PSN Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim is a nerd’s dream-come-true. The adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s beloved comic book series tosses a little manga, romance, and 8-bit video game love into a hurricane of evil exes, setting an indie music scene against a Canadian backdrop. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game isn’t a thoughtless retreading of the movie or comics. If anything, it plays to the tune of both while composing its own melody: a side-scrolling, one-to-four player beat-em-up with the bells and whistles of an RPG.
The environments might mimic that old school style, with countless homages to classic games strewn visibly throughout, but the game’s energy and creativity paints a new world over top. Broken down into sections, levels usher in loads of enemies, smashable and throwable objects, and secrets—from subspace highways to convenient shops, for when you need a quick pick-me-up. Bosses definitely rank as the highlight of each area, and you’ll throw down with them in charming ways, but that doesn’t mean enemies are forgettable or even easily bypassed. Each type attacks with a signature pattern and blocks or counters with his own defensive strategy.
Players can choose between Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Kim Pine, and Stephen Stills as they plow through all seven of Ramona’s old flames. Food and drinks can be taken as snacks, rescuing players from total health depletion in a pinch (gut points are life-savers, too), and other purchasable items raise stats even when the max level (16) has been reached. These RPG elements do sprinkle on extra charm, but moreso they hinder gameplay, forcing players to labor through the early levels with few moves and weak stats.
There’s a lot of replay value in Scott Pilgrim, with unlockable modes and co-op action, but beating the game the first time around is a headache-inducer. Multiplayer is infested with glitches, and there’s one glaring, fundamental oversight: Unless you completely finish a level, checkpoints won’t stick around for good. That often means pointlessly working through half a level, only to restart from the beginning (with more lives and a better chance) after you die.
From fights to shopping sprees, Scott Pilgrim doesn’t play fair. You’ll have to guess at the benefit of each espresso, meal, or hipster tee, as details aren’t available until after you buy. Don’t bother paying off Scott’s late rental fees, either, unless you have additional cash to burn—the massive debt returns after you exit the vendor. If the developers were aiming to design a game that could be plucked from an early console era, then they achieved their goal. The only problem? They forgot about all the bad mechanics, bugs, and frustrating gameplay that made those games painful to bear. 9/10
Also available on Xbox Live Arcade.
