Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game – Complete Edition review

Whether you’ve read the superb graphic novels written by Bryan Lee O’Malley, or watched the excellent movie starring Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, you’ll know the appeal of Scott Pilgrim. The hapless romantic finds the love of his life, only to discover there are seven of her exes that are all evil. In order to finally Netflix and chill with the multi-coloured haired teen, he must defeat them. When the side-scrolling beat-em-up released way back in 2010, it became somewhat of an indie classic on the Xbox Arcade. I loved it, as did many others, and now it’s had a revival everyone has an opportunity to play it. In many ways, Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game – Complete Edition is the same game, only it now includes the original DLC in one complete package.

Its pixelated style harks back to an era of old. Whilst it has the 16-bit charm of many Mega Drive and SNES classics, it also has the difficulty. Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game – Complete Edition is hard. If you’re wanting to play it on your own, be prepared to die – a lot. You can grind for coins to eventually upgrade your arsenal, and as you level up you gain new moves, but it’ll take a while until you’re at a decent level to feel untouchable. If you don’t have the time or patience for this, you can team up with up to three friends online. There’s also couch co-op as well, so there will be plenty of opportunities to jump into a session with your pals.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game – Complete Edition is a treat on the eyes. The bright colours and punk rock attitude elevate the environments and visual effects, and the banging soundtrack by chiptune legends Anamanaguchi is equally as satisfying. There’s plenty of side-games to play whilst making your way through the levels that help to split up the somewhat monotonous combat. At the end of each world, you end up fighting each of Ramona’s exes. Whilst they become increasingly more difficult, there’s enough variety in them, even if it’s mainly a case of beating the crap out of them.

For example, Todd tries to hit you with his mutated arm and shock you with his electrified hair, whilst Roxanne is more agile, attacking you with her sword whilst sporadically disappearing. The enemies you fight throughout the worlds are diverse, as are the levels. Whether you’re fighting through snowy streets, onboard a moving train, or a film set, it’s wonderfully designed. With the polish the re-release brings, it looks fantastic on the Switch.

The extra game modes are fun for a while, but the only one with any staying power is Battle Royal, as long as you have some friends to play with. You essentially fight each other until there’s one person left standing. Boss Rush sees you face off against all the bosses; Survival Horror makes you face hordes of zombies in order to survive; and Dodgeball is, well, dodgeball. There are no new game modes in Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game – Complete Edition. That’s not such a bad thing, as not everyone will have been able to play this when it came out a decade ago. The combat manages to hold up today, thanks to the speed of it, but movement can be cumbersome, especially when facing multiple foes.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game – Complete Edition may not be on a par with Streets of Rage 4 or Battletoads from last year, but the style and variety will keep you occupied. If you’re willing to grind alone, or want something to play with your friends, it’s certainly worth the investment. It is hard, with every new level providing a steep difficulty curve, but much like Scotty P, if you have your mates by your side, you’ll get by in the end.