written by Lee Clifford

Scott Pilgrim: I loved the comics, adored the movie, but what about the game? Can this franchise pull off the rare triple crown?

It not only can, it does.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is an inexpensive retro romp through the world of Toronto done in and old school beat 'em up fashion like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, or most noticeably, River City Ransom.


Mario 2 wishes it looked this good

Those who have read the comics won't be that surprised as the story repeatedly references that classic beat 'em up, even making Scott's origin story an exact duplicate of the game's storyline; the movie's more subtle reference to the game is also obvious, but Scott Pilgrim vs The World the game is far more loyal to the comics than to the film.

Premise
By now you've seen the movie, read the comics, or both, so you know what the deal is: You play as the titular Scott Pilgrim in a journey to confront, and defeat, Ramona Flowers' evil exes. Unlike the movie, however, this time Scott's not facing them alone, because you can have up to three friends on the couch with you who can take the control of Ramona, Stephen Stills and Kim; so it's basically Sex Bob-Omb plus Ramona battling their ways through Toronto to overcome the League of Evil Exes.

Gameplay
This is a game that I have been craving for years now, not so much the franchise, but the style. The classic arcade-style beat 'em up has been all but dead these last few years. Long gone are the days of Double Dragon, Final Fight, and the, at the time, groundbreaking titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons Arcade and X-Men, that boasted four or more players at one time.

Those games take me back to what was, in my mind, the golden age of arcade games; yes every other title became a beat 'em up in that era, but every generation has its key genre: today's gamers play mainly first person shooters, the late 90s and early 2000s belonged to fighting games, but the late 80s and early 90s had the beat 'em up plus the revolutionary new four player concepts that made games like Turtles in Time and Sunset Riders the legends that they are today.

So , enough gushing, does the game handle well? Heck yes it does. The controls are smooth and very responsive, delays on button and movement presses are non-existent as this fast-paced game requires tight and responsive controls, and this game delivers. It plays like you would expect any beat 'em up to play like, you start at point A and have to get to point B, beating up everyone who stands in your way until you reach the level boss at the end. Is it original and unique? Heck no it's not, but it doesn't matter because this is a genre that's been long neglected, and playing this game as it takes me back to my childhood and early teen years puts a huge smile on my face.

Graphics
Due to the retro gaming nature of the comics and movie, this game has many hyping it as 8 bit; I can appreciate the retro nostalgia by making that claim but if you look at the image above, it's clearly 16 bit with 8 bit elements added for flare.

By no account is this a bad thing, as my Super Nintendo was my best friend for a lot of years growing up, so to have those days brought back to me in all their pixelated glory is fine by me.

Though the graphics are intentionally nostalgic, there is still a very modern day polish to them, as the characters' facial expressions and nuances are all captured wonderfully, and the environments look great; it is a throwback to retro gaming, but not so much that younger gamers could accuse the developers of being lazy with their art.

Sound
Here is where the game can make its most valid claim at being 8bit. The music for much of the game is full of the bleeps and bloops and chimes one would hear from a classic Nintendo game, but oh so subtly the sound improves during levels to balance between SNES quality sound, and in some cases sound that would be found in a new release for this generation. The balance is subtle and just adds to the enjoyable experience of this title.

The music is also a lot of fun to have blasting while you play. Reminiscent of I Fight Dragons, the soundtrack of this game is littered with beeps and chirps but the drive of the music is fully instrumental and it's just a great hybrid; clearly the developers of this game have kept up to date on the current trend of bit-rock and have adapted this fad into their game, and it sounds great.

What Could Be Improved
I don't think this game has online, if it does I haven't been able to find it yet, and this bothers me. It's like when I downloaded Bubble Bobble on XBox Live Arcade, only to find I couldn't play it with my friends who also had it. In today's era of online-heavy gaming, I'm shocked that this game seems to be offline only.

Now watch once I post this I'll find there is a way to play online then I'll feel like a dope.

Final Thoughts
For a game that's not being heavily promoted on Microsoft's Summer of Live campaign, I really hope this game won't fly under too many gamers' radars. Players on the Playstation Network have already been able to experience this game for a few weeks, getting the jump on us 360 owners, which alone is a crime against this game that Microsoft has committed, but not giving it the hype it deserves is sheer criminal.

Plus, like the movie, actual Toronto venues in a video game just makes the experience so much more surreal. Sadly due to copyright I'm sure, Sneaky Dee's and Lee's Palace had to undergo minor name changes, but they're still recognizable and it's a blast seeing these places in digital format; plus if you've ever wanted to just go on a spree and beat down those pretentious hipsters you see populating Queen St, now you can! They even drop money when you do! They don't say "barf" though... sorry, my River City Ransom references aren't as funny.

Wonderful gameplay, fun and cute graphics and a head-bobbing soundtrack are all added bonuses to this fantastic throwback to the early 90s, when beat 'em ups were king and first person shooters were still getting the bugs worked out; plus the references to retro and current games make this title a delicious feast of pop culture and gaming humour (the bass battle had me chuckling a good 10 minutes after it even happened).

There's no reason not to get this title, at a modest $10 it can meet any gamers' budget and it delivers a lot more bang for the dollar than anything else I've downloaded.

Download this title, you'll have a lot of fun with it, and it can even work as a primer for those who have not yet read the comics. So, Summer of Live, keep your crappy new Castlevania game, don't even try to sell me on your even crappier new Tomb Raider, I've got Scott Pilgrim giving me wonderful nostalgic goodness that will leave those $15-$20 titles saying "I am so sad, I am so very, very sad".