Scott Pilgrim EX review for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch

Ice cream is delicious, but if you have ice cream too frequently, it gets less and less delicious. While beat’em ups saw the prime of its life during the days of the arcades, the genre saw less and less play as each era of consoles progressed. So much so that when a movie tie-in game based on the Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels was released in 2010, fans were overjoyed to be able roam the streets of Toronto to pummel endless waves of Canadian hooligans. While an expiring licensing agreement caused the game to be delisted in 2014, the game was always top of mind for those who played it and even some who didn’t play it. Digital accounts with a license for the game would be sold for exorbitant prices, and Limited Run Games’ then president of Limited Run Games declared the title to be one of his “white whales”.

Well unlike Captain Ahab, Fairhurst and many others managed to ensnare their quarry as the title was re-issued as Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game – The Complete Edition in 2021. However during that timeframe the genre saw quite the resurgence, with titles like Double Dragon Neon, Streets of Rage 4, and River City Girls filling the need to rumble in the streets. So when Scott Pilgrim EX was announced and revealed that Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, Animator Paul Robertson and the band Anamanaguchi would contribute to the game, surely we would have another classic on our hands right?

If Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game was Street Fighter 2, Scott Pilgrim EX would best be described as Street Fighter 3. You must be thinking, “well d’uh it’s a sequel!”. The number goes up…but it’s more than that. While the former featured Scott, Ramona and the members of Sex Bob-omb (Scott’s band) as your playable cast, EX eschewed the other members of the Sex Bob-ombs and assembles a plethora of Ramona’s EXes (perhaps that’s what puts the EX in Scott Pilgrim EX?). The game also adopts a Kunio Kun or River City Girls-style mission based open world gameplay.

The set up for the game is the following. The Sex Bob-ombs are practicing for their next gig (With Knives Chau on keyboard…squarely setting the game after the events of the Netflix series Scott Pilgrim Takes off) when they are attacked by a robotic version of Scott dubbed Metal Scott. Conveniently this automaton absconds with the band and their instruments and spreads it across Toronto in various regions and eras and now Scott, Ramona and her assembled crew of EXes…and a Robot built by her EXes have to get the band back together in time for the gig.

Like the River City Girls titles, you will have mostly free reign to travel around the map, with areas gated by obstacles which require items and songs you obtain during the quest. You will have to earn money to keep your health up, recover your guts points (Which act as your special meter as well as a second chance mechanic if you get knocked out), buy gear as well as eat food to increase your stats.

Mechanically, the fighting system isn’t that deep. You have your light and strong attack, some combo strings, a hop attack, as well as a special attack which depletes guts points that acts as a crowd control attack. Blocking exists, but it feels generally useless. In fact I found myself relying purely on the strong attack x2 combo during a majority of my time with the game, forcing myself to mix it up just to avoid the tedium.

The game’s cast of seven have roles prescribed such as “wrestler” (Lucas), “Ninja” (Roxie), “Puppeteer” (Matthew), “Zoner” (Robot-01), but I think the only one whose role matches how they play would be Robot-01 and Roxie. Despite his name being on the marquee, Scott has to rank at bottom when it comes to the playable cast. His attack range is woefully short and the only time he gets to utilize his sword (The Power of Love) is only during a special move which requires you to hold the strong attack for a set amount of time. Literally everyone else outclasses him in terms of range, it’s somewhat embarrassing.

While it’s not an arcade style beat’em up, your journey will take you on 12 quests which will culminate in you reuniting the band and defeating the mysterious force which separated you from the beginning. Once you’ve got through it once, you are likely to skip dialogue just so you can proceed on your trophy/achievement clean up playthroughs at a faster pace, but if you do that you will miss out on some snappy dialogue from each character commenting on the various situations you find yourself in. If it weren’t for these pithy moments I would say this game would’ve been a one and done experience.

This is the part where I would use Tribute Games’ output in the past half a decade to judge their latest effort. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and to a lesser degree Marvel: Cosmic Invasion offered way more things to make coming back to it worthwhile. Stage challenges, an arcade mode with modifiers, and even a survival mode justified returning for more game time. I’m also aware some of those features were post game updates for TMNT, it’s just odd that Scott Pilgrim EX has an adventure mode and that’s it.

If this is the first beat’em up you’ve picked up in a while, I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Although I have to admit for me, having played other beat’em ups prior to Scott Pilgrim EX, it feels like it leans on its IP a little too much and doesn’t really do anything that innovative. That said, if a buddy called me up to help them in their run, I will have no qualms with showing up with my fully powered crew to flex on the robots, vegans and demons that are besieging my friends. To tie back to my opening statement, perhaps it’s time for me to take a breather from beat’em ups, however I will be the first in line if there is a second chance to pick up the premium editions of this title…simply because I need to put it next to the premium editions of the first game.

Note: Tribute Games provided us with a Scott Pilgrim EX PC code for review purposes.

Click Here to buy Scott Pilgrim EX on Amazon.