Platform(s): PC (version reviewed), Nintendo Switch
Genre: 2D Beat Em Up, RPG, Retro, Pop Culture

The Canadian-made comic book and media franchise series Scott Pilgrim (born out of a Plumtree song its creator Bryan Lee O’Malley loved) is half love story, half action comic with video game and pop culture references up the wazoo, and all fun with the energy and wit of a hyperactive mid-20s juvenile delinquent. Which makes it a perfect adaptation into a video game full of pizazz and 90s pixel art energy.

Ubisoft did it a while back in 2010, turning the Scott Pilgrim original comic story arc into a linear beat-em-up that has a bit of RPG leveling up going on. In retrospect, the game was really sluggish to play and required you to grind the same levels over and over to get a fair fighting chance against the tougher foes. It was more Streets of Rage than River City Ransom, except that you don’t start with all your moves and feel very underpowered from the get-go.

Fast forward to 2026, and we have 2D belt action experts Tribute Games with their new and great take on the comic AND Netflix anime series: Scott Pilgrim EX. It’s 2D, it’s pixel art-filled, and it’s a clearly much better beat-em-up experience than its predecessor. Granted, it has some flaws and over-correction going on, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Another Winter

The plot of Scott Pilgrim EX is simple: Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers have to rescue the former’s band mates from the clutches of Metal Scott (Scott but in Metal Sonic-esque form). Along the way, they have to navigate and survive in a Toronto landscape filled with warring demons, vegan vagrants, and rogue robots, all led by a mysterious evil shadow group.

The duo aren’t alone: they enlist the help of the reformed League of Evil Exes members like Matthew Patel, Lucas Lee, Roxy Richter, Robot-01 (representing The Twins), and the ex-big bad himself Gideon Graves. For those who are up to speed in the lore, Scott Pilgrim EX takes place in what seems to be an alternate universe that kinda follows the established canon in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, hence the playable ex-villains from the live-action movie.

You can’t have all this backdrop without some solid gameplay to support it, and Tribute Games delivers here and then some. Following the River City Ransom/River City Girls format, you and three other players (or just you going solo) explore Toronto in all its pixelated and game-ified glory, follow the trail to anomalies that lead you to different time periods, and then solve that problem by beating it up with combos and fancy attacks aplenty. And what a sight and locales you’ll get to see and check out; no game has a more esoteric combination of stages than this beat-em-up. Where else can you see a prehistoric Flintstones-esque backdrop, a spooky castle that pays homage to Castlevania (and Bloodborne), and a TMNT Turtles In Time train stage tribute all on the same title?

Each of the seven playable characters have a huge arsenal of moves and skills from the get-go, and they have unique skill sets. Robot-01 is a ranged fighter, so his up-close moves aren’t the best. Conversely, Lucas Lee is a slow but heavy-hitting brawler with good reach and hard-hitting moves. My favourite is Gideon, as he has good sword knockdown moves, a counter, and an area-of-effect super that is basically Geese Howard’s Raging Storm. Every character has an AoE move that takes up your Gut Points/GP (Super Meter for your extra moves), but so far Gideon’s the coolest-looking of the lot. With spot-on controls that are easy to get into (either controller or keyboard), and a variety of defensive options like blocking, evading, Hop Attacks, and parrying.

As if that isn’t enough, you also get to call on assists and support characters (that uses up GP) to help you out temporarily. Lucas Lee’s Stunt Doubles stun all foes on-screen, letting you do KO attacks, while Knives Chau plays her bass and speeds up the party temporarily. And since this is a River City Ransom RPG-style action game, you can equip yourselves with up to four clothing/apparel pieces for stats boosting and two accessories that can radically change up your playstyle. The plethora of shops from food places to drug stores all over Toronto can also fill up your health and GP as well as boost your stats permanently.

Leave The Past Behind

You will need to get as much money as you can -via beating up bad guys- because the bosses you fight will get tougher and require you to be at certain levels to even make a dent on their health. I have tried powering through with just sheer dodging (via Hop Attacks) and parrying (via clashing attacks), but most of the time I solve the problem by just good old-fashioned grinding. At the very least, I don’t have to buy additional moves.

It’s a shame the game gets too easy once you get your character(s) to level 200 and beyond. The game is built so that you are encouraged to farm enemies for coin, and then find your favourite store to get permanent stat boosts from; mine include the First Ever Coffee Shop early on and the video store later on, once more high-level baddies drop by. I mention Hop Attacks a lot in this review; that’s the one important move I mastered for all characters that got me through the second half of the game mostly unscathed. That, and certain Assists too can be broken and exploited; see the Young Neil summon as an example of a tide-turning support move.

This is basically a problem these River City Ransom-type games face, with the only solution being level scaling enabled, or a separate Boss Rush or Survival Mode (a roguelite even?) where it just scales higher and higher difficulty-wise even if your characters are past level 200. You know, like the same bulls*** From Software uses for their Soulslike games.

I should also mention that the game gets VERY chaotic and hard to see through the gaggle of sprites and colours, especially when you have four players and the action scales up and throws a good chunk at you. So best prepare to squint when it gets very heavy during enemy gauntlet bits and certain sidequests where you have to survive a wave of giant baddies coming at you.

Rock Club

Still, this beat-em-up can’t be beat quality and controls-wise. Raging Scottaholics will love this title to death just for all the nods and references, with special props to the developers for their attention to detail. Fans of beat-em-ups and gaming will find a lot to adore here, as it’s basically a revved-up role-playing beat-em-up hybrid ala River City Ransom on steroids and pop culture nod overloads.

In short, a veritable arcade-style gem that’s fun for up to four players, even if you have to be up to speed with the comic, film, & anime series to get most of what it’s telling you in old-school story game fashion. You can still jump in blind and enjoy the gameplay and pixel art, but you’ll get more out of it if you do your homework.

Pros

• Sublime aesthetics.
• Fun & tight combat & gameplay.
• Playable characters feel different & unique enough.
• Loads of action, side quests, & boss fights.
• Great love letter to Scott Pilgrim comic book & anime fans.

Cons

• Gets way too easy once you reach higher levels.
• Hard to see your characters in VERY populated combat sections.

Final Score: 90/100

Review copy provided by publisher.