Every guy has dated or at least known a woman he would fight for. In Scott Pilgrim's case, that lady is Ramona Flowers, a cutie with baggage in the form of seven evil ex boyfriends. To win her heart, Scott must defeat each of these scumbags by any means necessary. It's a fun concept that launched a graphic novel, blockbuster film (opening this Friday) and finally, a video game, Lucky for us, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World avoids to usual traps associated with movie-based games, thanks to Ubisoft's decision to focus more on the gameplay, less on the film.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game on PSN

You'll fight a variety of enemies, including ninjas and zombies.

What we have is a side-scrolling 2-D beat-em-up that immediately reminds us of Double Dragon and River City Ransom, two NES brawlers known for lots of hard-hitting action, outstanding music and sharp visuals, three key ingredients that make Scott Pilgrim one of the year's best downloadable titles.

Instead of grabbing the movie license and running amok, the developers created a wonderful looking action game with 8-bit graphics that go well beyond what Capcom did with Mega Man 9 and 10. This is more like the NES on crack, as Scott's world explodes in vivid detail, from multiple characters crowding the screen to a handful of unique environments and special attacks. It's a comic book come to life.

Meanwhile, Scott Pilgrim has an incredible soundtrack, created by the chip tunes punk band, Anamanaguchi. It's so good that we can't help but hum along as we cave in guys' heads with a trash can.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game on PSN

Easily the best four-player beat-em-up since TMNT in arcades.

Thankfully, there are more than just bells and whistles. This is quite an extraordinary game, as you and up to three friends explore the snowy streets of Toronto, a movie set and other locations, pummeling bad guys (including zombies), purchasing different items to upgrade stats (fajitas, coffee, burgers) and unleashing special attacks. You'll beat up evildoers with your fists, legs and a plethora of different items, including baseball bats, traffic cones, suitcases, traffic signs and even snowballs. You can pick up and use whatever's lying around, and if something's too heavy (a phone booth, for instance), chances are good that you can beat the crap out of it. This surprising level of interaction helps separate Scott Pilgrim from the competition.

We're also enamored with the fighting repertoire, which increases the more Scott and his friends level up. We're not talking expansive move lists from Tekken 6 and SoulCalibur IV, but you'll have a blast learning new moves and then using them on the computer.

While on the subject of the artificial intelligence, Scott Pilgrim's a tough game. Enemies score cheap hits that drain what seems like a ridiculous amount of life from our heroes, something that makes playing solo a bit of a chore. Clearly, this game was designed for multiplayer, as things become easier with four heroes instead of one.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game on PSN

One of the few times Scott can take a rest from battling bad guys.

That said, you better enjoy having company, because Scott Pilgrim only has offline multiplayer, forcing you to locate three friends and controllers to enjoy the game as the developers intended. Even worse, there's no drop-in/drop-out co-op, so everyone will need to beat a level from start to finish.

Those small complaints aside, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a wonderful game that you absolutely must play, especially at $9.99. The mix of retro style graphics, music and gameplay make it one of the year's best, as well as another reason why owning a PS3 is a smart idea. But don't worry if you own an Xbox 360, as Ubisoft plans to bring the game to Microsoft's console August 25th. Regardless of which platform you choose, this is a shining example of a movie/comic book game done right.