| Scott Pilgrim EX | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Scott Pilgrim EX is the latest installment in the Scott Pilgrim beat ‘em up game series. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn’t do well, and if it’s worth your money.
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Scott Pilgrim EX Review Overview
What is Scott Pilgrim EX?
Scott Pilgrim EX is an arcade-style co-op beat ‘em up game, and the latest title in the famous Scott Pilgrim game series. Set in a world of superpowered vegans, actual demons, time-travelling robots, and vampires, Scott Pilgrim EX takes players on a ride through the multiverse as Scott, Ramona, and their friends try to save the rest of Sex Bob-omb from the evil mind of Metal Scott.
Scott Pilgrim EX features:
⚫︎ Arcade-style beat ‘em up mechanics
⚫︎ Pixel art visual style
⚫︎ Chip-tune soundtrack
⚫︎ Online matchmaking
⚫︎ 1 to 4-player online and local co-op multiplayer
| Digital Storefronts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
 PS |
 Xbox |
 Switch |
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| $28.99 | |||||||
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Scott Pilgrim EX's gameplay and story.
Scott Pilgrim EX Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Gotta Love That Amazing Aracde-style Pixel Art Wacky Story Only Scott Pilgrim Could Provide Great Cast of Playable Characters Online and Local Co-op is a Plus |
Made for a Very Specific Audience Merciless Progression |
Scott Pilgrim EX Story - 8/10
EX’s story is weird, wacky, and everything you could ever appreciate from a Scott Pilgrim game. It’s hard to follow, which lowers its general appeal, but fans of the IP will be right at home with the multidimensional portals, demon ladies, and animated RPG skeletons.
Scott Pilgrim EX Gameplay - 8/10
Scott Pilgrim EX’s gameplay is rather basic when compared to a more contemporary title, but that’s by design, and is by no means a detriment to the game’s overall quality. It limits the game’s general appeal to those who can appreciate its arcade stylings, but to those people, this is actual mana from heaven in terms of retro gaming.
Scott Pilgrim EX Visuals - 8/10
EX’s 24-bit arcade-style pixel art goes hand in hand with its gameplay and is pretty much expected for a brand that references retro pop culture so much. The backgrounds are loud, the characters are expressive, and the animation is top-notch for the medium. The fact that you can toggle an old CRT filter to make things look even more authentic is just icing on the cake.
Scott Pilgrim EX Audio - 8/10
If you expected anything but arcade music from this game, then you’re going to be disappointed, because that’s all it has, and it’s awesome. No voice acting from the main cast, sure, but old arcades didn’t have that, so I’ll give it a pass in that regard. Maybe I’d have appreciated more variety in the sound library, but what we got will suffice for a high-ish score.
Scott Pilgrim EX Value for Money - 8/10
Coming in at what many would consider the edge of acceptable prices for AA games, Scott Pilgrim EX will have you busting up bad guys in no time for a mere $28.99. Though not at all cheap, it’s well worth the coinage if you can spare it, particularly if you’re a fan, because this is the best the IP has looked in pixel art in a very long time.
Scott Pilgrim EX Overall Score - 80/100
Scott Pilgrim EX is a great game made for a very specific audience. Though it’s lacking in general appeal due to its purposeful emulation of arcade-style beat’em ups, you’d be hard-pressed to find a fan of the genre, art-style, or IP who’d find anything wrong with this game. It’s cheesy, it’s wacky, and it’s as retro as heck. Simply EXceptional!
Scott Pilgrim EX Review: EXceptional for Fans, Great for Everyone Else
Most games aim for broad appeal. The logic is simple: the wider the net, the bigger the catch. But there’s always tension between accessibility and identity. Cater too little to your core audience, and you risk blandness. Cater too much, and you risk alienating everyone else.
Very rarely does a game lean unapologetically toward its fans and still manage to function as a complete, polished experience for outsiders. That’s a dangerous balancing act that not every title can tow.
Scott Pilgrim EX walks that tightrope. It is absolutely made with fans in mind — soaked in references, absurdity, and tonal whiplash — but it’s also mechanically sturdy enough to stand on its own. The catch, though, is that if you don’t enjoy classic arcade beat ‘em ups, this game will not convert you.
I’m a Scott Pilgrim fan, but not particularly an arcade loyalist. That puts me in an interesting middle ground. I appreciate what this game is doing. I also see exactly where it draws its lines in the sand.
Let’s press start on this review, then.
Just Another Day in the Life of Scott Pilgrim
The game’s story is absolute nonsense. I don’t mean that as an insult or negative critique. If you’re a Scott Pilgrim fan, you already know.
We begin with Scott’s friends being abducted by a metal alternate-dimension version of himself and scattered across timelines to live vastly different lives. To fix this, Scott and Ramona team up with her exes — yes, those exes — and assemble an ensemble cast that includes a guy who can summon sexy demon backup dancers, a guy with an entire film crew in his back pocket, some dude with vegan psychic powers, a chick with an arsenal’s worth of ninja weapons, and the weaponized embodiment of love.
If you know the Scott Pilgrim comics and film, this is business as usual. If you don’t, you’ll still follow the broad strokes of a classic adventure story, but the constant tonal whiplash may feel less charming and more exhausting before long.
Here’s the important distinction, though: the absurdity works because it commits. The game understands that confusion is part of the flavor; the Scott Pilgrim flavor, to be exact. It doesn’t slow down to explain its own joke, nor does it expect you to get it at all. That kind of confidence gives it an authenticity that anyone, fan or not, can appreciate.
All that comes at a cost, though. Cutscenes occasionally linger longer than the arcade pacing can comfortably support, and some humor leans more "LOL so random" than razor-sharp satire. Fans will likely forgive that. Outsiders may not.
Enough about stories, though. What’s an arcade beat ‘em got in buckets if not punches? Let’s get to those.
Beating Up Demons, Skeletons, and Vegans Retro-style
Scott Pilgrim EX is a classic sidescrolling beat ‘em up, and it does not pretend otherwise. You move left to right. Enemies flood in. You punch, kick, throw, juggle, and special attack. Rinse. Repeat. Some would call it basic; I call it appropriate and wonderfully retro.
The core combat system is deceptively layered despite the rather simple premise of beating guys black and blue until they move no more. Basic directional attacks form the backbone of it all, while special moves consume a secondary meter to give you more options and attack vectors.
Advanced techniques like animation cancels, aerial dives, grapples, and combo extensions reward mechanical curiosity and skillful input. It’s a lot to work with, more than you’d expect, but when the system clicks, it feels fantastic. Juggling enemies across the screen while your co-op partner spikes them back into your fists is pure arcade serotonin.
The mechanics work and are crisp as they are, but the key question is feel. Thankfully, the combat mostly delivers in that regard. Hit reactions are satisfying. Enemy knockback behaves predictably, if a bit exaggerated. Animation timing allows for skill expression without demanding fighting-game precision. There’s weight to throws and impact to specials. It’s a lot of cogs working in unison to make the machine of this game’s combat run smoothly.
That said, enemy variety takes time to ramp up as the game progresses. Early stages can feel repetitive, especially solo. Some enemies exist more as combo fodder than meaningful threats, at least until they hit you for half your health in higherdifficulties. Boss encounters fare better, though, forcing adaptation in your tactics, though not every fight hits the same high.
And then there’s the game’s RPG layer—a modern garnish that purists would undoubtedly shun, but I welcome completely. Characters equip stat-boosting items, passive badges, and summon abilities in addition to what havoc they can wreak on each stage. On paper, it adds depth to the base customization experience. In practice, it enhances and builds on each character’s base kit without fundamentally transforming playstyle.
For example, I chose Lucas Lee for my first run, partly for the Chris Evans connection, partly for his grappler toolkit. Leaning into Strength and Vitality stats and using passives that trigger on grabs turned him into a stage-clearing juggernaut, with both goons and bosses alike being thrown about the stage like ragdolls.
There’s a downside to this style of progression, however, as most builds feel like amplification rather than reinvention. You become a stronger version of your archetype, not a radically different one, or even a slightly new one. The system adds flavor and replay incentive, but it won’t satisfy players looking for roguelike-level experimentation or wild build synergies. That’s simply not what it’s for, which isn’t a hit against its quality in a vacuum, but certainly would turn a few away.
Classic Progression Style Appeals to Some, May Deter Others
Arcade is as arcade goes, and arcades don’t usually care if you spent your last quarter on a bomb of a run. Progression in this game is governed by a modified classic arcade-style checkpoint system. You die, you restart at a checkpoint. Not only that, you lose your hard-earned money to boot; money that otherwise could’ve helped you get new equipment to make things easier the next time around.
That design choice is deliberate. It preserves the tension of every run. Every mistake costs something tangible. For retro enthusiasts, this is part of the thrill and is the crux of the experience. Success feels earned because failure carries weight.
For players accustomed to modern roguelikes and progression loops, it may feel punishing rather than motivating. The economy is mostly balanced, but losing a chunk of cash after a sloppy encounter can sting more than it inspires improvement.
The game does offer difficulty adjustments, which soften the blow in the long run. But philosophically, it refuses to adopt the "fail forward" model that dominates contemporary design.
Whether that feels refreshing or archaic depends entirely on your taste. I happen to find it refreshing, if a little irksome at times.
Join the Fray through Online and Local Co-op
Now, as any roughouser will tell you, any melee is improved by an increased number of participants. More punches thrown and more teeth knocked out equate to a better experience for the winning party, so naturally, Scott Pilgrim EX lets you invite the whole crew to the brawl in not one, but two ways.
The standard way to go about it is online, of course, and you can either start your own run or crash somebody else’s. If you’re looking to go full retro, though, local co-op is also an option. With your friends in the mix, you can literally ping-pong enemies back and forth until they’re dead, keeping the combo going and the fun at an all-time high. It’s actually the best way to play the game, if you can manage it.
This does require you to buy the game more than once, see, and at nearly 30 bucks, that might be a tall ask for someone just looking for their arcade fix. The game is at least enjoyable even on your lonesome, so don’t be deterred if that friend list is looking a bit slim. You can also just go online and pair with randos if multiplayer is your ultimate draw from this game.
Completing that Retro Look with Pixels and Filters
It’s not retro or arcade if it’s not pixelated, at least that’s what a purist would say. I honestly don’t care either way, so long as the gameplay is designed to evoke that principle effectively. I do care, however, when someone goes the extra mile to evoke the aesthetics of a retro feel as well, and Scott Pilgrim EX does a great job at doing just that.
Character animations are fluid and expressive. Silhouettes remain readable even in crowded fights. Effects have an impact without cluttering the screen. The color palette balances neon chaos with the clarity of heavy outlines.
It doesn’t quite dethrone something like Hyper Light Drifter in terms of atmospheric cohesion, but it doesn’t need to. EX isn’t going for melancholy minimalism. It’s going for vibrant arcade excess.
The optional retro filter is a clever touch; icing on the cake, as it were. It adds CRT-style flair without compromising readability. Importantly, the aesthetic never interferes with gameplay clarity, which is where many retro homages stumble.
Made With an Audience in Mind, Nonetheless EXquisite
Scott Pilgrim EX is a great game for most, but borderline perfect if you’ve the fandom stripes to show. It has a great art style backed up by a classic gameplay loop that’s been enhanced by modern accoutrements. The story is wacky and confusing, but in a fun way, and any enjoyment to be had will only be multiplied by the number of friends you can invite to the fray.
Scott Pilgrim EX chooses clarity over compromise, clearly. It knows what it is. It doesn’t soften its punishment curve to appease modern expectations, and that confidence is its greatest strength.
I like to think that retro design isn’t about imitation. It’s about intent. The devs of Scott Pilgrim EX understand that. Whether you’re the right person for it depends less on your fandom status and more on whether you still believe a well-timed punch, a tight combo, and a crowded couch are enough.
Is Scott Pilgrim EX Worth It?
Costly for the Crew, But Manageable for the Solo Player
Coming in at an AA standard of nearly $30, Scott Pilgrim EX isn’t asking for too much, so long as you’re just considering your expenses. If you’re looking to play with friends and make use of that sweet local co-op, this might cost your group a pretty penny in total. On your own, though, the online matchmaking will suffice.
I usually won’t dock a point for multiplayer expenses. But seeing what circumstances this game is meant to evoke, those circumstances being LAN parties and couch co-ops from yesteryear, costing your group an arm and a leg is going to get in the way of that.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
PS |
Xbox |
Switch |
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| $28.99 | |||||||
Scott Pilgrim EX FAQ
How Do I Unlock New Cosmetics in Scott Pilgrim EX?
Players can unlock new color palette swaps for each of the game’s playable characters by purchasing them from specific shops on the in-game map. These include Cold Topic and Envy’s Trailer.
How Do I Parry in Scott Pilgrim EX?
Players can parry attacks in Scott Pilgrim EX by attacking an enemy as they are making their own attack. This cancels the enemy’s attack.
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Scott Pilgrim EX Product Information
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| Title | SCOTT PILGRIM EX |
|---|---|
| Release Date | March 3, 2026 |
| Developer | Tribute Games Inc. |
| Publisher | Tribute Games Inc. |
| Supported Platforms | Steam PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X|S Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | Arcade, Action, Fighting |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Scott Pilgrim EX Official Website |
