PlayStation Plus boasts the best pop-culture beat-em-up you'll ever play

If you’re like me you may have seen the news yesterday that Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will not be continuing with a second season on Netflix.

It’s a shame because it was a wonderful reimagined story that subverted audience expectations, making them believe it was going to be a classic retelling of the graphic novels but animated only to give us a brand-new story instead. Sure it would have been nice to have the former, but the live-action film did a fine job of adapting the source material and is still beloved to this day.

Check out Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game below

Regardless, the news that Scott Pilgrim Takes Off won’t be continuing got me in the mood for more Scott Pilgrim, luckily PlayStation Plus subscribers have access to the iconic video game adaptation at no additional cost.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game is an arcade-style beat-em-up much like the source material. Choosing from several characters like Scott Pilgrim, Knives Chau, Ramona Flowers and Kim Pine the player fights their way through levels until they come across one of the Seven Evil Exes, which act as the game’s boss battles.

It was originally an Xbox Live Arcade game but was delisted from the store years ago, before being brought back to life by Ubisoft to celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary. It’s now available on PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch, and is a fantastic experience from start to finish. It also supports up to four players as an added bonus.

As a fan of Scott Pilgrim I absolutely adore this game, but I can also see the appeal for those that just like a good beat-em-up. There is a learning curve to get past in the earlier levels but once you’ve mastered the movement, blocking, counters and special moves it quickly becomes a thrilling and action-packed adventure with a timeless artstyle and bopping soundtrack.

Ubisoft

There’s replayability here as well, as the game borrows a few RPG elements by having you level up your characters as you play. Experience is acquired by mowing down enemies but you’ll also find stores selling items and food for various prices. The catch here is you don’t know what the item will do until you buy it but some of them level you up faster, boost your stats or increase the amount of damage you can deal out to your opponents. The game does get a bit grindy if you want all the high-level gear, for instance paying off Scott’s +$500 bill at the video store gets you some insane upgrades, but with such a high cost it’s very much an endgame reward. Nevertheless it’s fun to experiment and almost all of the items are references to the Scott Pilgrim tale or wider video game/pop culture lore.

The more you level up the more tricks your character learns in combat, making each encounter more enjoyable. Going back to some of the earlier levels that were kicking your ass but with a stronger character feels great, reminiscent of the finale to Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World where he charges back into Gideon’s lair with minimal effort. Boss battles are the real highlight though, as every Evil Ex has their own flair and style, but are still dispatched in largely the same way. Matthew Patel’s Demon Hipster Chicks are cool and all but it’s not going to stop me driving Ramona’s sledgehammer into his face now is it?

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game does a lot right, but its modus operandi is channelling the source material into a flawless adaptation that fits like a glove. The story of Scott Pilgrim is essentially reading or watching a playthrough of an RPG, so when it passed us the controller all those years ago it was undoubtedly going to be a smash-hit.

Ubisoft

It’d be great to one day see Scott Pilgrim Takes Off get a similar video game adaptation if it’s not getting a second season, as I think a turn-based RPG with the same artstyle and more characters would be a fun idea, and again tie into the fantastical nature of the series.

Whether you’ve been a fan of Scott Pilgrim for years, got into it recently through the Netflix series, or have had no idea what I’ve been talking about, I’d recommend putting a few metaphorical coins into this delightful arcade game and giving it a go. PlayStation Plus Extra subscribers can play it at no additional cost, and if you primarily play on other platforms you can play it for free via Ubisoft+ as well.