Thursday, November 4, 2010

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game Review

Normally when there's a movie and a game to accompany it, it ends up being utter trash. Strict release dates and short development times usually means the core experienced has a tendency to affect the games in the worst way possible. This makes Scott Pilgrim vs The World probably one of the biggest surprises I've ever seen when it comes to games based on an already established franchise. With fast, furious, yet familiar mechanics, this easily is one of the best deals of the summer.

Gameplay - 8/10

Scott Pilgrim is a series that's known for it's geek culture references. Instead of trying to design a next gen game and throwing in subtle hints towards Mario, Zelda, or whatever else, this game goes all out and embraces it, just like the material it's based around. Following the story, which a friend summed up for me as "Nerdy unintentional jerk scores mega-hottie but has to battle her seven evil exes in order to continue dating her. Hilarity ensues," The game uses Scott's quest through a beat-em-up, using the exes as end bosses to each of the levels. While a lot of games in the genre had a tendency to devolve into you maybe hitting your enemy first, but normally trading hits until you run out of lives, SP slowly expands your move list the more you play. On your first few times playing the game, you might end up getting your rear handed to you, the more you play, the more experience you earn, ultimately unlocking new moves. Taking cues from River City Ransom, you're able to defeat enemies that turn into coins, which can then be spent in stores found throughout the game for food or items that can be used to boost your experience/stats. There's also a lot of charm that presents itself at every opportunity possible. The game sports a 4 player co-op mode, a few unlockable characters, and a zombie mode, which can be unlocked by entering a code at the start screen. Unfortunately, there's no online co-op at the time of this review, which feels like a missed opportunity.

Graphics - 8/10

Since I haven't read the comics or seen the movie, I can't comment on how accurately the game portrays scenes from there, but I CAN say that SP is a gorgeous game. Using pixel art from a Mr. Paul Robertson, every single inch of the game looks like a work of art. While the developer (or at least whoever tried to describe the art style) claims it's an 8/16 bit art style, I'm pretty sure every one that plays it or at least sees the game in action will admit that the stuff here is of a much higher quality.

Sound - 9/10

Part of me feels like I should elaborate on this a bit, but there's not too much to say. In addition to some very retro sound effects from attacks, the reason this scores so highly is that the entire soundtrack consists of music created by Anamanaguchi. If you've never heard of them, they're a chiptune band, meaning they produce music that sounds like it's coming from one of the retro gaming consoles of yesteryear. Despite what your feelings may be about the genre, the best part is that every single melody is highly appropriate for whatever stage you're currently on, and it's also pretty good to listen to on its own.

Overall - 9/10

SPvTW is a game that anyone who ever had a soft spot for beat-em-ups absolutely has to own, along with people that are just looking for a good downloadable game that's a bit different from the other offerings present on the downloadable services. 4 player couch co-op makes this game an easy recommendation for anyone that tends to get a bunch of people together, even if it's only for an hour. Unfortunately, most people have traded in the social experience of slapping your friend a high-five after that tough boss fight in favor of playing games with people from across the globe. Since the game doesn't feature online play as of right now, it limits the appeal for people who claim the game is too hard or only want to play a game that they can finish with iPwNn0oBz69. Regardless, it's still a solid title and worthy of belonging on almost everyones hard drive, young and old. What else are you going to do with that cash, after all? Buy t-shirts on PS Home or Xbox Live?

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