Digital games can be a wonderful thing. They do not run the risk of getting lost like physical video game cards. You can fit a dreadful great deal of them on one MicroSD card these days. They give indie developers a simpler choice for circulation. Yet video games like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Video Game likewise highlight the biggest disadvantage of digital releases: just four years after the video game’s preliminary release in 2010, it was delisted from all shops due to licensing issues. Just like that, a popular and special brawler was cleaned from presence, and just those who bought it in its availability window could still play it.
In the years considering that, there’s been a constant online push from fans who wished to see the game re-released for modern platforms, and after a lot of back and forth, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game– Total Edition lastly entered being ( and this time with a physical edition, too!) A decade on from its release, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Video game shows to still be a top-tier brawler that feels like a terrific fit for the Change hardware.
For those of you who haven’t seen the film or read the comics, the story follows Scott Pilgrim, a slacker living in Toronto who starts dating a strange woman named Ramona Flowers. Sadly for Scott, the League of Seven Evil Exes is hellbent on controlling Ramona’s love life, so he should take them all on in overblown fights to the death in order to win the right to continue dating her.
Cocky film stars, psychic vegans and lesbian ninjas are par for the course here, making for a remarkably unique cast of interesting characters to interact with.
The genuine star of show here is the arcade-like gameplay, which centers on a basic loop of clearing out screens of baddies, looting practically adequate change for the bus ride home, and continuing this cycle until you reach the Evil Ex for that stage.
There’s a subtle aura of method underlying this gameplay which becomes part of what makes it so interesting. Unlike many other arcade fighters– which can frequently feel like they’re degenerating to a button-mashing mess– you need to be a little bit more thoughtful in how you approach fight here. Enemies struck hard and if they knock you down, they won’t hesitate to juggle you for a bit and take huge portions out of your health. Understanding how and when to apply your combos is important, then, along with understanding when to lay off the offense and make use of a well-timed block to negate a mean hit. This sort of ebb and flow goes a long way towards making the gameplay engaging; if you do not adapt your playstyle properly, it’s easy to get rolled and see that ‘video game over’ screen all prematurely.
Fortunately, there are some light RPG elements to assist relieve some of the trouble and to toss in a little bit more replayability.
Those of you who require a little extra boost for dealing with the tougher phases can likewise head over to a shop where you can purchase consumables or permanent stat boosters.
Single-player is naturally supported here, but the best experience comes from playing in co-op. Like numerous other party video games, then, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is the sort of video game you have to play with good friends in order to really ‘get it’.
That unique art style which would go on to become a staple of many video games produced by Tribute was first used in this release, and it’s clear that the art team had quite a bit of fun establishing how Scott Pilgrim vs. The World looks. The comic’s original art is mashed together with retro visuals to make for an extremely meaningful and completely interesting visual design that makes each fight a genuine happiness to behold. Whether it’s the quickly changing sets on a movie studio lot or a dive bar somewhere in Toronto, the backgrounds are filled with all sorts of little details and NPCs that make each environment feel as though it’s bristling with activity, even beyond the enormous fight you’re caught up in.
All of this is then backed by a stellar initial soundtrack carried out by Anamanaguchi The famed chiptune rock band goes a long method towards giving Scott Pilgrim vs. The World its unique identity through mixing 8-bit video game noise bites with hard rock music. Not every tune is completely unforgettable, this soundtrack supplies the ideal tempo and energy required to go along with the chaos of the combat.
All the initial release’s DLC is consisted of here, which means you can play as a couple of new characters (and if you thought Wallace is one of them, you ‘d think right) and that some additional side modes have been added, such as a video game of Dodgeball. This is still the sort of video game that you can truly only get a couple dozen hours out of at the majority of, but the additional material does however give you a bit more to chew on while it lasts.
The only imperfection on this otherwise exceptional brawler is the fact that the trouble scaling can be a little out of whack in numerous locations. That is to state, the problem curve is scarcely a curve at all. Some levels are nearly impenetrable walls that you beat against repeatedly till lastly being lucky adequate to break through. Others are an absolute breeze to survive. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World oscillates a bit too much between these 2 extremes, then, which can make for an experience that frequently feels weirdly paced.
Likewise, the online in our experience has been rather middling. It’s challenging to inform whether this has to do with pre-release server problems or a much deeper issue, but actually getting into an online game is a bit of a trial. And even when we did get a steady video game going, we experienced numerous problems that ranged from being amusing to completely stopping further level development.
Conclusion
Those of you looking for the next Castle Crashers or Streets of Rage need look no more, as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Video Game– Total Edition is an excellent beat ’em up for your Change. Bombastic presentation and crispy battle gameplay make this one pleasurable from start to finish. It can feel like it runs a bit brief and the problem spikes can be rather intense, we ‘d offer this one a strong suggestion to anybody looking for a fun, short video game to play in co-op. Let’s just hope it stays for longer than 4 years this time.