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

What’s up, gamers? Genvel here reviewing today’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition. I am so freaking happy that this game actually exists. I’m somebody that played the original version of this back in 2010, and when this originally came out, it really was a groundbreaking piece of work because this was one of the first games I ever saw that was pretending to be retro.

This is a modern game that looks good, it plays good, it is so freaking fun, but it’s definitely trying to imitate the best games from the 8 and 16-bit eras. Now I want to break down what this game is, how it plays, and most importantly, is worth the price?

Gameplay

Now let’s assume you’ve never played it; let’s assume you’ve never even heard of Scott Pilgrim. This is a fighting game in a way it’s basically a side-scrolling beat-em-up where you and three of your friends can team up either online or with couch co-op to try and defeat a bunch of bad guys and win you the girl named ramona flowers.

Now ramona herself is an exciting girl, but she does have a bit of a history, which is the fact that to win her heart, you have to defeat her seven evil exes. These are basically her ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends, but this isn’t just gonna be a straight-up street brawl. These people have some magic powers from ancient mysticism to using psychic abilities or summon robots, or one of them has the power of veganism.

It’s ridiculous! But the main appeal of this game is definitely the giant eccentric boss fights, and I have to say that while playing this game, the thing that struck me the most is how much this still feels modern. When I’m playing through this, I managed just completely to blow through it. The entire game is about four hours long, and even though that sounds short, it feels so good because while you’re playing it, this is an obvious celebration of retro gaming.

It was that exemplification of the carefree adventures of the 90s. This works so well because everything in this manages to be so retro from the really freaking good chiptune, soundtrack, the coolest heck animations, or even just times where you could see these original cutscenes, which were done by the creator of the Scott Pilgrim comic.

I feel like Scott Pilgrim’s point has always been a parody and almost sequel to classic beat-em-ups, and this is itself a classic beat-em-up.

Combat

Now let’s talk about the combat itself. When you’re playing this, the controls are very, very easy. You have a punch button, a kick button, an assist button that lets you summon like a sidekick for a second or your special attack things are very, very easy.

When you first start this quest at the beginning of the game, you don’t exactly have a lot of skills. You’re just punching and kicking. As you progress, you unlock different combinations of abilities that let you grab and throw people, make counter attacks, or even attack directly behind you to keep yourself from being surrounded.

But in my opinion, the reason you played this game isn’t for the superb combat. This is not at all a deep game. It’s because of the art direction, the story, and the great freaking graphics. This is a game that you’re kind of playing because it is such a perfect slice of retro gaming. But let’s talk about something about this that I think has not aged well. The length of these levels can still be a little bit too long.

This game is four hours long. It feels like it should be two hours long and what I mean by that is while you’re playing these levels, you’re going through nightclubs or fighting people out here in just the middle of like broken dojos or something, and while you’re doing these levels, they are fast and fun and interesting but as you go there is some filler. Like many times, you’ll end up fighting the same waves of bad guys again and again and again, but strangely this problem of extended levels gets solved the more you play the game.

Because by playing one of the characters, there are several different playable characters they level up. They get new skills, and you also get money. You can walk into tons of different shops and each level to buy stuff like CDs, food, or stat-boosting stuff like gear and things by getting money. And by getting these items, your character becomes permanently stronger.

Let me tell you. A strong Scott Pilgrim can literally uppercut people off the screens and stuff that makes it where you’re playing this. The long levels feel shorter if you take the time to grind.

Co-op

Everything about this game has been fun. I beat this game by myself, and this is a game that’s definitely better co-op. If you have some friends hanging out and want to play a game over the course of a party night or something, this is a fantastic couch co-op experience. But as of now, the online is completely broken.

So I decided to test this, and over the course of a couple of hours of testing last night, I could only get a single lobby going because every other one kept crashing. Even when I did manage to get a full cabal of people and try and play the game itself, it was so laggy we could not finish a single stage. I’m not sure what’s causing this. I have talked to some other reviewers, which seems to be a pretty permanent problem. People seem to be having this on every platform, every source. If you’re playing this game, it is currently a pretty laggy experience.

I consider this to be a pretty big drawback because part of this game is fun. After all, it’s a multiplayer brawler. It’s a chance to take the streets and be goofy and have fun with your buddies and go on this really cutesy cool adventure. So the fact that this is now pretty much impossible to do on the internet that kind of sucks, and I’m straight up about it.

But if you’re trying to play this game because you want a slice of the past, it is like 15 bucks. I completely think it’s worth it. As somebody who played it back in the day, I enjoy it more now because I can see all the bad fake retro games; seeing a great fake retro game is something that I could really respect. I admire the fact that they managed to cobble this game together, and it’s kind of funny that it’s almost transcended the original Scott Pilgrim story and become something completely on its own that Scott would be proud of.

Verdict

Some of you may be asking what specifically is different about this complete edition, well, pretty much nothing. This is basically just got the DLC, which is two extra characters. It’s the same game; it’s the same charm, it’s the same freaking experience we got a decade ago, just bright and flashy and new and now with some trophies and achievements. It’s cool, and I’m glad it’s back.