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I loved Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Movie.

It was such an amazing movie, and hands down the best video game movie ever made. The movie had better fight scenes than the Expendables, told a better story than the Last Airbender, and was funnier than Piranha 3D. In summary: a truly great piece of film. Don’t get me started on the crime that was their Box Office numbers, but rest assured Scott Pilgrim has earned a spot on my DVD shelf when it is released.

Thanks to the movie, I have started to read the comic book. While I’ve yet to finish it, I must say I am impressed once again with what I see. Definitely going to collect the entire set.

So right now, Scott Pilgrim is 2-0 with me. Then I hear it has a video game coming out. Could Scott Pilgrim finish the sweep, entertaining me in movies, books, and now a video game? Well guess what? It did.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a sidescrolling beat’em up starring Scott, Ramona, Stills, and Kim as you take on wave after wave to defeat Ramona’s Seven Evil Ex-es. The humor of the series remains present, as well as a tip of the hat to old school games as this one is in classic 8-bit/16-bit fashion.

The game itself takes after the comics, as the look of the characters and plot seem to follow that more. There are a total of 8 levels for you to fight your way through, as you hunt down and face all the evil ex-es. Ubisoft did a tremendous job of staying true to the Scott Pilgrim story, but giving this a classic 8-bit game feel to it. Everything from the controls, graphics, and cheat codes took me back to a simpler time in games.

The levels are quite clever. For instance, Lucas Lee’s (The actor) level is a giant movie set with Godzilla suited foes, aliens with ray guns, blue screen motion actors, paparazzi, and even a Raiders of the Lost Ark homage. My personal favorite level though, would be Gideon Grave’s level. Now I won’t spoil it for you, but look for quite a few references taken from classic NES games thrown in there.

The game play is nicely done. This game takes a few pages from the River City Ransom game, as you can raise your characters stats through items in stores to make them a more powerful fighter. You also learn new moves by leveling your character. It’s a gratifying feeling leveling your characters to max, and lying waste to all the enemies on the screen. However, don’t expect your girlfriend, who hasn’t had a chance to throw a punch yet, to be too impressed. Each character has a different ending, and there are even characters to unlock, so there is some decent replay value to this one.

The true star of this game is the music, which maybe the best soundtrack on a PSN game ever. A band called Anamanaguchi does the music, a band that specializes in NES 8 bit style music, and boy, do they shine in this game. I often found myself replaying levels just to listen to the music again! There music does a fantastic job of making you think of this game as a classic NES game, but give it a new school feel at the same time. (For those who know what I’m talking about, they are selling the soundtrack for this game on itunes as we speak)

As much as I loved this game, it does have some flaws. First off, no online play. This blows my mind as it’s usually a give-in with fighting games (Final Fight for example). Granted, I guess one could make the argument that they were just trying to hold true to the classic game feel, which did not have online… but come on!

Also, no drop in co-op. Meaning you can’t just pick up a controller, hit start and join in. This once again feels like a no brainer, as every classic beat’em up I can think of has this! In the games defense however, it does save you’re progress as you go through the game. So you can just exit the game after completing a level, and restart with a friend. But unless you’re a high level at this point, finishing that level won’t be soon.

Also there is a sense of receptiveness with some of the enemies. For instance, the Fat Trucker enemy (who requires a certain stragety) is replaced by the Fat Ninja Chick (same stragety) is then replaced again with the Fat Pumpkin headed guy (same strategy) and is then replaced by Sammo Hung enemy (same stragety). This happens with more than several enemies, though one could argue that it should be expected with these types of games.

Despite the flaws, Scott Pilgrim is a great game. If you’re a fan of the series, or come from the 8 bit generation, it is a must have. While the little things can be annoying it doesn’t take away from this truly awesome game.

RATING: 4 out 5 stars

Shank is something special. It's a throwback to the old-school brawlers mixed with certain elements to keep it fresh. It almost feels like Double Dragon mixed with a 2-D version of Devil May Cry, and it works great. For most side scrolling brawlers, after a couple levels you’ll realize you can easily beat the game pushing one button. That’s not the case with Shank. Throughout the game, you’ll be unleashing various combos using your two shanks (obviously), guns, and more powerful weapons such as your chainsaw and a katana. Creating combo after combo during a heated battle is nothing short of a blast.


Shank is a classic revenge story. The game starts off with your girlfriend getting murdered right before your eyes, and you’re after the ones who were involved. As you progress through the game, the story unfolds more and more, giving you a better understanding of everything from past to present. There’s also a separate co-op campaign that acts as a prequel to the main single player experience to make this package even more desirable.


The graphics and sound is top notch to say the least. First off, let’s talk about the graphics. This game is gorgeous to look at. Between all the animations of the characters, the cutscenes, to the environments are great. Some scenes really stick out though, like a bridge fight from the first level. The sun is setting in the background, and you’re fighting enemy after enemy with the character models completely dark, making the scene more memorable. The music and sound effects shouldn’t be overshadowed either. The soundtrack (which was released free through the official Shank blog found here http://shankgame.com/art/shank-soundtrack-available-now/) sets the mood perfectly. The soundtrack has somewhat of a western theme, giving the game sort of a Tarantino vibe to everything. Gun and sword play, explosions, and slicing up enemies all sounds great. Even the voice acting (which has been getting mixed opinions) was enjoyable. I feel Klei Entertainment was going for a Grindhouse feel with the fun voice acting, not taking everything TOO seriously, while still feeling the urge to when needed. This is one of the rare arcade games that look and sounds good all around.


Shank’s multiplayer isn’t something tacked on last minute. Two people play locally as Shank and Falcone (who you’ll recognize from the single player campaign if you beat that first) and this starts off the revenge story. The cooperative gameplay is challenging, especially during boss fights, but it feels very rewarding in the end. You need to work together, pull off unique combos only two people can do, and learn to master them. With the little time you have with Shank and his girlfriend in the prequel, you get closer to those characters, and feel a bit of loss when you slowly see how it all happened. Klei didn’t need to add a multilayer option,
but I’m happy they did.


I’ve talked very positive thus far about Shank, but it’s not without its flaws. The control scheme can be somewhat questionable at times, especially during co-op. To pick up items, you use the square button (or X for the Xbox version), the same button used for your most common attack, shanking enemies. Sometimes when items such as health would drop, I’d continue pushing the shank button and accidently pick it up when I didn’t need it. This also became a slight pain in co-op where everything revolves around team work, and I pushed square against a thug resulting in me quickly picking up health when my partner needed it. Another small complaint is the boss fights were too easy. The levels built up to an intense boss fight, which ended up being disappointingly easy (with the exception of the last fight). Sure, there’s a hard difficulty for people up to the challenge, but my patience won’t last me if I had attempted it. Those are just VERY minor complaints and should not change your mind about purchasing it.


Shank is a great little package. The $15 price tag may change some of your minds, but it’s worth it. You’re getting a three and a half hour single player campaign and a separate hour and a half cooperative story. If you beat all of that, you can push your skills and patience with the hard difficulty, and even complete certain in-game tasks to unlock costumes and concept art. Shank finds a way to keep the beat ‘em up genre fresh and exciting all the way till the dramatic conclusion. It’s not a flawless experience, but it’s a damn fun one!

Shank Overall Score – 9.2