Since the dawn of man, there has been wars and fights between them, and usually over a woman. The cave men would kidnap women from other clans, to make sure their clan survived. Helen of Troy’s beauty was so grand she caused the Trojan War. Eric Clapton battled with Rock and Roll. Belting out “Layla,” while wooing George Harrison’s wife away. Yoko Ono is often blamed for the demise of the Beatles. Of course nowadays we have Billy Bob and Cooter down at the local dive bar, fighting over the one girl who has most of her teeth. Thanks Pabst. It seems, women are the only thing that makes us as crazy as our console loyalty. Enter Scott Pilgrim into the fray.
Scott Pilgrim is a comic book series, written by Bryan Lee O’Malley. It is also about to be released in film version, starring everyone’s favorite dopey/mopey guy Michael Cera. Scott Pilgrim is a bass guitarist from Toronto, who just met the girl of his dreams, Romona Flowers. To be with Romona though, Scott must show her he is bonafied, and take down her seven evil ex-lovers. I have to admit, I never heard of Scott Pilgrim before E3. I saw some footage of the downloadable movie tie-in game from Ubisoft and its retro vibe had me hooked. Now as the trailers are coming out for the movie, I am ready to go purchase a ticket. It looks to be a surprise summer movie, kind of like District 9 last year. Lets get to the game.
Upon booting up the game, you are given a vibrant HD Ubisoft logo and the Universal Pictures famous floating Earth. Which made the the games retro look, and Zelda-esque map of Toronto stand out even more. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World video game, instantly reminds me of when I first moved to Oregon as young teenager, and finding the joy of nickel arcades. I would always end up at the damn Ninja Turtles game, dropping nickle after nickel. I always seemed to run out before I finished it. Scott Pilgrim is an intentionally retro, humorous, chocked full of pop culture, 4 player local co-op joy ride. I love side scrollers, and spent too much time playing the Streets of Rage series. This game is right up that alley. It possesses a definite SNES vibe, but today’s technology allows for better color schemes. SP is very colorful, despite its dreary Toronto winter setting. I kept finding myself back tracking after the fights to see the humor I missed in the background. Like one house address being the number for pi.
The controls are tight and responsive, but took a little getting used to. If you move your stick you will walk, but if you push it you will run, so you can do a dashing attack. That mechanic took some getting used to, found myself walking instead of running and getting into trouble. SP is meant to be played with friends. If you go solo be prepared to have your ass handed to you, and hit continue a lot. Its simplistic controls consist of attack, strong attack, jump, block, and a couple of special moves. Even though the controls are simple, you will get hit just when you let go of block. It feels a little cheap sometimes, and you must learn patience. The good thing is when you die, you retain all of the moves you gained in the RPG type progression, when you level up. The animation is smooth and crisp and reminds me of a arcade cabinet. The game’s audio, sounds like a NES system in high fidelity. It is really top-notch, and it fits the game perfectly. This is a great game except for a few items. There is no online play, so you need to have 4 controllers and four friends to enjoy it completely.
The only real gripe I have is, there is no drop in or drop out. You have to quit if someone wants to join or quit the ass kicking party, so you have to restart the level. That really is the only issue i have, and I give it a solid 8/10. If you are into side scrollers, this is a must buy. This is how you do a movie video game. Catch the essence, not rehashes of bad acting performances. Plus with a title so small, I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t packaged with the blu-ray release of the movie. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is available on the PSN for $9.99, it is worth the price of admisssion.
