Scott Pilgrim EX review – A fun but often frustrating retro ride

Tribute Games keeps pumping out the IP collabs, and its latest is Scott Pilgrim EX, a retro beat-em-up starring the world and characters of Bryan Lee O'Malley's beloved comics franchise of the same name. While there's joy to be had in the classic co-op gameplay action that involves beating up all sorts of weird enemies in Toronto, some frustrating or even annoying aspects take away from what is an otherwise fun collab and yet another solid addition to the Tribute Games stable.The gang's all here Image via Tribute Games When Scott's bandmates and friends are suddenly kidnapped, it's up to him and a few others (like Ramona Flowers) to group up and save the day after Toronto is overtaken by rival gangs of demons and robots—and vegans. Of course, it's always the damn vegans. What ensues is classic Tribute Games goodness. The devs that wonderfully brought to life other IP partnerships like Marvel Cosmic Invasion and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge brings its fun formula to another licensed project, and for the most part, it works out well. Familiar in concept to 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, Scott Pilgrim EX is a 2D sidescroller like others before it, but with a world map that's reminiscent of a Metroid or Castlevania. Up to four players can romp around the city, fighting all sorts of enemies and bosses, using typical melee combat (light and strong attacks, plus blocking) or items you can pick up and use or throw. There are seven total playable characters, including Scott and Ramona to start with, with more to be found within. They all have their own health and strength values, along with unique movesets and fighting capabilities. The wrinkle to the classic Scott Pilgrim story here, however (O'Malley wrote the game's story, too), is that some of these beloved characters have been taken to different universes of sorts, leading Pilgrim and co. to battle or meet up with multiversal variants of characters that people have come to know and love, like Envy Adams and Young Neil. Each individual character has their own lore-accurate power-up attack, too, like Scott pulling out his bass and blasting an area-of-effect. Characters can be upgraded with badges, too, to create different builds depending on play style or what you can afford from the coins you pick up off of defeated foes. Image via Tribute Games Unfortunately, I ran into a lot of issues when it came to online play. Things like lag and desync made it difficult to progress at times where I couldn't pick up items, or my co-op partner couldn't see the enemies that I was fighting against, causing for a frustrating experience. The frustrations continued in the gameplay itself, as the combatants and especially boss fights can feel punishing at times, forcing to you re-run previous screens to farm coins and buy healing items. This may be a positive for some players looking for a challenge, but I found it annoying to progress when playing with someone who isn't a hardcore dedicated gamer. There's also issues where if you're carrying an important item and try to move to the next screen too quickly while a teammate is lagging behind, you'll just bounce off the edge of the screen and drop it. These sorts of problems popped up a lot throughout my playthrough. The map itself is also confusing sometimes, and there are occasions where the markers and indicators telling you where to go next don't show up properly or aren't really apparent, and it leads to even more aimless running back and forth between screens. The full Scott Pilgrim EX experience is also quite short-lived, running at about five hours on a first playthrough, with just a few hours more for completionists to do everything there is to do. This can be extended with multiple sessions and different co-op partners (the game is definitely meant to be played online and in a group), but it's still a quick experience. Image via Tribute Games And at $30, this could be a steep price for some given the game's length and potential issues, but if you're a fan of Scott Pilgrim, it's probably worth your investment. Otherwise, I'd wishlist it and potentially wait for a sale down the line if you're looking for a bit more value out of your purchase. The post Scott Pilgrim EX review – A fun but often frustrating retro ride appeared first on Destructoid.

Mar 3, 2026 - 23:25

Scott Pilgrim EX review – A fun but often frustrating retro ride

Tribute Games keeps pumping out the IP collabs, and its latest is Scott Pilgrim EX, a retro beat-em-up starring the world and characters of Bryan Lee O'Malley's beloved comics franchise of the same name.

While there's joy to be had in the classic co-op gameplay action that involves beating up all sorts of weird enemies in Toronto, some frustrating or even annoying aspects take away from what is an otherwise fun collab and yet another solid addition to the Tribute Games stable.

The gang's all here

Image via Tribute Games When Scott's bandmates and friends are suddenly kidnapped, it's up to him and a few others (like Ramona Flowers) to group up and save the day after Toronto is overtaken by rival gangs of demons and robots—and vegans. Of course, it's always the damn vegans.

What ensues is classic Tribute Games goodness. The devs that wonderfully brought to life other IP partnerships like Marvel Cosmic Invasion and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge brings its fun formula to another licensed project, and for the most part, it works out well.

Familiar in concept to 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, Scott Pilgrim EX is a 2D sidescroller like others before it, but with a world map that's reminiscent of a Metroid or Castlevania. Up to four players can romp around the city, fighting all sorts of enemies and bosses, using typical melee combat (light and strong attacks, plus blocking) or items you can pick up and use or throw.

There are seven total playable characters, including Scott and Ramona to start with, with more to be found within. They all have their own health and strength values, along with unique movesets and fighting capabilities. The wrinkle to the classic Scott Pilgrim story here, however (O'Malley wrote the game's story, too), is that some of these beloved characters have been taken to different universes of sorts, leading Pilgrim and co. to battle or meet up with multiversal variants of characters that people have come to know and love, like Envy Adams and Young Neil.

Each individual character has their own lore-accurate power-up attack, too, like Scott pulling out his bass and blasting an area-of-effect. Characters can be upgraded with badges, too, to create different builds depending on play style or what you can afford from the coins you pick up off of defeated foes.

Image via Tribute Games Unfortunately, I ran into a lot of issues when it came to online play. Things like lag and desync made it difficult to progress at times where I couldn't pick up items, or my co-op partner couldn't see the enemies that I was fighting against, causing for a frustrating experience.

The frustrations continued in the gameplay itself, as the combatants and especially boss fights can feel punishing at times, forcing to you re-run previous screens to farm coins and buy healing items. This may be a positive for some players looking for a challenge, but I found it annoying to progress when playing with someone who isn't a hardcore dedicated gamer. There's also issues where if you're carrying an important item and try to move to the next screen too quickly while a teammate is lagging behind, you'll just bounce off the edge of the screen and drop it. These sorts of problems popped up a lot throughout my playthrough.

The map itself is also confusing sometimes, and there are occasions where the markers and indicators telling you where to go next don't show up properly or aren't really apparent, and it leads to even more aimless running back and forth between screens.

The full Scott Pilgrim EX experience is also quite short-lived, running at about five hours on a first playthrough, with just a few hours more for completionists to do everything there is to do. This can be extended with multiple sessions and different co-op partners (the game is definitely meant to be played online and in a group), but it's still a quick experience.

Image via Tribute Games And at $30, this could be a steep price for some given the game's length and potential issues, but if you're a fan of Scott Pilgrim, it's probably worth your investment. Otherwise, I'd wishlist it and potentially wait for a sale down the line if you're looking for a bit more value out of your purchase.

The post Scott Pilgrim EX review – A fun but often frustrating retro ride appeared first on Destructoid.

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