If you’ve seen “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” or read the “Scott Pilgrim” graphic novels in the past few years, you might be wondering why there isn’t a video game based on the series. Well, there was, at least for a few years.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game was first released on digital storefronts in 2010 and garnered love from fans all over the world. Due to licensing issues, however, gamers have been unable to purchase it since 2014. Seven years later, the game is finally back, but is it as good as everyone remembered?
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game Complete Edition follows the story of the original “Scott Pilgrim” graphic novels.
It’s a classic boy meets girl story: Scott and Ramona are in love, but there’s only one thing stopping them from being together: Ramona’s exes. Scott and his friends must team up to take down the League of Evil Exes one by one so that Scott and Ramona can finally be together.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game is one of the best side-scrolling beat em’ ups of the modern era. It is a masterclass in engaging, fun gameplay. Even if you don’t consider yourself a fan of beat em’ ups, chances are you’ll find yourself having fun with this one.
By introducing a level system and individual character stats, Scott Pilgrim keeps itself interesting from the first level to the last. Each time your character levels up, they not only become more powerful, they also unlock additional moves they can use to take down enemies. This prevents the game from ever feeling stale as you constantly feel your character evolving and growing.
Developers Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Chengdu lovingly recreated the world of “Scott Pilgrim” in this game. Each stage is based on a distinct moment from the graphic novels and is full of references and easter eggs that any fan is sure to recognize.
Even if you’ve never read “Scott Pilgrim” before, chances are you’ll still be cracking up at all of the visual gags littered throughout each stage.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game also features a stellar soundtrack from chiptune band Anamanaguchi. Each stage’s music will get stuck in your head for hours after you put the game down and stands out as one of the best soundtracks in gaming.
Though it is certainly good that gamers can purchase and play Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game again, Complete Edition certainly isn’t a perfect port.
On PlayStation 5, the game crashed about 15 different times while being played for this review, which is simply unacceptable. Multiple levels had to be completely replayed from the beginning because of this bug, which will hopefully be fixed soon.
On top of the issues with crashing, Complete Edition also has pretty terrible online support. Seeing as how we are currently living in a pandemic, it can be difficult to get together with friends in person to play couch co-op. Online would be a good answer to this, except that it barely works. Most online matches end within a few minutes, rendering it neigh unplayable.
If you are able to play Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game Complete Edition offline and without it crashing, it is one of the best games in its genre. With these issues being so prevalent, however, it is hard to fully recommend it before they are fixed.
Game reviewed on a PlayStation 5. Review code provided by Ubisoft.
3/5 Torches
