Gameitall There are a few things I’ve come to expect from Suda 51 when it comes to his games. Large amounts of foul language, lots of blood, interesting characters, a random talking head/floating skull, a music theme style and amazing boss battles.
And just like previous Suda 51 work, Lollipop Chainsaw brings all those elements together and still makes a unique experience that is just fun.
In Lollipop Chainsaw, you play as Juliet Starling, a cheerleader and the middle child of the Starling family. Juliet has a great life, her cheerleading squad is the best in their devision and she loves her boyfriend Nick, but she has a deep dark secret. Her family are all Zombie Hunters.
On Juliet’s 18th birthday all hell breaks loose. Zombies start attacking her school and after hacking and slashing her way with her trusty chainsaw, she finds Nick infected by the zombie virus. She saves Nick by chopping his head off and putting a magic spell on it keeping him alive while an Emo classmate Swan breaks down the barrier between the real world and the Rot world where zombies come from. Juliet and Nick must kill the five zombies of Rock’n’Roll to restore order to the city.
The game is a 3D Beat’em Up like No More Heroes, but has an interesting twist on combat. Juliet can attack using pom-pom strikes and high and low chainsaw moves; with the chainsaw the only way to kill the zombies, Juliet can use the pom-poms to stun and link combos; then finishing them off with a decapitating strike.
This is actually easier said then done. Since it takes multiple bashes before the chainsaw instant kill moves become available, with a constant flood of enemies in each location. Lucky players can chain kills together to enter Sparkle Hunter, in which the blood becomes sparkles and rainbows, but because of it’s difficulty with killing the zombies it feels more of a lucky shot then a display of skill.
Boss battles are ridiculous in every sense of the word. Including thong wearing disco zombie, heavy metal Viking zombie and a punk rock zombie that screams vulgarity as weapon. The bosses are major highlights of the game and are the most creative instances of the game.
Of course there are tons of upgrades and collectibles, including new costumes, stronger attacks, music and artwork. With the possibly of downloading more later on. As an added bonus, costumes that were originally exclusive in Japan based on hit zombie anime shows like “High School of the Dead” are unlocked when you beat the game.
The music is well placed for the situation, although I will admit it’s strange to hear Akira Yamatoka do more upbeat Sonic Adventure style music, it fits along the likes of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” and Joan Jett and the Blackheart’s “Cherry Bomb.”
A honorable mention to the music goes to the sparkle mode (the games version of Beat’em Up’s standard Rage Mode) when this mode is entered, Toni Basil’s “Mickey” starts playing, giving Juliet the ability to kill all the zombies in the area with on hit.
The voice actors do a great job, especially Tara Strong (Fairy Odd Parents, My Little Pony, Teen Titans) as Juliet and Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville, Justice League) as Nick. While the acting is good; the scripts humor is, for lack of a better term, dry. Zombies specifically have the worst lines of the game now that they can talk and their mind is full of raunchy comments that they randomly blurt out for no good reason.
Like all of a Suda 51’s games, there are things to love and things that could be improved. The fact that the game is short but has a variety of replay value to it with multiple endings and harder difficulties actually makes playing it through a second time worth it. If your looking for the next big interactive art project; this game is not for you, but if your looking for a good time with a fun combat system; great music and a cool bunch of characters, then this is you game.
Lollipop Chainsaw – 8 out of 10
Pros: Great cast of characters, good replay value with multiple endings and unlockable material, interesting combat mechanics.
Cons: Short (around 6 hours), high difficulty, extremely cheesy (this could be listed as a pro depending on who you ask.)
