Aside from that, Nick is far from just a simple fashion accessory. Nick's head can be placed on a number of headless zombies, which then clear the way of any obstacles, assuming you perform the right button prompts and watch as Nick dances his way to said obstacle.
Sprinkled in between levels are various mini-games that carry just as an unusual premise as a game that features a cheerleading zombie hunter. For example, one stage has you protecting Nick while he tries to score three homeruns as an undead baseball player. You'll use your chainsaw blaster to shoot at the opposing team of undead pitchers, basemen, and cheerleaders as Nick runs by them. It's all very ridiculous, but awesome.
What would a Suda game be without insane boss fights, and save for one, they're all really entertaining. Just when you think you've slashed your enemy in half, they split into two and then you have to fight them all over again. They're all extremely varied as well, which makes fighting each one a completely different experience.
Lollipop Chainsaw doesn't carry a traditional zombie game color palette, however. The game is colored with rainbow colors and sparkles that will make even your girlfriend interested in the game without knowing what it is. But don't worry, you'll still recognize this as a Suda 51 game from a mile away. The soundtrack is equally as great, with some fun-to-listen-to tunes in each level that can be bought and listened to at your leisure, as well as 'Lollipop' by The Chordettes playing when you're in menus, and the aforementioned 'Hey Mickey' by Toni Basil playing whenever you use any of Juliet's super moves.
I only had a few issues with the game. The camera, although very sporadically, would be obstructing the action when by a wall, and it would take a few seconds to recover and let me see the action again. One other small gripe were the lollipops, and this is really just nitpicking. Juliet can only hold five lollipops at a time, meaning if you pick up a sixth one, it becomes useless. Wouldn't it have made more sense to at least automatically heal you if you're fully stocked and pick up an extra lollipop? Again, this is mostly nitpicking, but this fact did cause me to keep checking my lollipop stock every time I came across another lollipop.
These small things are easy to overlook when the overall package is so great. Though you'll be done with the all the stages around 10 hours in, the game encourages you to go back and get better scores on the leaderboards in Rank Mode, play on higher difficulties which mixes up enemies, and most of all, unlock all of Juliet's titillating costumes.
Like Bayonetta, Lollipop Chainsaw manages to use its sexuality and push it to the limit, while still being an extremely enjoyable zombie killing game at that. Even despite its juvenile humor, you'll most likely get a good laugh out of the dynamics of the extremely out of place Juliet and her support of quirky characters. Suda 51 scores once again with Lollipop Chainsaw, and it's clear that man has no limits to his genius. Stop doing yourself a disservice and go pick this game up now; you won't regret it.
[Reviewed on Xbox 360]
Move over Bayonetta, there is another femme fatale gunning for your spot. Suda 51, the man behind over-the-top, inappropriate, and mostly ridiculous yet extremely entertaining games, has done it again. Lollipop Chainsaw is a collaborative effort between Grasshopper Manufacturer and director James Gunn, and it ends up being one of the most unique experiences I've ever got my hands on. Or as unique as a zombie-slaying cheerleader can get.
That's not to say the gameplay itself is very innovative. In fact, it's a fairly standard hack-and-slasher that does make some good use of chaining combo attacks with each other. However, it's the rest of the experience that makes this game something to remember.
The game revolves around a family of zombie hunters, or more specifically, Juliet Starling — the hot 18-year-old cheerleader from San Romero High. On her 18th birthday, all hell breaks loose thanks to a egomaniacal goth named Swan who unleashes zombies onto the world, as well as five undead gods of rock that all need to be taken care of in order to restore the world back to its original state. Throw into the mix that Juliet's boyfriend Nick gets bitten and then saved by Juliet's magic, leaving him as a decapitated head to tag along Juliet's adventure.
Wait what?! Yep, that's the premise, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Though I've said it's a fairly traditional hack-and-slasher, LC does things a little differently, which helps set it apart from standard button mashers. When fighting baddies, you rely mostly on your chainsaw, but being extremely heavy, it leaves her vulnerable to attacks. To combat this, Juliet can daze zombies with swift punches from her pom-poms, though they can't ever be killed this way. This makes combat slightly more varied as you have to balance quick jabs with your pom-poms to daze zombies and then finish them off with your chainsaw.
While killing zombies, you earn two sets of medals. Gold medals are used to buy upgrades in the shop, such as new moves or health upgrades. Platinum medals can only be acquired while Sparkle Hunting and allows you to buy the multitudes of skimpy outfits to dress Juliet up in. Sparkle Hunting is done by decapitating three or more zombies in one swipe. The more you decapitate, the higher the reward of medals.
Juliet comes stocked with tons of moves, both environmental and ones you have to purchase from the in-game store. Whether you upgrade her to perform one of many combo moves, or have her pole dance while waving her chainsaw around, you'll most likely never get bored of watching Juliet prance around the screen in her skimpy outfits, killing a myriad of zombies.
On top of that, Juliet has two types of super moves — one that charges up over time as you kill zombies and then unleash it to decapitate your enemies in a single blow (all while 'Hey Mickey' plays during this sequence) and another that uses Nick's head in a variety of ways. The latter relies on tickets that you either find or buy. Once used, it starts a roulette of Nick's powers and, whichever one it lands on will unleash a joint attack that is not only hilarious to watch, but does some great damage.
