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Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition Switch Review

Having watched the live-action film recently during the pandemic, it seemed fitting to continue with the complete edition of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game. After an unexpected delisting from digital stores in 2014, Scott Pilgrim returns in the ideal form of a co-op beat ’em up. It’s a satisfying time fighting through the streets, but ultimately, that is all it is.

If you have read the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley or watched the film adaptation featuring Michael Cera, you’ll know the premise of the story. Scott Pilgrim falls in love with the American delivery girl, Ramona Flowers, but must defeat her seven evil exes to date her. This is slightly altered in the game as you can select various characters and level them up to increase their movesets. However, I would have liked to see them tell a more extensive narrative, and, personally, it seems like a waste of a license.

Scott Pilgrim
Image Credit – Ubisoft

Like all brawlers, the moves you learn along the way can be hit and miss. This is the case in Scott Pilgrim, but not for the reason you would think. A lot of the moves you learn actually serve a purpose in taking down your enemies; that is when they work, of course. This game is designed to be played with a keyboard or with a d-pad as using an analog stick to complete certain moves is extremely clunky. Despite the fact this is a remaster in 2021, the game still feels dated.

“Each level just felt boring.”

Each playable character has health and guts points. Running out of health sends you back to the main menu, whereas guts will revive you if you have enough of it along with allowing you to perform special moves — all pretty stock standard stuff. Killing enemies rewards with coins that you can spend at the shop to increase health, guts, and even one of four stats; Willpower, Strength, Speed, and Defense. These stats max out at 100, but spending money in the strength stat will dramatically boost how quickly you can mow through enemies.

This leads to enemies being relatively insignificant. Even though this made the game feel quicker, it made brawling through the levels repetitious and monotonous. I powered through each level, fighting wave after wave of enemies, to do it all again if I lost to one of Ramona’s exes at the end. This left a sour taste in my mouth as each course just felt boring.

There are a variety of different enemies in Scott Pilgrim, but alas, most are quite forgettable. The game shines through its boss fights. Brawling against Ramona’s exes is the most enjoyable part of completing a level. This led me to enjoy Boss Rush, one of the game’s 4 extra modes, a tremendous amount more than the story mode.

Scott Pilgrim
Image Credit – Ubisoft

Scott Pilgrim even contained a few glitches which are imperative to the beat ’em up genre. In the earlier levels, I found myself occasionally having to fight invisible people. I would have to swing and punch the air so that I could locate the enemy… Even trying to grab coins, at times, felt rigid, forcing me to climb onto objects, just to be able to collect them.

“The perfect game to play with friends.”

In terms of audio-visuals, Scott Pilgrim looks and sounds incredible, keeping true to the original. I played the game on the Nintendo Switch, and never felt disadvantaged I wasn’t playing on PC. The retro soundtrack feels nostalgic, and I constantly had it blaring as I smashed through the levels.

While this game can be played in single-player, you will undoubtedly enjoy it more with friends. You can have up to 4 friends playing with you (if you have that many friends) and each person can play a different playable character. It also helps that the game is quite cheap. For only A$22.95, you have a perfect couch co-op game to play with friends for a night.

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Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition Review
Summary
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game Complete Edition stays true to the movie and comic book themes, and provides an adequate experience for those who love Scott Pilgrim. However, those who were expecting a story-rich experience need to look elsewhere. The retro audio and graphics perfectly fit the game's style, but that alone was not enough to save a game that failed on the core essentials of a beat 'em up.
Pros
Nostalgic
Retro Audio-visuals
Enjoyable Boss Fights
Cons
Repetitive
Clunky Controls
Invisible Enemies
5