"Retro" does not equal "classic".
I'll admit, the graphics are indeed very good creativity-wise. The control, however, leaves much to be desired. The button assignment is fair enough, but certain issues drag down the fun.
First, while you can indeed pick up and throw objects, this uses the attack button. Unless you're standing in exactly the right spot, you might kick the object away from you rather than picking it up.
Second, the enemies have a slew of advantages over you. While Scott has extremely poor range (and yet can't hit an enemy if he's too CLOSE, either), many if not all of the enemies have special attacks. They can breathe fire, shoot energy blasts, skate across the screen too fast to react, whack you with a camera, pick you up and throw you, or even simply dogpile on top of you, forcing you to mash buttons more spastically than in Shadow of Apokolips.
The third major problem is an extension of the first two. Since you can move up and down as well as left to right, you are often just a few pixels too far above or below a bad guy to hit them. But, more often than not, THEY can hit YOU with no problem. Even a massive spinning kick is useless unless you're aligned vertically.
Fourth, the enemies can hit you while you're in the midst of attacking another of them. This will ALWAYS result in you being knocked down, and having to wait literally three seconds or more to get back up. You can block attacks, but not mid-combo, rendering you a punching bag for hit after cheap hit.
Fifth, the playable characters move at a slug's pace. Scott walks about as fast as he did in the scene (in the film) with Ramona in the park...minus Ramona holding his hand...minus the dialogue...minus the snow much of the time...plus ten or twelve bad guys trying to kill him. Yes, you can double-tap the directional pad (or slam the thumbstick) to make him run, but this sometimes is triggered when trying to make narrow adjustments. Also, you can't run up or down, only left or right. Double-tapping makes you do a "dodge" that does little in the way of actual defense.
I'm on the sixth issue now. If you lose all your lives (easy despite having a large life meter), you must restart the stage all the way from the beginning, even if you made it to the boss.
Seventh and final is the slightly confusing design. There are indeed item shops, but even though the overworld map resembles Super Mario Bros. 3, unlike that game, the shops are NOT separate places. Instead, you go to a level (i.e. "Shopping District") and actually walk into whatever shop you want. None of this, by the way, is explained to you by the game itself, and since there are still guys trying to kill you, one would assume that it's just another level, albeit one with no real boss.
Wow, I really dislike this game. So why did I score it as high as a 5? ...okay, I admit. The graphics and music are cool. But a flashy presentation doth not a good game make (thx Donkey Konga!), and Scott Pilgrim is a chore to play. The one saving grace is that it's not more than 800 points (well, okay, 400 more with the Knives DLC).