Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: the Game Review

I consider myself something of an arcade brawler connoisseur: from Captain Commando to X-Men, I’ve played them all. While others have damned the genre to a shallow grave of irrelevance, I had to seek refuge in whatever beat ‘em ups I could get my hands on, but aside from occasional titles like Castle Crashers and Dungeon Fighter Online, there has been little on the horizon for side-scrolling punch-fests. So it was with great anticipation that I booted up Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: the Game and readied the divot in my couch for some serious bonding time.

At its core, Scott Pilgrim is an arcade brawler that borrows heavily from its ancestry. The base mechanics are a hodge-podge of elements taken from the varied schools of beat ‘em up design.  Although the experience and shop mechanics are lifted almost directly from Thechnos’ River City Ransom, the core brawling mechanics are a hybrid of classic Capcom and Konami games. There is an obvious focus on weapon-based combat, similar to Capcom’s Final Fight or The Punisher, but it should be noted that destructible set pieces have worked their way in from the Konami camp. Unfortunately, neither throwback is as successful as the elements lifted from River City: weapon drops are almost too plentiful,and generally feel underpowered without a combo comparable to your base fighting resume. Also the destructible environments require too much damage before any change is noticed, and almost never serve any purpose –you’ll often find yourself delivering twenty some-odd punches to a mailbox, only to discover that it’s empty.

Despite these minor shortcomings, Scott Pilgrim is a remarkable evolution of the genre.  Recognizing that the average player has more than two hours to spend on gaming at a time, the developers let loose and designed much lengthier levels than are typical for its game type. Each stage is a beautifully pixilated adaptation of suburban Canada – a much underutilized setting to be sure. Although there are shortcuts, via the hidden entrances to the Sub-Space Highway, some stages can take as long as an hour to reach the end!  This may seem like a blessing to folks like me that want to sink their teeth into a deep fighter, but it is actually a masquerading curse: there are no checkpoints in Scott Pilgrim. If you die at a boss, you lose all of your progress for that level.  No matter how much fun a level may be, after the third or fourth time you’ve lost an hour of progress, it’s just another chore.

Scott P, like all brawlers, was designed with more than one player in mind. This is a shame, considering that the game does not offer online coop.  If you happen to be sharing a couch with someone, playing with a friend is ideal.  Each of the enemies can take a significant amount of damage, and on single player, each confrontation feels long-winded and repetitive. Adding another player to double the hits really picks up the pace. Play on the higher difficulties without at least one companion is not advisable, as the developer’s idea of scaling was to increase enemy HP, turning each slobbering henchman into an endless punching bag when you’re alone.

It’s true: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: the Game has some blemishes, but it is still a very solid game, well worth the $10 price tag. The lack of online multiplayer and the lack of mid-level checkpoints will be a major deterrent for some, but an entirely new, lengthy and in-depth slug-fest has certainly been a long time coming. If you have been pining for something new since Castle Crashers, and can overlook its faults, I can give Scott a strong recommendation; just make sure you have a buddy handy to share it with.