Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is an 8-bit styled Beat ‘em Up made by Ubisoft Montreal. The game is based on the movie which is based on the graphic novels done by Bryan Lee O’Malley. The game starts out with Scot meeting Ramona at a party, falling in love with her and then finding out that he must defeat Ramona’s 7 evil ex-boyfriends. Each of them has a special power or ability such as mystical powers that allow them to throw fireballs or teleport. Luckily Scot has a few moves of his own and some friends to help him out.
The gameplay is old school style side scrolling Beat ‘em Up heavily influenced by the old Nintendo Entertainment System game River City Ransom. The game has 4 characters available to play; Scott, Kim, Stephen Stills, and Ramona. Each character has stats that can be upgraded and can gain experience to level up. These stats include Strength, Defense, Willpower and Speed and they can be increased from items bought at stores throughout the game. Items can also refill Hit Points, Health, Guts Points, energy for special attacks, and can grant more 1ups. Gut points can also be used to bring the player back to life if they die and don’t have any snacks. Some items are considered snacks and can be taken to go to use when a player runs out of Hit Points. These items are bought with money collected from defeated enemies and smashed objects. Along with money enemies also give experience that helps characters level up and unlock more moves and combos.
Combat, which is the most important part of a Beat ‘em Up game, is done really well and easy to master. There’s the basic quick attack and heavy attack which can be used in combination with each other and used in the air. The key to quick and easy victory is to learn to juggle enemies in the air with attacks without letting them hit the ground for as long as possible. Another important part of combat is the items and weapons found throughout the game. They include bats, garbage cans, wrenches and many more. Weapons are actually really useful and fun to use for some interesting combos. One example is when I’d pick up a trash can, throw it at an enemy and then as it bounces off them and back at me I would hit it right back at them repeatedly for a lot of damage. Each character has a unique assist attack where they call in their friend Knives to help out. When Scott calls Knives she comes out and creates a puffy cloud that spells Love and damages every enemy on screen. When Kim calls Knives she comes out and heals everyone while doing damage to all enemies. Each character also has another special attack that’s basically a spinning kick to hit and knock back nearby enemies except for Stills who punches the ground and causes an explosion.
The 8-bit graphic style of the game is done really well and looks great on my HD TV. Every enemy in the game looks like and reminds me of classic gaming at its best. Every level in the game is done great and feels like a new experience while also littering them with references to games and nerd culture. Some examples are like how the city map used to go from level to level is the same exact style as the level maps in Super Mario Bros. There’s a level where you fight a sub boss that is in a giant robot that looks just like a Gundam. There are these subspace areas in levels where the only objective is to collect money but it looks like a glitched level from an old cartridge game. While I was able to catch references to games such as Bionic Commando, Sonic the Hedge Hog and Final fantasy I’m sure there are plenty that I missed that many other people will catch.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is retro gaming at its best. Usually movie tie in games are known for being bad, I’m looking at you Clash of the Titans, and feeling rushed but this definitely is not. There is also a local multiplayer mode that can be played with up to 4 friends that is a blast. While this game feels like it is best while being played with friends it is still a ton of fun alone. My only big gripe with the game is that while it has a multiplayer mode there is no online cooperative support which is very disappointing for a game coming out in 2010. That though is only a small nitpick on what is ultimately a very enjoyable game and for only $10 it is definitely more than worth the money.
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