Scott Pilgrim as a character and a franchise feels at one with the nostalgic concept of Nintendo. The movie, way back in 2010, was even the first film to officially feature music from The Legend of Zelda series. The game that came out in support of that movie was basically a gorgeously pixel-animated fan game riff on River City Ransom with Scott Pilgrim characters. It was a novelty, complete with a rocking soundtrack from chiptune aficionados Anamanaguchi. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game (available on Switch if you’re curious) is totally fine, but even when it came out, it was largely just a decent brawler with a lot of style. Tribute Games busted out some sort of warp whistle though so they could give a Scott Pilgrim video game the tender loving care it deserved. The end result, Scott Pilgrim EX, is an incredible beat-’em-up that plays best with a crowd, but the vibes, style, and variety help make it a standout of the genre.

The setup is borderline perfunctory, but it stands as its own specific quirky entry in the Scott Pilgrim canon. Technically speaking, it’s set after the anime that came out in 2023, but as long as you’re familiar with the overall concept of Scott Pilgrim, you’re fine here. Nefarious villains disrupt band practice and kidnap all of the members of Sex Bob-omb (except Scott) and their instruments. From there, Scott, Ramona, and a varied and deep bench of five other playable characters journey around cartoon Toronto to find the instruments and band members while a bounty of video game and comic book references dart across the screen to the resplendent rhythm of a killer Anamanaguchi chiptune soundtrack.

Scott Pilgrim EX is sort of level based, but it’s more driven by quests that have you criss-crossing all over the map. The levels are usually found in pockets of subspace in buildings that typically end with a boss fight and a reward of a new instrument or band member. An array of challenges also dot the landscape, rewarding you with rarer items if you complete certain tasks in a time limit. The entirety of the game isn’t all that long, landing in the 5 to 10-hour range depending on how much of a completionist you are.

For the most part, I played through it by my lonesome and had a blast, bouncing around all of the seven different playable characters and giggling at all the video game references. I even was able to pick up on some deep cut Scott Pilgrim gags (it’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie or show and even longer since I read the books). The characters fundamentally control the same with light and strong attacks, throws, and special moves. They all feel different to control and have different unique special moves that grant them their own depth. Scott is rather well-rounded while all the other characters veer off in different directions. Ramona focuses on keeping distance between her and enemies, Roxie busts out all sorts of ninja weaponry, and Lucas Lee is more focused on grappling. Blending all the different characters when diving into the multiplayer for up to four players is where the game really takes off. It’s easy to bring in couch co-op friends and you can even extend that out to GameShare and online crossplay.

The brawler gameplay is incredibly fun but what puts Scott Pilgrim EX over the top is animation and music. The pixel art is beautiful and it’s fun to just see the light bounce and movement any given screen has. The world is gorgeous and vibrant. And then there’s the Anamanaguchi soundtrack. The original game had a great soundtrack from these chiptune legends but the new one feels like a step forward. It’s filled with earworms and excitement. And I’ll also use this space to plug Anamanaguchi’s awesome album Anyway from last year (it rips!).

Scott Pilgrim EX feels less like a movie tie-in game and more like a fully thought-out and unique beat-’em-up. It’s a blast to play, whether you’re playing it solo, local co-op, or online. It might not be filled with replay value after you get through the campaign, but the pieces that make up the moment-to-moment gameplay can lead to a lot of different types of mayhem and challenge. This is an astonishingly stylish video game that sounds incredible, looks beautiful, and plays wonderfully. It’s worth fighting your way through evil exes to play.