Games Completed in 2011, #7 – Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game

I grew up on a decent diet of beat-em-up titles, such as Streets of Rage 3, Double Dragon, and Battletoads in Battlemaniacs. This genre was perfect for me at the time, a boy not very interested in reading or learning about stats, as well as a kid often mooching off friends’ systems on the weekends, and brawlers like such were made for two players. Beat-em-ups are as simple as their namesake, and all I knew was that there were some bad guys that needed beating up and mashing the buttons often worked well. Good enough for me, and–many, many years later–good enough for Scott Pilgrim.

Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game is, besides a mouthful, a downloadable 2D side-scrolling brawler. It’s based way more on the book series that inspired the movie than the movie itself, which is a golden surprise to many, I’m sure. Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series is brimming with videogame tropes and nods, even more that Edgar Wright could fit into the theatrical release, and a good number of these references make their way into the game. And what a game it is. First, we have sprites and animations done by the legendary Paul Robertson; second, we have a bouncy, chiptastic soundtrack from Anamanaguchi; and third, we have a strangely fun mix of River City Ransom and The Simpsons Arcade Game.

SPVTWTG is also extremely difficult. I think that should be evident from the fact that I downloaded this around the time the movie dropped (early Fall 2010), and only got around to finishing off Gideon last week…on the EASIEST difficulty. The game starts out really hard, gets easier once you’ve gotten some EXP and food to go, and then gets hard in a cruel way for the final boss battle. Some of the designs in here are pretty retro, like having to start an entire level over again if you lose all your lives. It’s not enjoyable, but it makes sense.

SPVTWTG, like many brawlers, features co-op play. This is good and bad, and I’m speaking from experience here, as playing with a second character does not necessarily make things easier. Why? Well, Scott can punch Kim or accidentally pick her up or have to constantly reanimate her fallen body. It can be a distraction, and yet it can also be a blessing, but the majority of time the two characters end up hurting each other more than helping. We can also blame the lackluster d-pad on the Xbox 360 controller, which doesn’t make manuevering like sailing on butter. Because of this, the final boss level became extra frustrating, and I eventually had to tackle it solo (sorry, Tara!) after I had leveled Scott up as far as he could go and discovered the secret code for the Sword of Love.

I still don’t understand or love the RPG elements here. Gut Points and Heart Points and shopping for EXP instead of getting it from kicking evil henchmen’s asses. It’s a little odd, and sadly encourages grinding for coins. Thankfully, the punching and kicking and throwing and hyper combos are a lot of fun, and the enemy designs extremely varied. I personally loved all the crazy robots in the Techno Base level, even if I was sick of fighting them at that point.

So, I’ve beaten this once, with Scott. Supposedly, if you complete the game with the remaining characters (Kim, Ramona, Steven) you’ll unlock Nega-Scott as a striker. Don’t know if that’s enough incentive for me to try again, especially considering how long it took me to do this one time. We’ll see…

Inching closer to Ramona’s final evil ex

Twins are cool. That’s just a fact.

And over the weekend, Tara and I took down two of ’em, at the same time, thus earning ourselves the following Achievement from Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game:

Twin Dragons (10G): Defeated the Twins simultaneously.

To be honest, it happened too fast and too easily. I mean, we had so much trouble staying alive against Todd and Roxie; I figured the Twins were gonna be a handful of ass-whoopin’, but no. I got both of them cornered up in the top left part of the screen and slashed away with a stolen ninja sword while Tara took care of any nearby goons. Within seconds, one of the Twins was flashing yellow, an indication of his low health, and then boom–KO!!! Both dead. Both within milliseconds of each other. I really thought killing two bosses at the exact same time would’ve been tougher than that, but it was almost mindless how it went down.

Here’s hoping NegaScott or Gideon toss up a better challenge. Granted, there’s no Achievements tied to them so all Tara and I need to worry about is staying alive. I’ve hit the level cap with Scott, but she’s still climbing the experience ladder with Kim. I have to wonder if maybe I was a bit overpowered for the Twins? I doubt that though because just the level’s regular enemies put up one stink of a fight. Hmm. Can’t wait for the DLC and patch to help balance out the difficulty issues. Still need to get online access though…

Knives Chau DLC announced for Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game

I’ve still not gotten past Roxie in Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game, but the makers of said title care very little for my insufficient gaming skills as new DLC has just been announced for the game. For about $1.99, the new DLC will give us a new character to play as–Knives Chau, 17 years old, Chinese–and two new modes to experience: Dodge Ball and Battle Royale. The former is more or less what you think it is, and the latter is more akin to a Super Smash Bros style gameplay. This DLC should supposedly coincide with the film’s November 2010 release on DVD, which I’m totally buying Day One.

More Scott Pilgrim goodness for a measly two bucks? Count me in.

Also, there’s going to be a patch released soon to help fix the difficulty level of “Average Joe” as well as knock out some annoying bugs found throughout. The first time SPVTWTG froze on me I thought it was the devs having a laugh at how old games like that would crash all the time. The third and fourth time it froze, I was no longer smiling. So this is a must-need-now sort of thingy. I really like bitesize DLC and free patches, all in all.

Want some early screenshots? Click below…

More like The Clash at DEADhead, right?

With Tara’s help, Scott Pilgrim and Kim Pine took down The Clash at Demonhead in Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game, a pretty tough level just for the amount of enemy goons it throws at you. I can’t believe I even tried going at it solo; only got as far as the one-against-two fight of Scott versus Envy Adams and that drummer with the robotic arm. Immediately after that, it’s an extremely tough fight as extreme vegan Todd Ingram tosses us around in a back alley like ragdolls. Not even the Vegan Police could stop him…though they tried.

We lost all our lives in this level, and we definitely landed the final blow as we were down to a tiny bit of health. That sort of felt frakkin’ fantastic, that did. The co-op in this game is actually quite great; you can reanimate fallen allies, you can perform co-op attacks, and you can even pick each other up Simpsons arcade style and use as a weapon. It’s bizarre and funny, but sometimes you might just need a Kim to throw, so there you go. Afterwards, we went shopping, and then tried to take on the next level, which was full of NINJAS. Needless to say, we got our butts whipped, but we’re jonesing to try again. Just gotta get Scott and Kim some awesome food to go.

I think Tara’s first experience so far with Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game was good. She said she kept getting distracted by all the people in the background, but she learned many of Kim’s moves fast and got good at knowing how to attack and when to reanimate. I tried explaining to her the RPG elements here, but even I didn’t fully understand it. “Uh, you buy food, and that’s how you gain XP. But you don’t know what each food item does until after you buy it. And even then, it’s hard to tell what kind of difference it makes.” Yeah…something like that. She did remark that she loved how it both looked and felt like an old-school game.

Maybe we’ll play some more tonight? I hope so. Roxie needs to go DOWN!

Scott, if your life had a face, I’d punch it and gain XP

Yesterday, after work, Tara and I went looking for apartments. Cause, more than likely, we’re gonna need a place to live after we get married. The one we saw is decent; it’s old and old-like, and it has these slanted ceilings to it because it’s basically the third floor, and these slanted ceilings are going to do battle with me and my head. Tara will be fine; she’s a short thing. But yeah, the timing of things to come and the constant worry of money and/or lack of money…well, it hit us hard with The Stress. Thankfully, I knew that once I got back to my pad that there’d be a light of happiness and distraction. See, Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game hit Xbox Live just yesterday. Sure, those Playstationheads have already got to enjoy it now for a week, but I’ve had to bide my time accordingly. Not like I have things to do or anything. ::ahem::

So, this game…it’s hard. And it sounds beautiful. And the animations are top-notch. And I died a lot as Kim, and I could only beat Ramona’s first evil ex as a level 4 Scott. And I spent almost all of my money on sushi. And I love the references to all things O’Malley like the Kupek graffiti or seeing Lost at Sea in the bookstore. It’s Scott Pilgrim the Game, through and through.

One thing I don’t like though is how it controls, but the majority of that blame falls upon the Xbox 360’s controller. The left analog stick does not allow for quick side-stepping and yet the d-pad below it is not in the best place for this kind of button-mashing game. My thumb’s natural instinct is to go to the analog stick, and this leads to many faulty moves. And I don’t think I ever hit the block button once, but maybe I should rethink that considering how beat up Kim got.

Managed to snag three Achievements though:

Dirty Trick (10G): Defeated an enemy by throwing an object at him while he was already down.

Shopaholic (20G): Bought all the items of a shop during the same visit.

New Challenger (10G): Defeated Matthew Patel without losing a life.

That last one had me nervous. Patel wiped the floor with Kim thanks to his hipster demon girls, but Scott has a great kick-uppercut combo that slowly whittled him down into coins. After that, the world map opened to two areas, one that I’ve already gone to (the shopping district). Didn’t have any more time to play as the pillows were calling out my name. Might try more tonight, but every review says that the game gets extremely challenging for solo players. Gotta wait for Tara to join me in cold, snowy, pixelated Toronto. However, I’m not totally convinced on the RPG elements within, as the leveling up system is…decidedly odd. Will have to (pun-intended) experience it more.

Scott Pilgrim to hit XBLA two weeks after PSN debut

Whew.

I can breathe a sigh of relief. And happiness. Happy sigh of reliefness. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Videogame will make its way to Xbox Live on August 25th…just two weeks after debuting on the PlayStation Network. It’ll cost 1200 Microsoft Points, which is the equivalent of $14.99, and I’m going to pay it like a professional, day one and all. This game must be had, and the fact that it is local co-op is even sweeter. Beat ’em up gameplay, delicious-looking sprites, and a soundtrack by Anamanaguchi. How can that not be the greatest gaming experience evar?

Also, the last book, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, comes out today. TODAY. July 20th, 2010. Eeeee. I’ve had to stay off Twitter and mostly Facebook for the better part of today; I really don’t want to be spoiled, even by the littlest of details. Tara and I are rushing over to Borders after I get done with work to pick up our copies. We’ll then read them in a fever haze, smiling and crying and laughing and loving. It’s just a great series, and all great things come to an end, and we’re prepared to end, but it’s gonna be like signing up to take a beating. There will be bruises tomorrow for sure.

The film version, which just looks better and better with each leaked trailer and remix, comes out on August 13th.

It’s Scott Pilgrim mania, that it is. Drink up, Scottaholics!

Please select player in SPVTWTG

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, or SPVTWTG if you like those easy-to-figure-out acronyms, comes out for the PlayStation 3 network in early August, just a pinch before the movie drops on August 13, 2010. That’s cool, but of course I don’t have a PlayStation 3 and must then wait it out until it makes its way over to Xbox Live. However, if there’s one thing I do know, it is this: I’m playing as Kim Pine. And will most likely have to fight over her with my fiancée as she will want to play as Kim Pine also. No one likes Ramona anyways:

Hmm…does that look familiar to you? It should, n00b. I’ll wait while you figure it out. No, it’s not from the Glee finale. C’mon…think.

Meh, you’re taking too long. It’s an homage to Super Mario Bros. 2, duhhh:

Ha, that means Ramona is really Luigi, and that’s funny because he kicks so goofily when he tries to jump super high. Not sure how Stephen Stills would feel about being compared to a mushroom-head, but I bet he’d not like it. But yeah, Kim is totally a princess. May she float for a few seconds through my dreams night in, night out. I want this game so bad, and dang it, I might have to start considering a PlayStation 3 fund if it takes longer than a few weeks to port over to the Xbox 360.

Scott Pilgrim the videogame looks great, but I gotta wait

We’ve listened to some early live footage of Anamanaguchi playing music from the Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World videogame. We’ve seen some still screenshots and a few animations here and there. But now we get to devour an actual gameplay trailer, which shows off just how great and fun this game is gonna be:

See? It’s gonna be great. Don’t bother arguing. I’m not in the mood, and you’ll just be wrong. Did you notice the Pac-Man graffiti art at around 54 seconds, as well as the word hamburger scribbled affectionately on the wall? I suspect there’s going to be a ton in-game jokes and nods, which is much appreciated. There might be another gameplay trailer on the Interwebz somewhere because I distinctively remember seeing Kupek written on a wall too; for those not in the know, Kupek is the name Scott Pilgrim mastermind Bryan Lee O’Malley records music under.

But yeah, it’s a four-player co-op Streets of Rage kind of side-scrolling brawler, and I’m totally down with that. The sprites look great, the sound is chippy and bitty, and I love seeing scenes and locations drawn straight from the book (rather than the movie). There’s just one problem.

Currently, it’s a PlayStation 3 timed release. That means, for some time–weeks, months, maybe a year–it’s only going to be available on the PlayStation 3. ::mega sad face::

Hopefully it’ll make its way to the Xbox 360 as soon as possible as it does look like a lot of fun, and I know it’s the kind of game better suited for Tara and I to play co-op. We’re very much invested in the books and the world, and in fact, our very first wedding gift has something to do with the final volume of O’Malley’s epic. Let’s all say a prayer to Young Neil that this gets released on the Xbox 360 real soon because I don’t want to have to buy a PlayStation 3 just to experience kicking a vegan’s butt.

Scott Pilgrim the Videogame looks (and sounds) just like it should

First came the news out of PAX East that chiptune rockstars Anamanaguchi are doing the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim the Videogame. Then we got some delicious screenshots showing off the fantastic sprite work from Paul Robertson, the creator of the Pirate Baby’s Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 animation. And the third thing that happened was…my heart. See, it exploded from too much joy!

Ka-blooie!

Seriously, just go check out all the screenshots over at Attract Mode.

But yeah, ever since seeing this, the back cover of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, volume two of the books (and the title of the upcoming movie), I’ve been jonesing for a 2D videogame adaption:

Now I’m not sure what I’m more excited about. The movie, the final book in July, or the game? Hmm. Either way, it looks like this one is getting the right kind of treatment. No systems announced yet, but man oh man would this be perfect for the Nintendo DS.

Scott Pilgrim VS. The World teaser trailer mmm

The teaser trailer for Scott Pilgrim VS. the World debuted today…and it is seriously awesome! I’m a huge fan of the comic books, of which the final volume comes out ten days after my birthday this year, and this is the movie I’m most looking forward to in 2010 (and all the way through 2078). Seriously, it’s tagline reads “an epic of epic epicness” and that is exactly what it will be. Epicky.

As one can see from the image above, the comics are bloated with videogame references. There’s jabs at RPG tropes and Zelda fairy companions and air combo juggles, among others. And the movie looks to keep many of those details in check, especially after hearing a Street Fighter-esque KO after Scott punches one of Ramona’s evil exes. So looking forward to this. There’s also a planned videogame tie-in though all development on that has been pretty quiet. Either way, I’m definitely getting it to help support the series.

Yay, Scott Pilgrim!