A brilliant example of next-gen retro games
One of the main gripes a lot of reviewers had with Scott Pilgrim was that there is no online co-op, i can see where they are coming from with this. These days a game is automatically considered inferior if there is a lack of online play or at least some online support but in the case of Scott Pilgrim i see it as a plus point. Although bringing a game online has huge advantages, you lose the one thing that made retro gaming so much fun, gathering a few friends and playing a game for hours on end. I know you can do this online, and its usually easier to organise as well, getting people to physically meet still has some, for lack of a better word, magic to it. For me, gathering a few friends for a gaming session makes it feel like you're getting a lot more out of a game. For those that have ever enjoyed a LAN party will know what i mean, Counter-strike is a great example of this, theres nothing better than destroying a whole team in a match and being able to stand up, look over your monitor (or TV) and laugh in your opponents face. This just doesn't work online, you may laugh as much as you want but on the other end of the wire your opponent has hit the mute button, where's the fun it that?
Anyway, onwards with the review.
On the graphics front, Scott Pilgrim does a great job of bringing the 16-bit generation back to life but with a bit more colour, which was sorely needed in some (if not most) games during that era. The bright colours and 16-bit graphics go a long way to making Scott Pilgrim enjoyable and, aside from the music, it was probably the main reason i kept playing. It has a certain charm to it that kept drawing me back in only spoiled by the frustratingly hard bosses or odd over-crowding in some areas. This is the games main shortfall, when playing in single player the odds seem to be heavily stacked against you and i found myself having to replay some the starting levels in order to level up my character so i could even attempt some of the bosses (or evil ex's if you prefer), especially Gideon (the final boss). Having said that, however, when playing with two or more people the game really becomes amazingly fun, the enemies (although tough) can be beaten with good teamwork or even good old fashioned button mashing if theres enough of you.
Scott Pilgrim also includes a marvellous soundtrack by Anamanaguchi, in my opinion they really captured the style and sound of 16-bit games and managed to put their own unique spin on it with brilliant results, after playing the first level in the demo it was the music that really had me hooked and was a major influence on me buying the full version of the game. If you don't think that music can have that big an influence then i urge you to listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WM2QfuaT4c
This is "Another Winter" by Anamanaguchi, the soundtrack to the first level. Theres something amazing about this song that i can't get enough of, whether its because it brings back memories of childhood games or because it really brings the game to life. The whole game soundtrack is just as brilliant and can easily be listened to seperately from the game.
Overall, i would recommend this game to any fan of retro styled games or of the Scott Pilgrim books and movie. I had actually never heard of Scott Pilgrim (besides a few bus stop adverts) until i had played the game and now i can't believe i never knew it existed, i now have all 6 graphic novels and eagerly await the dvd release of the movie.
Presentation - 9/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 9/10
Longevity - 7/10
Overall - 8.4