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

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game was a game that symbolizes the biggest downside of owning digital releases of video games. In 2014 Scott Pilgrim was delisted from all platforms due to trouble with licensing issues. That was the end of this pilgrim’s journey. Or so we thought. Nearly a decade later Scott Pilgrim is back on the market, not only digitally but physically as well.  As somebody who has read the graphic novels, seen the movie, played the original game and even the board game (even though I didn’t have friends to play with) I was absolutely ecstatic to take a trip down memory lane. Everyone can now revisit this 8-bit brawler and relive its glory days. But does Scott Pilgrim all these years later still hold up to that title?

I’m case you haven’t read the books or seen the movie Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, 23 year old Scott Pilgrim is a slacker living in Toronto who begins dating a mysterious girl named Ramona Flowers after declaring to defeat her Seven Evil Exes. If you want more on the story I’d recommend reading the books or at the least watching the movie for context. If you expect to get it from the game you’re going to be disappointed as it does not follow either the film nor book narratives. Then again it’s an arcade style beat ’em up so story isn’t the main concern here.

Gameplay is where Scott Pilgrim begins to shine. You get to play as 7 different characters with their own moves sets, from their own special abilities to combos. Money plays a key role as you use it to buy food and items to help level up your character granting access to new moves and stats that consist of defense, speed, willpower and strength. 

Playing Scott Pilgrim alone is okay but playing it with friends is, believe me, 10x better. Performing combos together with four of your best mates, tag teaming waves of enemies and bosses is not only easier but also a boatload of fun. It’s almost as if the game is meant to be played like this. If you want to get the most out of this game, multiplayer is the way to go. Other game modes besides story include dodgeball, survival horror, boss rush and even a battle royal. 

Don’t even get me started on the soundtrack for the game. I can rant on for hours but Anamanaguchi performs astounding pieces that capture the element of a 8-bit RPG Beat ’em up. The tempo, the beats and the music flow nearly flawlessly as fists are flying all over the screen. I’m not saying every song is memorable but hats off to Ananmanguchi because there’s some bangers in here. You definitely will remember Another Winter.

There are some elements that I hoped would have been added to this remaster. In item shops it would be helpful to know exactly what you’re buying. Items don’t tell you what stats go up upon purchase so it ends up being trial and error hoping you bought something worth its price. Parrying is also an element you unlock down the line but it’s very finicky when it wants to work. Once enemies land a punch on you they’ll begin to just wallop you with blows with no way to defend yourself. The only way to counter that is to predict when an enemy is going to hit you and parry, however it’s much harder to do so when there are a ton of enemies crowding the screen. Combos aren’t necessarily easy to pull off either, especially when using the analog stick vs the D-pad. It’s really tricky to get the hang of. 

Throughout the game I’ve encountered some glitches where I would get knocked out of the map and wouldn’t spawn in, or me or me and my co-op partner would both lose our lives but we’d be stuck floating as ghosts. These only happened on rare occasions so it really didn’t disrupt my experience. 

Conclusion

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is an absolute must have if beat ’em ups are your type of game. The action packed co-op mixed with Anamanaguchi’s soundtrack sets the mood perfectly. Although it takes some time to learn and nail down some combos once you get the hang of things you’re sure to have a smashing time. 

This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox One console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.