Friday, February 11, 2022

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (PS3, 2010)

 

Another PS3 game that later got a PS4 re-release. This one is especially welcome because the first release of the game disappeared off the face of the Earth about seven years ago. Not sure why, but for a long time it just wasn't available anymore. In 2021 it finally saw the light of day again and this time I seized the opportunity.


We begin with Ramona at a party. Wait, where are her pants? WHERE ARE YOUR PANTS, GIRL?

You can see Scott on the left, pining away. It's worth noting that this game is based on the comics, not the movie. Scott looks nothing like Michael Cera. Which is just as well, because Ramona can have literally ANYONE SHE WANTS in this picture and her choosing Michael Cera in all of that requires more suspension of disbelief than I have.

Since this is based on the comics, they're star-crossed lovers here. In the movie it's more of a nonchalant fling, with Scott being obsessed with Ramona while she's like "cool okay let's be a couple for 3 years I guess"

Besides all of that, Knives Chau is the real prize in the movie, everyone knows that. Even though the movie acts like she's some kind of annoyance the whole time and constantly points out that "lol she's only 17" like that diminishes her or whatever. Knives is awesome and would be a dedicated girlfriend to somebody who isn't an unappreciative dick like Scott.

Exes.

How did they get this wrong?

I may have some beef with the way the movie treats certain characters, but I like this game a LOT. Here's the SMB3 style world map.

And the SMB2-style character select!

"Um, actually, it's from Doki Doki Panic" says a guy wearing horn-rimmed glasses.

Your choices here are Scott Pilgrim, Kim (who they'll have you know is bi), Stephen (the leader of his band, who is also bi), Ramona (who had a bi phase), and Wallace (not pictured; his gay roommate).

...this comic/movie was probably the gayest thing ever produced up to that point in time. It's probably still pretty gay in 2021. Definitely high on the gay.

Unlockable Character: Knives Chau (who is also bi, get used to it!)

I play as Ramona. Duh. Not gonna play as Michael Cera here, the most undeserving hero in movie history.

So this is a straight beat 'em up, along the lines of River City Girls or Double Dragon. Ramona's main weapon is this awesome Thor hammer.

Beating up enemies gets you money, which is the most important thing in this entire game. You need it to level up and, really, get ANYWHERE in this game. There's a method to it and I'll get to that.

But first! Ramona gets RUN OVER BY A BUS!

Note how the bus' destination screen reads "Drunk"

Here's the park, which I believe was a makeout destination in the movie. What a magical place.

Moving on from the magical place, here I pummel a goon's pelvis with a traffic cone! Aubrey Plaza's character and her boyfriend look on creepily from nearby.

I like how characters from the story just appear randomly in these stages.

First boss, Matthew Patel.

If you squint, you can see Anna Kendrick's character, her boyfriend, Wallace, and Knives on the balcony there, with the guys making out of course because this is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Street Fighter II inspired KO screen when you defeat a boss. This game (and the movie, really) was kind of a love letter to a lot of video games. I just wish they'd kept the Chrono Trigger X-Strike in the movie, which Scott and Knives finished off the final boss with in the comic. Of course, the movie can't let Knives have credit for anything so Scott dispatches the endboss himself.

Elsewhere, Scott and Ramona engage in hot PDA while the other bandmates scowl. I've been on both sides of this equation. And check out Ramona's lovingly-sculpted torso. The artist should have gotten a raise for that.

"I did." -the artist

Stage 2 is a movie set. Here's Aubrey Plaza's character and some other hot chick.

...if there were any time this game needed to crank up the gayness to even higher levels, it was this screen.

Next up, a Final Fight style car-thrashing. Or is that also an SFII reference? Either way, smash things for fun and points, and more importantly money.

NOTE: If you play this, SAVE all of your money. Don't spend anything. There's a certain key thing that you need all the money for, more on that in a bit.

We get a Scott sighting in the background as Ramona battles Boss #2, Chris Evans.

Wait, if you're playing as Ramona, does that mean Ramona is battling the Seven Evil Exes for herself? Ya know, I like this idea more. She defeats them herself and then she's free to date other people without getting f****in' harassed.

Defeat him and his army of skateboarders, and...

...we get more PDA on top of a pile of corpses! At least the B-Team isn't all frowns. Stephen is probably thrilled because now he doesn't have to worry about food for a few weeks.

Here it is, the thing we've been saving up for. The very first shop in the game, at the beginning of Stage 1, contains Aubrey Plaza in a miniskirt and a tank top.

Somewhat less-importantly it also includes Scott's Late Fees, which you can buy for an exorbitant $504. This will give you the best avenue for leveling up. $504 takes a few replays of the first two levels (and the third if you can beat it with the starting stats, I didn't).

There's also a code you can enter that gives you a bunch of money at the cost of a life. Go to the coffee shop and buy Espresso (which revives you with low health automatically), enter the code outside, pop the money and lose a life (activating Espresso instead), go back and buy another Espresso, repeat. This is by far the quickest way to get your money up, and given how annoying this "level up to be able to proceed" mechanic is, I don't blame people who do that.

Once the late fees are paid, you get access to 1-ups and the best stat items in the game for a measily $5 (similar items cost 10x that elsewhere). With these, it's super-easy to max out your levels and stats in mere minutes. It's totally broken, even if you don't enter the code.

You need these levels and stats to actually beat the game without having to replay levels a ton. At least in single-player.

100 in all stats only takes around $50 to achieve in that store, which is nuts compared to the probably thousand+ it takes elsewhere.

What an odd game.

I also make sure to go to the sushi store and buy everything they've got. Just because.

Stage 3 is the concert hall where you fight what's-his-name, I legitimately don't remember. But first, you must battle Scott's evil ex, Envy Adams. Her sidekick is Aubrey Plaza and her legs. She has a robot arm for some reason.

The boss is the vegan guy whose name I can't remember. He chases you with a tidal wave of energy, then...

...blasts you with an Akira-arm outside. With my new levels and stats, this fight isn't anywhere near as bad as the first two bosses, and the game feels more like how it's "supposed" to play now.

Next up, Roxy. She has a sword here, unlike the blade-whip she has in the movie.

The bus stage also involves fighting ninjas on the roof. They're the only characters in the whole game who are following Toronto's mask mandate.

After the bus, we get some SWEET gardens. Lots of coins to get here, though they don't really matter anymore.

Exes.

Not ex-boyfriends.

Seriously, is this a typo? It says "female" right there.

It looks like now she has the chain-whip from the movie. A tough battle follows while a cat looks on creepily.

That's another one down, putting Ramona's Gay Phase to bed...for now. She hasn't met Knives yet.

More PDA as the moon looks on in disgust.

This looks like a Dragonball Z episode title.

Wait a minute, is that Kip Sabian?

"I'm in disguise" he says.

Wonder if he's ever gonna do anything again besides show up in the front row of shows in a suit and mask, not getting acknowledged by the commentary team.

We get some rare-in-this-game verticality. This must be some sort of mask-wearing event because everyone is in costume.

The next boss is a GIANT MECH. That's right, no evil ex in this level.

...unless...

Ramona, did you date a giant mech? My God!

Next stage is the techno studio of the Japanese Twins. We never got an answer on whether Ramona dated them separately or...concurrently.

Ramona stacks them on top of each other and pins them, like Roman Reigns.

...Ramona Reigns?

The next level has this elf that looks suspiciously like Link. Also, I guess Wallace and Anna Kendrick's Boyfriend are an item now.

The next boss is ::thunder crashes:: NEGA SCOTT. This guy was a big deal in the comic from what I understand, but he didn't make it into the movie really aside from a brief cameo.

This is it. Chaos Theatre, the final battle with Gideon. We've defeated six evil exes...and a giant mech for some reason.

Ramona: "Okay, honestly, I MAY have been fingerblasted by the giant mech once in college."

Goddammit, Ramona.

This level is mostly the old beat 'em up standby, "ride an elevator down while waves of enemies show up and attack"

Gideon is a giant man-beast. I like how the entire cast assembles to watch the final fight. Except, weirdly, Scott.

Defeat him, and...the level continues, with this weird subspace world.

Here you get the super-powerful sword that is needed to defeat Gideon. In the movie it was a katana, here it's...not.

Much like the final boss of Final Fantasy VI, you have to defeat this misshapen wall of souls just to ascend to reach the actual boss.

It's MEGA-GIDEON. I wail on him with the sword until he croaks, no big whoop. This definitely wasn't in the movie.

Very surprised to find that THAT wasn't actually the final boss either. The game continues with fights against these weird blue-haired futuristic ladies. I'm guessing this is a reference to something I'm unfamiliar with.

Now we get a third battle with a normal-sized Gideon...IN HELL. This is the actual final boss, and it's easier than the other two fights. Weird.

Ramona defeats him. KO!

Now she's free to date whoever she wants! She can get fingerblasted by giant mechs every weekend!

Credits roll, looks like Knives Chau and Kim are hanging out.

...annnnd they have a Hot Make-Out. Scott is pissed! For some reason. I guess because they're both former girlfriends.

Also I re-iterate that Knives is the real prize of this entire story. Congrats, Kim.

That's it for this game. Great beat 'em up, once you get around the leveling mechanic that IMO just slows the game way the hell down. I think it's to encourage people to run multiplayer, which is definitely the superior way to play this game.

Read my old (OLD) review of the Scott Pilgrim movie HERE. Haven't read that one in a long time myself, so I accept no responsibility for anything I may or may not say in it, as it was over ten freaking years ago, and people change all the time.



2 comments:

  1. That suspension of disbelief line, LOL

    All the various character art in this game is hilarious.

    I could never get far in this game and there's some really good tips here.

    ReplyDelete