One of the reasons why the Scott Pilgrim comic hit as hard as it did in the indie scene in 2004 is because it catered to a niche audience. There weren’t a lot of comics at the time that were as referential to video games as this. The comic was truly chock-full of fun Easter eggs for gamers to enjoy.

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Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim comics have earned great film and game adaptations, although a few major things had to be changed along the way.

The same is true for the latest adaptation, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, which is a Netflix-exclusive anime. Some of the video game-based Easter eggs are obvious, while others may be harder and more challenging for viewers to spot.

The following article contains spoilers for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

6 Mario References

It’s-A-Me, Scott Pilgrim

One of the first Easter eggs appears relatively early in the anime. The title of episode one is “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life,” and there are two Easter eggs within. First, the title of the episode shares its name with volume one of the comics. Second, the font looks a lot like the title screen of the first Super Mario Bros. game on NES.

There is one other slight Mario reference that happens in episode eight. The stage that the musical is being performed on has black and white tiled floors and red curtains. This is the same design choice for Super Mario Bros. 3, which is hardly a coincidence.

5 “You Know Sonic The Hedgehog?”

There Are Two Sonic Cartoons

When Scott meets Ramona at a party in the comic and film, Scott brings up a random fact about the origins of Pac-Man. In the anime, Scott instead tries to talk about the two Sonic cartoons from the 90s that aired at the same time. Ramona isn’t really feeling this bit of trivia, as she grew up watching Columbo more.

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This ties into one of the themes of the show as Ramona becomes a sleuth to find out what happens to Scott after the fight with Matthew. Also, in episode eight, Sonic gets referenced again when both versions of Scott think Ramona looks like Super Sonic after her merger.

4 Street Fighter References

Round One: Fight!

The Street Fighter series probably has the most Easter eggs in the anime. Episode two, “A League of Their Own,” is stylized like Street Fighter 2: Special Champion Edition. In episode seven, Scott explains where he was the entire time of the anime. He met an older version of himself who took him to a secret basement vault.

The code to get into this vault, which looks like a sideways Game Boy Advance SP, was the Shoryuken combo (Right, Down, Diagonal Right, Punch). In the finale, Older Scott looks like a gray version of Ryu from Street Fighter 6. Finally, there is also the fight between Scott and Matthew in the first episode, which is stylized like a 16-bit 2D fighter, but that might be more of an homage than a general reference to Street Fighter.

3 Console Appearances

Can You Spot Them All?

There are four major consoles advertised in the anime, although they are never officially called out by name. Young Neil can be seen playing what looks like a GBA in most scenes he is in, starting in the first episode. In episode six, Lucas and Gordon are playing on a SNES, and it looks like they are playing a Mario Kart clone that they are in.

They’re also playing a Guitar Hero clone in this montage, but no console can be seen, although it’s probably on a PS2. There was the aforementioned GBA SP door vault, and inside that vault is a Virtual Boy clone that is revealed to be named "Virtual Guuy." With it, Scott gets to relive the memories of his future self’s past in a red-tinted flashback of pixels.

2 “What Was That Noise?”

Ramona Discovers Kojima

After Julie explodes on Lucas and Gordon for destroying her house in episode six, Lucas reveals some data to Ramona. The robot that crashed through Julie’s window belonged to the Katayanagi Twins. This creates two exclamation points to appear above her head with a sound effect similar to a guard catching the player in the Metal Gear series.

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The references to Hideo Kojima’s work don’t end there. The future Ramona has a metal frame backpack for delivering packages, like in Death Stranding. Couriers and those metal frames existed before that game, though. What makes it more probable that this is a reference is when she returns home via an elevator that appears from the ground and takes her below the surface. In Death Stranding, everyone lives underground, and players can access vaults via elevators like this.

1 The Future Is Full Of Nostalgia

From Bands To Anime

When the future version of Scott is telling his younger self about his life, there is one scene that is filled with three references. First, Future Scott tells Scott that he is in a band that he forged with the Katayanagi Twins. The band’s name is Pop'n TwinBee, which is a SHMUP series from Konami. Future Scott then plays a music video of their latest hit, which is a cover of “Konya Wa Hurricane” from the classic 80s anime, Bubblegum Crisis.

Those into cyberpunk will get a kick out of that anime. Now, in this music video, the Katayanagi Twins are dressed in gear that looks straight out of Jet Set Radio Future. It’s wild how many video games are referenced in the seventh episode, although it makes sense since it features two Scotts to rattle on about nerdy things.