The return of a cult game. After being missing in action for six years, Scott Pilgrim’s video game is released again. Ramona, it’s coming for you.
We weren’t discussing Tenet, but about Interstellar. Andrew Garfield was still Spider-Man and Marvel was still with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We did not know who Rosalía and C. Tangana were, and it was a few years before we started the car radio to not hear Des-pa-cito for the fifty-hundredth time. Atleti had just won the League (Ole, ole, ole …), Madrid raised their long-awaited tenth and Germany encasqueta a 7-1 to Brazil in Belo Horizonte. In video games, consoles suffered from personality disorder. Wii U believed itself to be successful and Xbox One was thought to be a television. Terms like battle royale, crunch and review bombing sounded like Chinese to us. We laughed when Bungie said that Destiny would last ten years and we looked forward to the arrival of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt believing that CD Projekt would become Rockstar Games one day. It was a time of acquisitions. Amazon bought Twitch, Facebook bought Oculus and Microsoft bet everything on Minecraft. Kojima was still at Konami, Sony still called PlayStation VR Project Morpheus, and Dragon Age: Inquisition was named Game of the Year at The Game Awards. That’s how things were in 2014, a year that is also known as the one in which Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game disappeared from the face of the earth. Well, perhaps the latter is to put it a bit dramatic, but the game was volatilized from the main digital platforms and was no longer available for purchase. There was no way to get a copy. The last push it needed to establish itself as a cult game. Since then, fans have spent six long years nagging Ubisoft and Bryan Lee O’Malley to bring him back. Six years in which, as we have seen, the world has changed a lot. However, now that it is finally back and we have had it in our hands, it is clear to us that there are two things that have not changed, nor will they change. The first is our fervor for all things Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers and the Sex Bob-Ombs. The second, that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is still a beat ’em up gem.
What’s new Old man?
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition is exactly the same game that we enjoyed in 2010, when it was released taking advantage of the pull of the wonderful (we repeat, wonderful) Edgar Wright movie. The only difference is that it now includes two DLC packs as standard that the original received between 2010 and 2013. The first of them was released coinciding with the release of the film on DVD and Blu-Ray. It brought with it a new playable character (Knives Chau) and two new game modes (Dodgeball and Total Battle). For its part, the second pack was made to beg for more than three years, but at least it served to correct the great problem of the title: the lack of online. That second DLC brought matchmaking and also allowed us to handle Wallace Wells, Scott’s roommate. Now all those characters, modes and online multiplayer are available from the beginning, and to them are added the relevant graphical improvements in terms of resolution, framerate and load times.
The game is a manual “I against the neighborhood”. A beat ’em up that emulates classics like Double Dragon or Final Fight from love.
A multiplayer to save single player mode
The most important addition is the online mode, as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition is still not entirely recommended for single player. It is no longer just that the extra modes lose all grace alone (Total Battle, for example, is a PvP mode that consists of facing the four players against each other in a kind of WWE ring, so without two people the game does not start). Nor do we say it because of those characteristics that evaporate if we wage war on our own, such as the option to resurrect our allies, steal lives, or do special team moves. It is directly that Scott Pilgrim is a “very broken” solo game that most of them will barely be able to overcome in its easiest difficulty and that based on farming and farming. It is frustrating because sometimes it seems that it does not depend on our ability at the controls, but on the improvements that we are buying from Scott. Without the help of others we will spend a good number of hours repeating levels, dying and accumulating coins. And then we’d better have a guide that tells us what we really have to buy (a guide like this, you’re welcome). More than one lone wolf will resist the number of enemies, the length of the phases and the level of strength and health of their final bosses. It happened in the original and it happens in this one. Once we assimilate it, let’s save enough and improve our character, we will turn the tables and we will end up being the ones who look like authentic vegan gods. Could be better balanced. In any case, the persistence of problems for a player’s content is minimized with matchmaking, thanks to which we will be accompanied whenever we want.
Seven levels that meet the bases of the genre (and even light RPG touches are allowed) with which we will be entertained for about 4 hours, although there are alterative endings, unlockable characters …
Tribute to the classics of the eighties
For the rest, the game is still a delicious button masher, a beat ’em up with an old flavor that reminds us of those wonderful afternoons of our childhood in which we discovered Double Dragon and Final Fight, or in which we also traveled in time and we distributed bullets from the hand of the Ninja Turtles. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition is a manual “I against the neighborhood”, allowing us to distribute tow to the Canadian neighbors of seven different levels, in which there is also space for minigames to dodge or break things and to throw some other career, elements with closer reminiscences, such as Castle Crashers. A button to punch (light attack), another for kicks (heavy), a third to block and a fourth that allows jumping, plus two triggers that either invoke a support character or launch our special movement. As you can see, the base is the same as always, as are the rest of the ingredients of its formula: holes through which we fall off the stage, invisible walls that only allow us to pass after cleaning the area, a final boss for each level , weapons such as bottles and baseball bats … In short, a light and friendly brawler that serves as a tribute to the arcades and arcade games that marked the adolescence of Bryan Lee O’Malley. Few adaptations reflect so well in their proposal the spirit of the original work.
The game assumes that you know the story of Scott and Ramona’s 7 evil ex-boyfriends (sorry, plain ex). It does not make any narrative effort and it is essential to have gone through the comics before, or at least the movie.
Duration and extras
Perhaps the greatest novelty of the title resides in “the RPG touch”. Our character gains experience, levels up as we fight and thus unlocks new movements. In addition, we will find several stores in the missions where to buy objects that improve their attributes, see those of strength, speed and life. Both ideas are interesting, but they end up being anecdotal. From the list of 16 movements we always spam the same three or four, and as for the objects, there is not even a menu where we can see what we carry and what our stats are. Not to mention that, as we said before, the latter negatively affect the balance of the singleplayer mode. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game does not complicate life, but the truth is that it does not need to be fun and entertaining either. In company, the around four hours that the adventure lasts are spent in a breath and guarantee both laughs and a good challenge. It is not an excessive duration, but it has a price more than appropriate and also then we can dedicate ourselves to try our luck in other difficulties, try to unlock Nega Scott, discover the different endings and raise all the characters to level 16. Not to mention Bonus modes like Boss Rush (a lifelong Boss Rush) and Survival Horror (where you survive hordes of zombies). You can easily double that number, but even if you didn’t, a short, direct, and unpretentious game is welcome. Offers a respite from current trends. Eye drops in a time full of 50-hour sandbox with pretense of transcending and the need to play all possible genres.
We have extra modes, such as Boss Rush (a lifelong Boss Rush), Survival Horror (where you can survive hordes of zombies), Total Battle (HP) and Dungeon Ball. In coop a 4 they are hilarious.
Visual delight, sonic orgasm
As for its graphic and sound section, what are we going to tell you that the original did not make clear, or that the images and trailers of the game do not show. This is its strong point and makes the title a must-see for Scott Pilgrim fans (whether they come from the movie or the graphic novels). Honorable mention for the Anamanaguchi soundtrack, composed for the occasion and simply memorable. 24 songs reminiscent of the best MIDI music of the eighties. It is not surprising that they had such a good tour on Amazon, iTunes and company, that they sneaked into the lists of the best of 2010 of the very Billboard magazine and that the group ended up releasing a special edition on vinyl back in 2014. As for the graphics, a clear demonstration of love for the 8 bits, the pixel and the sprite, for the NES and The Legend of Zelda, the saga that has always resonated in the background in Scott’s life. A visual explosion of effects, colors and characters, with a good number of them on screen and better finish and resolution than ever. We have not encountered some of the bugs that the original had, so nothing has prevented us from enjoying its aesthetics and wonderful designs. And speaking of these, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game features the original designs of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s work, hiding hundreds of references and winks. In fact you have to make a notice for sailors. The game makes no effort at the narrative level and assumes that you know the story. Yeah okay, it tells you that Scott loves Ramona and that you have to defeat the League of Ex-Bad Boys, but now. It does not have dialogue, nor does it bother to explain who is who, nor does it offer any kind of background or details. Nor does it reflect the diverse personalities of its protagonists, nor does it give way to the same old story. It is not a failure, it is made on purpose. On the one hand, because in the beat ’em up that history emulates it has always been that, something secondary. And on the other because you don’t need it to be fun. Leave everything narrative in the hands of a couple of cinematics and dozens of secrets and allusions of its settings (where we will even come across things that appeared in the comics and not in the film). It is friendly and can be enjoyed without being familiar with Scott Pilgrim, but it is highly recommended to know about his romantic adventures in Toronto if we want to enjoy it and get the most out of it.
For fans of the original work, the game is a museum of references and winks, an 8-bit marvel that also has an OST composed for the occasion by Anamanaguchi.
Maybe, and just maybe …
A priori, everything in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition seems in order: the (precious) price of the original plus the DLC has been preserved, we now have an online mode included as standard, the small bugs and setbacks of the first seem to have disappeared … and so on . However, we have to admit that we have also been left with the feeling that this return could have been accompanied by something else. After all, six years have passed since its disappearance and ten years since its launch. The world map of Toronto that we move through, for example, always had blocked areas where it was rumored that future DLC could be set that in the end never arrived. The game lent itself to some extra level, some more playable character, new minigames or, ultimately, details that would have made this “Complete Edition” an “Enhanced Edition”. And if not, at least minor corrections could have been introduced by balancing the game, fixing that difficulty curve that goes from 100 to 0, or increasing the variety of enemy types and weapons. Maybe new tricks. Yes, okay, we are always asking and we never settle for anything, but we love Ramona Flowers and the Scott Pilgrim universe too much. A thank you for these six years of waiting would not have been bad.
CONCLUSION
The return of a cult game, six years later. If all the video games that once adapted movies or comics had captured the essence of the original work so well as this Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, said genre would never have died out. We would still have new releases with the arrival of each blockbuster. But what these titles never understood is that the thing is not going to copy everything that happens on the screen and transfer it 1: 1 to your video game. It is about discovering and understanding the material from which you start. The game that concerns us today is a continuous tribute to the arcades and arcades that marked the adolescence of Bryan Lee O’Malley. A love letter for the 8 bits, the pixel and the sprite, for NES and MIDI music, for everything that, in short, is breathed in the background in Scott’s comics. Our protagonist was never distributing tow through the streets of Toronto. He was never a part of The Warriors and was dedicated to serving justice with a glass bottle or a baseball bat in hand. But at the same time, his story could not have a better adaptation than this, than a beat ’em up with an old flavor, than a “I against the neighborhood” like the old ones, like the ones we have all played as children. Because at the end of the day, Scott Pilgrim has always been a bit of that, a mix between the freaks that marked our childhood and our more “freaked out” dreams, such as having a rock band or kicking ass to the ex-boyfriends (sorry, just ex) of the girl we like the most. All mixed with touches of friendship, maturity and self-love. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is a must for fans of the character, who will see his spirit reflected here and who will delight in the dozens of winks and references that lie under his designs and settings. Not to mention the historic Anamanaguchi soundtrack and how fun it can be to be accompanied by multiple friends. Direct action and without major pretensions. A break from the rest of the games. And yes, maybe it is something short, simple and repetitive, and perhaps this edition could have done more than polish the great drawback of the original (the lack of online), but Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game still has something tremendously special: a love for the base material. The wait was worth it. We are Sex Bob-Omb!
THE BEST
- The price.
- This time he has online departure.
- The Anamanaguchi soundtrack remains memorable.
- Its aesthetics and the amount of winks and references to the work of Bryan Lee O’Malley.
- A beat ’em up with a vintage flavor. Unpretentious, fun and entertaining.
WORST
- Something short, simple and repetitive.
- It is not entirely recommended for playing alone.
- It could have offered more news compared to the original.
Very good
A game with a remarkable finish that we will enjoy and remember. A good buy, highly recommended for lovers of the genre. It is well cared for at all levels.
