Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game

You may have heard of this whole Scott Pilgrim vs. The World thing -- it's kind of a big deal. There's a movie based on a series of graphic novels opening this week (we saw it a little early), and there's all manner of tie-in merchandise capitalizing on its epic epicness. So, here's the Scott Pilgrim video game. "Probably designed by Uwe Boll's less talented cousin Steve and coded by a drunken monkey," you say. Alas, licensed games do generally have that reputation about them.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is one of the best video game adaptations I've ever played. Like, since I was falling into pits playing E.T. on my Atari 2600. Unlike that train wreck and so many others that followed (with rare exceptions like Batman: Arkham Asylum), Scott Pilgrim isn't the product of dubious market research, cutting corners to maximize profits or designing a game for the lowest common denominator. It's clear almost immediately that this is made by people who have gaming ingrained in them down to the sub-atomic level. This is their love letter to their favorite hobby and, in turn, an invitation to revel in it alongside them.
.Scott Pilgrim is a beat-'em-up in the vein of Double Dragon, River City Ransom, Final Fight and the many other classics of a genre that's been largely ignored by major publishers. And it really does seem like the crews who put it together at Ubisoft Montreal and Chengdu seized the opportunity to make a game in one of their favorite styles, busting out tattered notebooks filled with years-old notes and scribbles under the heading of "Ideas for the greatest brawler EVER!" It's a matter of debate whether or not they succeeded in creating that, but they did make a shockingly good entry in the genre that pays mucho respect to the old school, while still clearly taking lessons at the new school.

I was in love with Scott Pilgrim almost from the moment I loaded it up. The coin-op style intro, the title screen, the sound effects -- everything is an homage to video games past and present. It plucks a string inside my silly old heart but it'll be enough to make youngsters sit forward with a grin.

It looks like nothing else. Sure, Mega Man 9 and 10 brought back the 8-bit NES look, but they stopped there. Scott Pilgrim is almost "hyper 8-bit," somehow managing to be insanely detailed and alive within a pixelated look. Like the comic and movie that inspired it, the game is filled with subtle (and not-so-subtle) nods to loads of classic games -- and even films -- and rocking tunes, too. It could have been gobbling up quarters in the '90s with the best of coin-ops, yet the gameplay and level designs are decidedly current-day.

The whole thing's based around Scott Pilgrim's quest to defeat the seven evil exes of his love, Ramona Flowers. As you can imagine, this makes for an ideal game framework: seven levels, seven unique bosses. You've got the snow-covered streets of Toronto, a movie set, highways; the game world is rich and the levels never end looking exactly like they started. Take the movie set for example: You'll be punching and kicking through paparazzi one moment, and fighting creeps in monster costumes the next, all through a "camera lens," Viewtiful Joe-style. (Just wait 'til you get to beat up the guys in the green mo-cap suits.)

It could have been gobbling up quarters in the '90s with the best of coin-ops, yet the gameplay and level designs are decidedly current-day.

At the same time, the gameplay for 1-4 local co-op buddies -- sorry, no online co-op -- also changes as the battles against the exes and legions of ruffians escalates. Characters level up, gaining new moves that add up to a surprisingly deep repertoire, complete with counters, side-stepping and multi-tier attacks that feel like they could be easily built into a great one-on-one fighting game. Enemies leave coins -- Canadian, of course -- behind to spend on health-refilling food and rock albums that provide temporary boosts in strength.

Yes, it's an arcade beat-'em-up at its core, but a deep one -- with a "Survival Horror" mode (one life, lots of zombies) and a boss rush option to boot. And, yeah, it's missing an online component, but Scott Pilgrim is so amazing as a complete package, I don't so much see it as a fault as something that just would've been really nice to have.

So, yeah, this is awesome stuff. I couldn't recommend it more highly, especially at 10 bucks, and I'm sure you'll be telling everyone you know the same after you clear the first stage (if not sooner).

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This review is based on a pre-release build of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game for PS3 provided by Ubisoft.