15 years later, Scott Pilgrim EX proves that Toronto's most problematic bass player has what it takes to become beat-em-up royalty in 2025

You know why a bass line is important in a good rock song, right? It’s the whole foundation, the beating heart of the music that underpins everything else the song has to offer. That slick riff that comes in before the chorus wouldn’t land as well without some nice syncopated bass notes to make it soar. The drum fills wouldn’t feel as at home in the transitions without the bass to glue them to the rest of the beat. Even vocal melodies, when orchestrated properly, are elevated by a nice, recognisable and reliable bass line.

Yes, that may be a clunky metaphor, but go with me on this. That’s what the combat is in Scott Pilgrim EX. The original beat-em-up from 2010 – that’s the clumsily-titled Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game – had an absolute solid foundation that, sometimes, was weighed down by everything else. To continue the bass analogy, it was like listening to Primus: one of the best bass players in the world surrounded by musicians that are, but nowhere near the level of Les Claypool.

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So, in Scott Pilgrim EX, Tribute Games has set to work correcting that imbalance. Now, it feels like all the other that kept the original game at ‘Battle of the Bands’ level, rather than ‘sold out amphitheatre shows’ level, is being refined. I only played a 30-minute demo at Gamescom, but it’s like listening to the lead single off a band’s comeback album: it sets the scene, gives a sense of what’s to come, paints the sonic landscape for you, and gets you hyped.

The combat – that bass line – is as driven and insistent as ever. It’s smooth, buttery, and compelling. I wanted to . High praise during a packed Gamescom show where my next appointment was Silent Hill f. To give me a true sense of how it should be played, two devs joined me in my session, and the frantic melee on-screen as we hopped around the beaches (!?) and boardwalks of Toronto remained as itchy as ever.