The wonders of XBLA: Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Thought I'd just share some of my recent discoveries on XBLA. I've never, until now, been completely up to speed with new lauches on XBLA marketplace. But having now made some attempts to unearth some new games for the collection I've come accross a few that have really impressed me. Note my previous post "Demo Generosity" - I haven't actually downloaded any of the full games yet... anyway - here we are...

Scott Pilgrim vs The World (800 points)


I'm a big fan of scrolling beat 'em ups. Streets of Rage 1 & 2 are amongst my favourite games of all time. Aside from SOR2, there are a fair few other games in this genre on XBLA such as X-Men, Golden Axe & TMNT 1989 Arcade.

Until today I've never looked into Scott Pilgrim the game and what is was all about. I've not got round to seeing the film let alone the original comics. Shame on me - should have guessed that it would be a scrolling fighter really.

It seems to be a really neat game - a lot of character & charm with clever little details and a strong moves list. There are a ton of available weapons to swipe, throw & kick including the typical baseball bats, bottles etc but also things like dustbins, basketballs & even snowballs. Downed enemies can be picked up and used as weapons themselves - caving in the head of a bad guy with his own buddy before lobbing him over towards another certainly raises a smile.

Its a really neat looking game with an art style to match the film & comics. Everything feels very snappy too - combos can be easily strung together and juggling is possible. Its fun to play and empowering - you feel you can defeat the bad guys in different ways each time just for the sake of it - a really important factor in any side scroller if you want to feel a bit flash.

Such a lot of other good things about it - anyone with half an interest in retro scrollers should give the trial a whirl. I'm not making a habit of downloading much at all nowadays - so I guess the best praise I can say it is a 'will probably download' for me.