Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition Review

Ten years ago we were introduced to the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World game that was only released digitally for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 to coincide with the release of the movie in theatres. Once I saw the trailer for the movie in August 2010, I knew I had to see it. I absolutely loved it and all the great videogame references, but unfortunately I didn’t have either of the game systems needed to play the game at that time and I totally missed out. By the time I did get the systems the game was already gone from the console stores and with it being a digital-only release I was out of luck.

Luckily a lot of upset fans complained since the game was taken down and it took a few years but now, on the tenth anniversary of the movie, the game is back on all the current generation systems. Now I have a chance to see if the game lives up to all the hype I have heard over the years, and if it is actually a good movie-tie-in game.

I’ve played plenty of side scrolling beat ‘em ups so figured this would be the same idea, just using characters from the movie. Upon trying it for the first time, I got my butt kicked and I realised that this game was more like River City Ransom than a Double Dragon type game. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a lot deeper and involved than it appears on the surface. The game feels like an RPG mixed with an action game with great references to other classic games like Super Mario Brothers 3. So to warn you; be prepared to do some grinding, especially if you want to get the stats for your characters maxed out.

Scott Pilgrim features not only the titular character but the other characters that appeared in the comics and movies. The members of Sex Bob ‘Omb Stills, Kim are there along with Ramona Flowers, Knives Chau and Scott’s roommate Wallace are all playable. All the characters have four different colour options for their outfits, so you can do a bit of customisation. Each character has their own set of moves that they can do. Though Wallace is just a reskinned version of Stills, but since he happens to be gay, has rainbows appear whenever he throws punches. All the characters have their own unique ending, so if you are a completionist or just want to find out what happens with the characters there is a lot of replayability.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has the option to play up to four players co-op locally or online. Unfortunately there is no cross-platform play supported so your friends will have to be playing this game on the same gaming platform as you. It’s a lot of fun to have everyone teaming up to take down the baddies together. If you want to switch it up, there are four other modes to try out like Boss Rush, Dodge Ball, Battle Royale and Survival Horror where you take down never-ending waves of zombies.

Mirroring the movie and comic, Scott is in love with Ramona Flowers, but to date her, he has to defeat her seven evil exes first. The game says boyfriends but that is a mistake, it should just be exes. But you can’t just go challenge the exes right off the bat, first you have to explore levels set in Toronto and take down all the random thugs on the street that attack you. When you first start playing you will find that enemies are a lot more challenging to beat than you expect. Since you are weak, and apparently punch with pillow hands, the baddies can take a crazy amount of hits before being defeated. Fortunately the game does have an autosave feature. When you are done playing be sure to quit to the map before exiting the game to make sure you don't lose your progress.

As your characters level up and learn new moves you will get stronger and will be able to dispatch the goons a lot easier. If you don’t want to spend too much time grinding you can always use a code that will let you use the Power of Love Sword to slice through the enemies a lot faster and earn you those Canadian coins. I appreciate that they made the coins look like our actual coins here. Well most of them are accurate except for the nickel. Instead of having a beaver on it they chose to go with a whale design. Anyway, if you decide to try out the sword, your character can only carry one item at a time, so if you need to pick up a key you will have to throw your sword down, use the key and run to pick it up again.

There were six volumes of the comic released between 2004 to 2010 by Canadian artist Brian O’Malley. As of now I have only gotten a chance to read the first volume, but there were a lot of the elements from that issue recreated in the game. A lot of little things that appear in the game made a lot more sense after reading the comic. There are some little things that might seem weird if you have only seen the movie. If you are familiar with the artwork in the comic you will see it recreated in this game. The pixel characters and graphics look great, they really do the comic justice. I love the stages that take place on a movie set where the director is filming aliens and guys in rubber monster suits attacking you. It was very original and a lot of fun.

Besides the great environments, the fights with the exes are a highlight of the game. It's great taking on unique characters with unique attacks and powers. Accompanying this is a great bit-tune soundtrack by Anamanaguchi. I especially enjoyed the battle music when you fought the exes.

I really enjoyed playing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I feel that it definitely meets the high expectations I had going in. At the beginning I definitely felt frustrated until I was able to level up and earn enough money to power up my character. Since I have Stills powered up to level 16 and have defeated the seven exes, I will work on finishing the game using the other characters. I just wish I could enjoy it cross-platform with friends.