Scott Pilgrim EX

Meanwhile.. somewhere in Toronto.

Back in 2021, we saw the re-release of 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs The World, a Beat’um Up Brawler based on the graphic novels and feature film. Now, some years later, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s masterpiece is back, joining forces with Tribute Games to bring this brawler back to screens everywhere. While it certainly looks to recapture the magic of the Ubisoft original, some choices don't always land, despite a deeper array of progression mechanics and unique roster to keep things fresh.

Featuring a whole new story penned by O’Malley himself, Scott Pilgrim EX takes place sometime after the events of the graphic novel with Scott and Ramona seemingly an item, and Knives Chau now officially part of Sex Bob-omb. However, while the band is rocking out, Metal-Scott, who had a tie-in comic released just prior to the game, seemingly abducts the band, and transports them and their instruments into parallel dimensions. Now, it's up to you to rescue them and stop the interdimensional riff rifts in space time from destroying Toronto.

Playable from the start is Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Lucas Lee, Roxie Richter, Matthew Patel, and Robot-01, with a bonus character unlocked once you complete the game. As the members of Sex Bob-Omb are kidnapped, you sadly don't get to slice and dice as Knives Chau this time around. Still, the cast is wildly diverse, with Lucas Lee performing skateboard attacks, summoning demons with Matthew Patel, and Roxie Richter taking on the role of the slice and dicer. 

Being a massive fan of the original, and a huge fan of Ramona Flowers, she was ultimately my go-to, and didn't disappoint. Combat is easy to pick up and play with a variety of moves unique to each cast member. 

While some fans would love to see the likes of Wallace, Julie Powers, or the Demon Hipster Chick as playable characters, they do exist in the game, but as summons, joined by the band members as you rescue them, such as Kim Pine, Stephen Stills, and even the Katayanagi Twins, each offering a wide range of buffs, such as invulnerability shields, or knocking down all enemies on screen.

Combat itself is extremely fun, and despite some issues of being knocked around a bit too much, you'll also be able to utilize several weapons, such as baseball bats and turnips. Also, you can throw those weapons until they break, which made some boss fights a bit too easy, as you suddenly barrage them with several ranged attacks they can't truly defend against.

However, the real star of the show is the four player co-op that brings a kinetic chaos to the mix. As the original also featured this level of co-op insanity, it's nice to see Tribute keeping to this, as opposed to just limiting co-op to two players. And, the fact that it is local and online co-op, is just perfect, with easy tools to find active lobbies and get into joinable games. That said, during the review period, I found only a few other reviews to play co-op with, and plan on checking this game out again once consumers can fill the servers.

What is new to EX is that instead of linear stages like in the original, Toronto is spread out more like something akin to a Metroidvania, with specific locations locked behind the missing instruments and their respective beats, played out like a certain game with an Ocarina. While I do believe this structure works, I find these locations to be drastically small, and rarely feel fleshed out. The beach, for example, is just a few screens and lacks personality. The back and forth across the map does cause a bit of repetition, but as the game can be easily beaten with a full team in around 4 hours, you're not putting up with too much for too long. 

Throughout this dimensional hopping, you'll fight a familiar-looking dinosaur, throw enemies into a train's furnace to win a race, and explore downtown Toronto, and its various markets and parks. The range of locations is decent, especially a certain police station that is a mixture of two of gaming's biggest franchises, but as mentioned, few stages really last, with only a few locations that truly stand out. Still, from a visual standpoint, EX is fun, colorful, and captures the magic of the graphic novels with ease.

While an open world-ish structure can work for a Beat’em Up, linear stages often provide a chance of pace since they don't need to be confined to the rules of the prior stage, hence why in most brawlers, you can go from ground to air to hopping over moving cars, or various other scenarios. Due to the static street level gameplay here, there is some restriction on creativity that doesn't always shine.

Spread out across each stage is a variety of shops, all begging for the Canadian change you find as you defeat enemies, crush garbage cans, and drop kick parking meters. That said, I'm interested to see Americans play this and wonder just what that silver and gold coin is. Spoilers; it is a Toonie.

Added to EX is a pretty decent system to make your fighter more powerful, as you can equip a variety of items such as badges and accessories to boost your stats, or purchase a food item to keep in reserve should you get knocked out, or to heal your current injuries. And while accessories grant you those buffs, badges are passives like having coins worth more or snacks restoring more health

Now, when I say a variety of shops, I truly mean it. There are tons spread out across the entire map, with familiar characters working the counter, one of which requires a few items to open, offering an item that then takes you to a whole new area, one I had completely forgot about when I was tasked with going back to the school and then completely forgetting the shop sold that item that took me there before. I was stuck for longer than I care to admit, and the vague map didn't really help matters at all.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World had a ton of fun and engaging enemies, and stellar boss encounters, and EX does have its fair share of solid fights. There is one fight that initially confused myself and my co-op partner as you have to push three crystals to the electrical current to the right. Initially, we thought we had to hit all three at once, but they would retract back too fast, making it nearly impossible to align all three at once as the blasts from the crystals themselves have a wide knock back range. This made the boss fight rather difficult, until we realized you only need to ensure the crystal hits the wave three or four times each, thus destroying them. After we realized that, it was a cake walk and we felt immediately foolish.

Overall, the fodder of foes you'll bash into chaotic pocket change is fun, with them separated into three gangs: Demons, Vegans, and Robots. To add, the boss fights are equally wonderful, especially when you get to the bottom of just who the main villains are and why they are destroying Toronto with these Riff Rifts. I will stress that I wish the final boss fight had a bit more going for it, at least with different phases, transformations, etc. instead, it is a pretty simple affair, especially with more players active in the fight.

As you explore Toronto, there is a ton to explore, with secrets, challenges, and more, all begging to be explored. You'll find keys and bombs that unlock new shops, and playable areas; one there is a bar that has a mini-game to take on. This had me analyzing each location on the map for what could possibly lay in store for me.

While EX is built by a whole new team, it does capture the pixel aesthetic of the original game nicely, with wonderfully detailed characters, enemies, and locations that really do impress. Characters have a wide range of moves, charming animations, and special attacks that are flashy, and compliment the source material the same way we got with VS The World. It also helps that the soundtrack is pretty good, even if it does feel mostly forgettable after you've logged off.

While the Metroidvania aspect does make most of its environments a bit too brisk, and relying on backtracking to pad out its roughly 4 hour playtime, the Beat’em joy of Vs The World is more than alive here in Scott Pilgrim EX, with Tribute doing a wonderful job at giving us more of what worked so well. With a ton of different items to boost your power, and seven immensely fun characters to master, EX is wildly fun, despite its noticeable flaws, and continues the adventures of Scott Pilgrim, and his unique cast of heroes and villains, all somewhere in Toronto.

Developer - Tribute Games.
Publisher - Tribute Games. Released - March 3rd, 2026. Available On - PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC. Rated - (E 10+) - Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X/S. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.