As of today I am currently 3 entries behind on the Call of Duty franchise with the release of Black Ops. Unfortunately for the good people at Treyarch my money belongs to one man today, Scott Pilgrim. Today, November 9th, is the release of Scott Pilgrim Vs The World on Blu Ray and DVD. What better way to celebrate the release of this incredible movie (which you all need to go out and buy, now!) than to review the game!
Before I start this review let me first explain just how bias I am. First and foremost I love Scott Pilgrim, both the books and movie. Second I am a sucker for retro style 8-bit stuff. That said, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game is like a perfect storm for me.
A brief synopsis: SPVTW: The Game is based on the 6 graphic novels that the film is based on (Note: not based on the film). Basically the graphic novels themselves are set up like a video game in which our hero, Mr. Pilgrim, must defeat his new loves 7 evil ex boyfriends. The world of Scott Pilgrim is easily one of its most fascinating aspects. Bryan Lee O'Malley crafted a comic book world with heavy video game influence. So how does that translate to an actual game?
The art style of SPVTW is reminiscent of the books, but at the same time is injected with a delightful bit of nostalgia. Levels play out like a side scrolling beat 'em up with quirky 8-bit graphics. But it goes beyond just the look of the game, small nods to classic games can be found at every corner. Bosses blink when low on health, giant blocks with question marks deliver coins upon impact, and there are these "subspace highways" you can find that perfectly emulate NES glitches, and my personal favorite: a world map. Simply put, it's fantastic.
On top of all that the game never feels old. It takes massive strides to invoke nostalgia but all the while feels fresh and new. Contributing to this is the leveling and shop systems. SPVTW features a RPG lite level system from beating baddies and collecting experience. This can be further augmented by stopping in the various shops and spending your hard earned cash on items (most of which are cleverly named after new and oldschool games/characters).
The gameplay itself actually improves as you improve. The game starts out a bit on the sluggish side, your characters hits a bit slow and you'll be taking a lot more punches then you dish out. As you level up you you'll get faster and unlock sweet new moves to ease the pain of getting constantly beat down by nameless thugs, which brings us to the difficulty.
The game starts out a bit difficult, and it's tough to beat the first level without dying at least once. The game is made substantially easier with proper mastery of the block button, seriously people, learn it love it. After you gain a few levels though, you'll be right on your way to Gideon, especially if you have some help. Like all the old arcade quarter eaters SPVTW is made to be played with friends. 4 of your favorite people can play at a time as either Scott, Ramona, Steven Stills, Kim Pine, and the newly downloadable Knives Chao (Mr Chao and Nega Scott are also unlockable).
Co-op works as expected and one of my only gripes, no drop in drop out, has been fixed with a recently released downloadable ad on. Friendly fire can be turned off, which is greatly appreciated as sometimes higher level characters can toss an item the will bounce on the edges of the screen and do some serious damage to a lower level friend. The only other aspect I didn't quite like in co op was whenever you play with a friend the "Guest's" levels and stats don't get saved.
Another aspect of SPVTW I have to gush on is the sound and music. Again, I will admit to nostalgia, but this is the best gosh darn soundtrack I've heard since World of Goo. As you might have guessed the music follow suit with the rest of the game and goes for an all out assault of chip-tunes goodness (a soundtrack I now own in full, thank you Amazon). The music is attributed to Anamanaguchi and is entirely original. This stuff is classic, it was made based on the oldschool philosophy of gaming and something that almost no one could pull off today: How to loop a track for an entire level without it getting repetitive or annoying. I could play these levels over and over with the same track playing in the background and still be humming the tune long after I turned off the game.
Fun old school game play with catchy music and slick retro visuals; In the end all of these elements come together to form one spectacular package. This game has it all! Anyone can easily justify the $10 for this one, so do yourself a favor and pick it up. Scott Pilgrim's game is no less awesome than his books or movies, and you should know how ridiculously awesome those are.
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