Summary [8.5 out of 10]

Based on the comic series and just in time for the movie, the Scott Pilgrim game is a throw back to classic brawlers like River City Ransom and Double Dragon. Much more of a direct adaptation of the comic than the movie, the game is an excellent companion piece to the film as it covers a lot of the ground that the movie didn’t. Filled with in jokes, references to other games and hidden goodies, the Scott Pilgrim game is a lot of fun and offers up a lot of extras to inspire multiple play throughs. Some uneven difficulty and glitches keep it from being a perfect experience but if you are a fan of the comics or the movie (or both, as it should be) then you HAVE to pick this up on Xbox Live (or its original platform, the Playstation Network).

Introduction

It should be pretty obvious from my review of the Scott Pilgrim Movie, I am a huge fan of the property. I love the comics, I love the movie and I love the game. I thought the movie did a great job as an adaptation and I wouldn’t change it for the world but it is really cool to see some of the things that were changed or omitted from the comic pop up here. It is a real treat to be able to play around in the world even if it is a linear side-scroller. And it is a lot of fun to play with a friend. A lot of care was taken here and it shows up on screen in spades.

The Great

• Character Designs: Rather than looking like the actors from the movie, the character designs come straight from the comic and they look perfect. Every character looks exactly right and it feels like you are in the world of the comic. The enemies, who are pretty much all created for the game, fit the world perfectly and there are enough designs that you are not fighting the same like three character models the whole way through. Each level has a different theme and enemies that fit that theme. From robots to zombies, the character designs are always interesting and never boring.

• Old School 8-bit Graphics/music: Having lived and played through the 8-bit era the visuals here bring back great memories. The nostalgia itself would be enough but the graphics are good on top of it. The music also brings back memories and is a real treat without ever getting annoying or too terribly repetitive. Kids who didn’t get a lot of time with 8-bit games might not dig on this as much but for those of us who did it is a real treat.

• Multi-player: This game offers four player co-op where players can choose Scott, Ramona, Steven, and Kim. I only played with two people but it is a great experience and the amount of interactivity between players is really satisfying. The game seems built with this in mind and with the ability to revive fallen team members it is the best way to play. The game is plenty fun by yourself but having an extra fighter with you really pumps up the experience.

• Depth: It seems like just a simple beat em up but there is a lot more going on here than that. Each character has his or her own attacks and abilities and each character gains experience through battle that improves those abilities. Leveling up also grants each character new moves and attacks that give the player a lot of options to keep the combat from getting stale. Throw in power ups that boost your attributes and you have a lot more under the surface than just the base line gameplay.

• Boss Battles: Following the comic and the movie, each of the seven evil exes have their own abilities and attributes which makes the boss battles unique and helps keep them fresh. Don’t misunderstand, you are still going to be punching and kicking them all but the things they throw at you and the tactics needed to defeat them are very different and keep you on your toes.

The Good

• Game References: There are a lot of references to other games thrown in here from the Medusa head enemies in Castlevania to the Energy Tank power up in Metroid. The character select screen itself is a take on the select screen from Super Mario Bros 2 and those are just the beginning. There are all kinds of reference here and it really makes it fun to pick them out. Seeing the little money theiving bastards from Golden Axe run in was a hoot and every time a moment like that would happen it made me happy.

• Challenge: Given this is a  download title and a movie tie in at that, one would be forgiven for assuming that this would be just kind of a throw away game you could just blow through but it really isn’t there are three difficulty levels and even on the normal difficulty you are going to have to do a bit of grinding and replaying to build your character up before you can get to the end. It is a hard fight to defeat the final ex even on the easiest difficulty and even with a friend. It is nice to see something like this that even the difficulty is a throw back to the old school.

• Variety: As mentioned above, there are a lot of ways to go about combat and each character brings something special to the fights. The addition of ‘bonus stages’ in the Hyperspace Highways and the myriad of enemy types each requiring different tactics  and you have something that augments its challenge with variety. This variety also allows for multiple replays.

The Bad

• Glitches: There are some weird ones here. Sometimes you have game freezes that require restarts but the most common ones are you being unable to advance because an enemy has wandered off the screen. Hitting pause and returning will usually do the trick here but it is a strange glitch to have. Picking up items, which not really a glitch, is VERY precise and if you aren’t in just the right spot that katana blade will stay right where it is.

• No Online Multi-player: It is kind of weird that a game with such an emphasis on multi-player would exclude online multi-player. Even if I had two other friends to join my girlfriend and me in the multi-player I wouldn’t have enough couch space or controllers to accommodate them. An online component would just make more sense for this kind of thing. I am not sure if it was just something that got dropped or if it was never in the plan to begin with but it should be in there.

• No Drop In/Drop Out: It is sort of weird to have a multi-player game that doesn’t allow for a player to join or exit at will. If you are playing a single player game you have to exit the game and both start at the same time to bring in another player. This is very irritating and makes very little sense. It isn’t like this represents technology that doesn’t exist or something. 8-bit games of the day generally offered it so it is strange to have it be missing here.

• Steep Difficulty for Single Players: As mentioned above, if you are playing by yourself you are going to have to grind to level and save your coins to buy a lot of power ups before you have a ghost of a chance of making it through. This isn’t a super bad thing but given how difficult it is right away, some players might be turned off by this and not bother to put in the time necessary to win.

Conclusion [8.5 out of 10]

Scott Pilgrim is not a perfect game but it is a wonderful adaptation and a great companion to the books and the movie. If you like old school beat em ups and like Scott Pilgrim you will find a lot to like and will keep coming back for more and more.