Scott Pilgrim goes retro for his upcoming video game

Most movie-based video games are terrible, much like most video game-based movies are usually terrible. They’re often rushed to production to match the release date of a film, usually resulting in a sub-par game that’s worth nowhere near sixty dollars. 

But Scott Pilgrim is doing things differently. The comic series that inspired the film is heavily influenced by retro video game culture, so they wanted to do a game adaptation right. Game Informer recently got to play the Ubisoft title, which is a side-scrolling, SNES-ish beat ‘em up, and apparently it’s pretty damn cool and stays true to the original art of the comic.

Here’s a bit of what they had to say, along with a few stills from the game, which debuts in August on PSN, and later for 360. Even with these graphics, I’m not sure the Wii can run it. 

The game is a four-player brawler featuring Sex Bob-omb bass player Scott Pilgrim, love interest Ramona Flowers, and Scott’s bandmates Kim Pine and Stephen Stills as playable characters. Ubisoft teased other unlockable characters, modes, and levels, so don’t give up hope on playing as Knives Chau or Young Neil just yet. Unfortunately, there is no online play.

Combat covers all the brawler bases with two attack buttons, blocks, throws, counters, ground strikes, weapons, jumps, dashes, and grapples. You can also taunt, summon a mystical ninja, and resurrect knocked out players, which you don’t really see in brawlers. As you defeat enemies, you’ll gain experience and cash. The former grants you new moves upon leveling up (like an air recovery or spin attack) and the latter can be spent at River City Ransom-esque shops integrated into stages. Items like food and accessories are available here alongside straight up attribute boosts to strength, defense, speed, and willpower. Both Scott and Kim had entirely different movesets, which has us excited to see what Ramona and Stephen can do.

Check out some screens below, and head over to Game Informer to read more.