Scott Pilgrim (video game)

A 2010 downloadable game by Ubisoft for the PlayStation Network (PSN) and Xbox Live based off the series of the same name. Was made in conjuction with the film and the PSN version was released on the week the film was due out (360 version came a week later). The game is a Beat'Em Up not unlike River City Ransom made in a deliberate retro style that harkens back to the 8-bit and 16 bit era of gaming days. The Plot is the same as the series: you play as either Scott, Ramona, Kim Pine, Stephen Stills, Knives Chau or Nega-Scott as they battle their way through countless mooks to take on Ramona's Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends so that Scott has a chance to date her. There are a few changes from the comic to help fit the game.

Both series creator Bryan Lee O'Malley and film director Edgar Wright were heavily involved in he creation of the game. The sprites were made by famed sprite artist and animator Paul Robertson with music provided by Anamanaguchi, a chiptune punk band.

Tropes used in Scott Pilgrim (video game) include:
  • Absurdly Sharp Blade: Near the beginning of Level 4, Roxy's sword is able to actually cut parts of a Toronto Streetcar in the game; she does it TWICE.
  • Absurdly Long Limousine: For Clash At Demonhead; and it's modeled after K.I.T.T.
  • Advancing Boss of Doom: Todd Ingram has a "Type B" sequence.
  • All There in the Manual: Nothing to prevent enjoying the game, but there are some things that are only explained if you read the series.
  • Ass Kicks You: Kim's strong dash attack has her throwing out her tushy to hit people. It's pretty funny to watch when you could actually use that attack to destroy a car as well as cement blocks.
  • Awesome but Impractical: The higher your strength gets, the harder you throw items. It gets very easy to have a rebounding item hit you in the face.
  • Background Boss: Super Robot Fighter
  • Battle in the Center of the Mind: In Gideon's mind.
  • Beat'Em Up
  • Bilingual Bonus: The credits give special thanks to "Gong Bao Ji Ding"
  • Bishounen Line: Gideon's final form is simply his normal holographic human body with the pixel katana.
  • Bloody Murder: In 'Subspace Highway?', right before you fight Gideon's second form, Gigadeon, blood droplets will rain down upon your group as you make your way through. Also, this appears to be one of said boss form's attacks, in the form of blood-red skulls.
  • Bonus Boss: Mr. Chau. Becomes an assist character if you beat him.
  • Bootstrapped Theme: "Another Winter" is quickly approaching this, "Rock Club" being a close second due to the raw awesome tonnage invoked.
  • Boss Rush
  • Classic Cheat Code: Lots. Some unlock the Power of Love, Zombie Apocalypse mode, Blood, coins change to animals, unlocking the sound screen and there's probably more.
  • Conservation of Ninjutsu: Played straight on Level 4. Or pretty much the entire game when you're fighting Mooks of every flavor.
  • Credits Medley: And dear God is it awesome.
  • Dark Reprise: Appropriately, Nega-Scott's is a dark version of the main theme.
    • Also, we could say that "Leave The Past Behind" is a sad version of "Another Winter" since both use the same structure and have the same intro. Besides, they are the only songs in the game to have a chiptune version.
  • Degraded Boss: Robot-01 becomes a regular enemy in the final level.
  • Downer Ending: Scott's ending has Ramona gone, and him supposedly dating three girls at once. There is an ambiguous ending regarding his being happy. This is nowhere in the ending montage, though.
  • Downloadable Content: Knives Chau as a playable character, two new game modes, drop-in co-op and it fixes the bugs. For U$ 2,00.
  • Dragons Up the Yin-Yang: The Katayanagi Twins' combo moves are accompanied by random taijitu.
  • Dual Boss: The Katayanagi Twins.
  • Eleventh-Hour Superpower: The Power of Love sword appears stuck in a cloud for you to pick up right before the fight with Gideon's One-Winged Angel second form.
  • Everything Is Trying to Kill You: True to the old-school beat-em-ups it's based on, almost everything can hurt you. Trash cans can be thrown at you, dogs will bite you and most people you meet are trying to beat you up.
  • Evil Twin: Nega-Scott is a more Black and White Morality version in the game. He doesn't seem to represent anything but evil, has an Evil Laugh, apparently animates zombies and takes over the world in his ending.
  • Excited Level Title: Every level except the title-less level six has one, such as "Evil Ex Crossover! Take down Clash at Demonhead!"
  • Fictional Counterpart: As the original Comic Book tended to use actual Toronto-based locations for concert venues and shops, they were changed in-game. For example:
  • Flunky Boss: If playing with multiple players, almost all of the bosses become this. But even in single player mode, Matthew Patel and Lucas Lee play this trope in two different ways. Matthew takes cover in the middle of the fight to Summon Backup Dancers, whereas Lucas and his mooks fight together.
  • Flying Dutchman: Gideon's fate.
  • Gainaxing: All the female characters seem to have this.
  • Game Breaking Bug: The game was rushed out the door to match the movie, and the game is sometimes prone to crashing.
  • Get Crap Past the Radar: Todd Ingram sure hasn't Barbie Doll Anatomy during his flashing frames, as evidenced by some sprite rips.
  • Giant Hands of Doom: Super Fighting Robot. It's easy to win though.
  • Golden Ending: Ramona's ending.
  • Grievous Harm with a Body: Oh yes.
  • Hellevator
  • Homage: The Katayanagi Twins are playing a piano when you reach the end of their dark lair. Remind you of anything?
  • Ho Yay: We see Wallace making out with Jimmy in the background of the first boss battle.
  • Kevlard: There are enemies that repel attacks using their prodigious girth.
  • Les Yay: Kim Pine and Knives. Heck, with Kim's Assist, she summons Knives and gives her a kiss to gain health. Complete with Foot Popping and tongue! She also chooses Knives over Scott in her specific ending and they walk off into the sunset. In the ending montage everyone gets, they're also kissing.
  • Let's Play: Being done by Tipping Forties
  • Mirror Boss: Nega-Scott subverts this, in that he has many moves that Scott can't use. Particularly his fireballs.
    • ...at least until you unlock Nega-Scott for your own use- though he can't launch fireballs nearly as rapidly.
  • Money Spider: Dogs, owls and wolverines all drop money for some reason. Subverted through robots, which (in keeping with the comic) don't explode into money.
  • Moral Dissonance: Scott's ending... is definitely questionable compared to what happens in the canon ending in the comic book, literally showing he has not learned anything at all, much less not getting Ramona to stay with him.
  • Multiple Endings: Different endings depending on what character you are playing as.
    • Amusingly, of the original four playable characters, only Scott's is not compatible with the other endings. Kim ends with her getting together with Knives, Steven Stills' ending is the Sex Bob-Ombs rocking out loud, and Ramona's ending is Ramona and Scott walking into the sunset together. Meanwhile, Scott's ending is a Tenchi Solution with Envy, Kim, and Knives.
  • Ninja Log: Utilized by Roxanne.
  • Nintendo Hard: For first-time players, the levels will take some time.
  • No Pixels Were Harmed during the making of this video game.
  • One-Man Army: Obvious, given the genre of the game, but it's also the name of one of one of the trophies.
  • One-Winged Angel: The fight with Gideon. First, Gideon grows to twice his size for the first part of the battle, and when the fight goes into Subspace, Gideon plays the trope for all it's worth - He's bigger than the screen, the Gideon parts of him are frankly demonic looking, and from the waist down his body consists of the faces of the other six exes. Also, in the first part of the battle, when Gideon attacks, his sprite turns into a literal One Winged Angel.
  • Palette Swap: The Katayanagi Twins, despite their full portraits retaining their different hairstyles and clothes from the comics.
  • Panty Shot: Kim, Envy and Lynette all do this. Ramona looks like she's only wearing panties.
  • Please Wake Up: If you're playing multi-player and one of the characters is KO'd, another player has to go and revive them before a timer runs out. If they fail to do so, said character loses a life. The Katayanagi Twins do this as well if you knock just one down.
  • The Power of Friendship: This is actually the name of one of the trophies you are awarded in the game when you fulfill a certain condition during multiplayer mode.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: The game retains only the bare bones of the comic's plot. This is probably for the best, however, considering The Problem with Licensed Games.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Roxanne's eyes flash red on the third slash of her sword combo.
  • Retraux: Deliberately made in a 16-bit style to invoke this. As well as to play off the game theme of the comics.
  • RPG Elements: A crucial element of the gameplay; if you don't regularly increase your stats by buying food, you won't get very far.
  • Secret Shop: Wallace's Mystery Shop. It isn't very secret, what with the star painted on the door, but still...
  • Scary Shiny Glasses: To the point that, you never see Gideon's eyes (even when you are inside his mind, where there's no apparent light that could be reflected).
  • Scenery Porn: Nicely simple and detailed artwork. Then again it is Stéphane Boutin.
  • Secret Character: Nega-Scott, if you beat the game with all 4 characters. Knives Chau is available throught a DLC pack.
  • Sickeningly Sweethearts: Cutscenes after the first four stages have Scott and Ramona making out while Kim and Stephen Stills stand around.
  • Sigil Spam: The 3G Heavy Industries logo (The inverted Triforce with the G's) is everywhere!
  • Sound Test: And you'll be thankful. To unlock it, go to the Score Ranking menu on the world map and press L1x2, R1x2, L1x3, R1x3, L1, R1.
  • Sorry I Left the BGM On: The Dragon's Den music is very eerie in comparison with the other stages themes. But then, when you reach the Twins' Lair, you see them playing on an organ, and the bgm stops just as they stop playing it.
    • If one were to use the cheatcode to get to the sound test, it's revealed that it's Joseph's bedroom, and he's been broadcasting all the background music in the game except for places like the Katayanagi lair and Chaos Theater.
  • Spiritual Successor: To the GBA game based on the the 2007 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
  • Stealth Pun: The 6th level has almost no background characters, save for Stacey and every single non-playable gay guy. Combine this with the elf that gives you coins and you've got yourself a fairy forest!
  • Summon Backup Dancers: The Demon Hipster Chicks Patel can summon.
  • Tactical Suicide Boss: If Gigadeon didn't punch in anger to the ground leaving his heart unprotected, he would be undefeatable.
  • Traintop Battle: The second part of the 4th level.
  • Turns Red: All the evil exes do this when low on health.
  • Urban Legend of Zelda: People are already trying to figure out how to get to the Mario-style Green Pipes scattered throughout the overhead screen.
  • Victory Fakeout: You fight Gideon three times. All of them could conceivably pass for a final boss (particularly his One-Winged Angel second form).
  • "Wake-Up Call" Boss: Todd Ingram. While Matthew and Lucas weren't too hard to deal with, Todd will murder you if you try the same tricks you used on them. It also doesn't help that he's the first boss you meet that's nigh impossible to beat if you've been neglecting your stats: if you haven't been building your strength up, all you get is a nice bunch of 1's when you hit him.
  • Wife Husbandry: Gideon isn't kidnapping girls to make them his girlfriend in the video game, he's growing them from test tubes and People Jars.
  • Whip Sword: On Roxanne, the fourth evil ex.
  • Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him: During the boss battle with Todd, You get into a bass battle reminiscent of Rock Band or Guitar Hero playing tables. Todd's is hopelessly complicated, while Scott's is mostly blank. When Scott finally does get a note, he decides to cut out the middle man and hits Todd with his bass!
  • Zombie Apocalypse: There are a couple of Zombies in the park, but they're relatively easy; especially if you throw them into the convenient open graves. However, there's also "Survival Horror" mode (unlockable by code), where you are in one non-scroll screen, and more and more zombies keep coming out of the wood work without any easy way to "kill" them.
    • And when they fill the entire screen, that's when Nega-Scott's Dark Reprise starts playing. And they just keep coming. Until you survive for 30 real world minutes.
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