Whilst I’ve got love for every entry I’ve put forth so far, some entries have truly warmed me to write about because they either take me back to a simpler happy time, or they just remind me why video games have never ceased to exist as my premier hobby.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game is one of those games.
Going into 2010 I was undeniably excited for the Scott Pilgrim film to be released. It pandered to the awkward dork like me. Once the film landed I loved it. As a single gamer between girlfriends at the time I could relate to the character in a number of ways and the careful attention in referencing nostalgic pop culture stuff is essentially my existence.
So naturally, the geek in me lasso’d onto the franchise and get deep into the fandom. I bought the books, I bought t-shirt’s that only fans would recognise, I showed as many friends I could the film (possibly annoying others by narrating every reference I could from the film), and…I bought the game.
By this point, history had already taught me that generally anything adapted from elsewhere and turned into a game usually tastes stale. Furthermore. Low budget, digital marketplace only games based on licenses had just as bad a reputation if not worse. Yet through some sweet miracle, this game excelled.
The game was modeled after the 2D arcade beat-em-up genre that became the go-to game choice for many a licensed property back in the days (The Simpsons, Turtles, X-Men, and several other Marvel characters to name but a few). Whilst the side scrolling beat-em-up genre has had a number of good new entries since it’s hey day (Castle Crashers, Double Dragon Neon, River City Ransom: Tokyo Rumble) this game stands as my most memorable of the genre from the past 10 years. A mix of the level design, character nuances, and the neat levelling up/ upgrade system tied to each individual character just had me going for a new game plus run over and over and over.
Scott Pilgrim the game was no stranger to it’s source material, and just like the books and the movie before it, this game had many little easter eggs and nods to classic video games before it. Examples being; numerous character attacks/ animations, details in the environment, enemies you’ll face, shop items, and even some of the audio.
Speaking of audio. I have this game to thank for exposing me to one of my favourite bands, Anamanaguchi (whom I’ve managed to catch in the UK twice since this exposure). The soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim is amazing. Unless they’ve been turning down a plethora of offers, I would of thought this game would’ve been the perfect résumé that would have been the start of many a video game soundtrack by these guys.
As the Scott Pilgrim story takes place in snowy Toronto, you’ll be seeing snow as early as level 1, so it makes the Winter in Gaming for that reason at it’s lowest pitch. Furthermore though this game supports 4 player co-op (originally this was local only, but later included online). Due to the nature of the local co-op only I used to play this for hours with my friend Drew who’d bring his xbox profile over on a usb stick and we’d grind out characters and eventually try to come up with new strats for taking out bosses quicker or streamlining sections that prove to be somewhat frustrating when you’re on a lower exp. level.
Now. If you’ve followed this post along without opening up other tabs and feel compelled to give the game a go, here’s the bit were I crush that dream :/
Due to licensing contracts expiring, Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game has been delisted from both the XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3 digital stores. So given that no retail release exists this essentially means that no current way to get hold of the game legally exists.
The only options for you to experience this game are to either hit up friends via social media or others means to see who has it, then potentially ask if you can share games with them (easier on PS3), it’s still downloadable for those who already purchased it. Alternatively you need to get lucky at finding any sort of place online that has a digital code for the game available.
Personally I’d love to buy the game again just to have it again on my PlayStation 3 if I had the chance, but till a way for that comes into play I’ll cherish that I still have it on my XBOX 360 with all the DLC.
I really hope in time the game finds a re-release, even if only a temporary window as I’ll gladly use every means I can to get the word out on how worthwhile the game is. The best I can do for any seething readers who want to take in the game… watch a longplay.
At least this way you’ll be able to keep your eyes open for all the references without being focused on combat like you might be if you were playing.
~~*if you feel cheated that you can’t play get a hold of this game, please substitute this selection for any classic 2D beat em up you care to buddy-up with a friend with and play that instead~~
my bad