Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

The slogan is a wordplay on FBI director William S. Sessions' "Winner's don't use drugs", a slogan that was plastered on all arcade cabinets back in the days when it was still normal to spend a couple of quarters gaming while you were waiting for your pizza.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is tribute to an almost extinct genre, filled to the brim with references from the classics. This love of the old classics shouldn't come as a surprise if you are familiar with the comic that inspired this game. Scott Pilgrim is a gamer whose life is made up of real life situations told through the filter of 8-bit and 16-bit classics. How often would a fight end up with someone erupting into an explosion of golden coins?

There are four playable characters you can select at the start, each with slightly different qualities. No matter if you choose Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Steven Stills or Kim Pine, you receive a map of the world, seemingly straight out of Super Mario Bros. 3. Each level is divided into segments based on the comics, and each one is concluded with a hard battle against one of Ramona's ex-girlfriends, who naturally possess superpowers.

You can play up to four players at once, and this is something you should take advantage of, if you don't feel like redoing the levels over and over again. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is surprisingly challenging if you go at it alone. However, as part of a four player strong tornado of violence you will be able to make use of advanced techniques and juggles, as well as super attacks.

Everything is dressed up beautifully and pays tribute to its inspiration, while still managing to be great in its own rights - so there is no need to put those "everything used to be better back in the day" glasses on for this one. The chip music has been composed by Anamanaguchi, a group specialising in delivering sounds that makes us think of NES.

On the visual side of things Ubisoft have teamed up with pixelanimator Paul Robertson, who has made a name for himself with "Kings of Power 4 Billion %" and "Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight". The result is the closest you will get to the golden age of pixels on 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. The details are mindblowing, and the animations are wonderfully over the top, making the screen come to life pixel by pixel.

The options for attacks are very limited to begin with, but as you encounter bigger and more difficult enemies, you will rise in level and unlock new moves. The fighting system when you play alone is perhaps best described as Ninja Gaiden-like minimalism, where making use of the few moves you possess in the best possible manner and where timing means everything. This changes radically when you play with your friends and the game turns into something that more resembles the chaos we know from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

What it comes down to a large degree is to enjoy a modern retro experience, a meta game that references and mocks the old classics. One of the first attacks you learn is to nudge your enemies, a reference to a bug in Double Dragon that turn a defensive move into one of the most effective attacks of the game. The game also pays tribute to Irem's Vigilante, Techno's Renegade, Konami's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and in particular the NES classic River City Ransom. It seems as if every screen hides a secret that is just sitting there waiting for you to discover it, if you know your gaming history that is.

If Ubisoft had considered the balance, then they could have avoided one of very few problems Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has. Because if you want to play it on your own, you better be prepared to replay levels until your character is strong enough to take on tougher challenges. This is especially annoying in a game where the the little references and tributes to old games is such an integral part of the experience. Having to replay levels really detracts from the experience.

Despite one or two flaws, this is one of the most entertaining games to come along in the genre lately. If you enjoy playing Castle Crashers with your friends, and if you long for some of the old console classics, this is a game you should not miss out on. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a love letter to a genre that almost went extinct, dressed in the finest clothes of pixels and available for a reasonable price online.