty may not always be particularly fair (some levels and bosses were just cruel), overall I feel that the challenge on offer is solid enough to please arcade fans and even offer some replay value when attempting to beat time trials and unlockable missions.”
- “It's not built around replayability; it doesn't even have a standard racing or time-trial mode like 98% of other racing titles.”
- “The biggest drawbacks of this game are its very short length (2-4 hours) and its lack of replayability.”
- “Granted, it's a novel solution to 4-player local multiplayer, but independent grand prix style races would provide much more replayability.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 33% negative mentions
The game's optimization receives mixed feedback, with some users experiencing significant performance issues on recent hardware, while others praise its impressive efficiency given it was developed solo using Construct 2. The developer's expertise is recognized for achieving remarkable performance despite the engine's limitations.
- “The game's performance is amazing given that it was produced with Construct 2. As a C2 user myself, I'm really amazed at Aurélien's development mastery. I can only guess that more than 10 years of experience allows the solo developer to reach this level of efficiency. He did everything—graphics, music, and programming. The guy's on fire! I can't wait for the new updates and fun stuff to come, and also seeing future games by Aurélien :)”
- “Hats off to him for this incredible performance!”
- “Very short and has huge performance issues on recent hardware.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Users report significant stability issues, noting frequent bugs and game freezes, particularly during teleportation sequences on the labyrinth level.
- “Buggy as hell.”
- “On the labyrinth level where you need to teleport all over the racing-track, the game freezes after the teleport.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Character development features a mix of standout designs, particularly Penelope, with all characters and related elements maintaining a coherent and easily recognizable style that enhances gameplay clarity.
- “Some character designs are more striking than others, with Penelope herself being a clear standout.”
- “Every detail, including character design, races, and ships, follows a coherent design, and gameplay-related objects like energy are easily identifiable.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The atmosphere is conveyed through abstract and expressive environments that use color and motion to effectively communicate danger and speed, prioritizing mood over detailed textures.
- “Environments are abstract yet expressive, using color and motion to convey danger, speed, and atmosphere rather than relying on detailed textures.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The humor is a standout feature, with the developers cleverly adding comedic elements that refresh the classic mythological story and keep the plot engaging despite its simplicity.
- “Although the plot remains basic in writing, the developer put much effort into making the story funny and engaging. The idea of reusing a classic mythological story in this way gives it a refreshing twist.”

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Critic Reviews

82%Critics’ scoreBased on 3 critic reviews

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Play Times

5h Median play time

5h Average play time

5-5h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Next Penelope is a arcade shooter game with science fiction theme. Common tags for The Next Penelope include science, futuristic, indie, female protagonist, difficult and others.

The Next Penelope is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac OS, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 5 hours playing The Next Penelope.

The Next Penelope was released on May 29, 2015.

The Next Penelope was developed by Aurelien Regard.

The Next Penelope has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked The Next Penelope for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

The Next Penelope is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Assault Android Cactus, RUINER, GRIP: Combat Racing, Xenon Racer, Grip and others.

The Next Penelope

Platforms

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Reviews

story

gameplay

graphics

music

grinding

replayability

optimization

stability

character development

atmosphere

humor

Critic Reviews

Review: The Next Penelope

nindiespotlight.com Review