The best homage to gaming’s past came in the form of Ubisoft’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, based on the zany action-comedy-romance comic by Bryan Lee O’Malley, set to release around the same time as the upcoming film staring Michael Cera. In his adventure, Scott Pilgrim must defeat the seven evil ex-boyfriends of the one he loves, Ramona.
This caught my eye from about forty feet away. After about thirty seconds, I couldn’t resist. Immediately, the game screamed River City Ransom. Acting as a purposely-pixilated side scrolling beat ‘em up, Scott Pilgrim turned out to be quite an interesting find. Up to four players can join in the fun.
Adding a block, special attack, and assist button to the basic punch/kick beat ‘em up formula of old, Scott Pilgrim progresses in typical left to right fashion. The more guys you beat up, the more skills and combos you learn, a feature relatively foreign to 2D beat ‘em ups. The bad guys also drop coins which can be used to purchase food and other unrevealed items. Just to clarify, the coins are dropped, not BARFed.
The enemies aren’t always gluttons for punishment (although there is one particular thug that sports Kanye glasses, which is an invitation to an ass-whooping); they tend to block and evade to a certain extent, rather than just running toward your fist. The game will feature multiple difficulty levels, with the hardest level being reserved to present a challenge for skilled gamers.
The boss battle we were able to play during the demo was more than just a meaty version of a normal enemy. This evil ex-boyfriend did more than try to smash us with chairs or bats. He really stepped up his game as compared to, say, a Final Fight boss. Summoning demon ladies and using various sorts of silly magic, the battle actually required a little thought and strategy, which was quite refreshing.
A further ode to the gaming days of yore is the inclusion of a score by Anamanaguchi, a popular chiptune band that uses an NES synthesizer to produce their tracks. The game will feature a new perfectly crafted song for each of its levels.
Ubisoft promises Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will be “affordable”. Look for this ode to 8-bit gaming on August 10 on the Playstation Network.
