It’s that time again. Time for me to talk about a Suda game. Suda games are usually a hit 또는 a miss between audiences. They can become cult classics like No 더 많이 히어로즈 and Killer7, 또는 they can be completely forgotten like Diabolical Pitch. His games are only really considered 의해 people who enjoy his style of storytelling and over-the-top gameplay. So it’s no surprise that I enjoy a good portion of his games. And one that I will be talking about today is the overly colorful and bubbly zombie hack n’ 슬래쉬 game, Lollipop Chainsaw



~Story~

Lollipop Chainsaw is a game that follows the young, attractive, and thankfully eighteen-years-old Juliet Starling, captain of the cheerleading squad and also from a family of zombie killers. Equipped with her chainsaw and the living decapitated-head of her boyfriend Nick, Juliet is on a mission to stop the schools outcast, Swan, from destroying the world with the help of the five Dark Purveyors, punk rock, loudmouth Zed, death metal viking Vikke, the hyperdelic hippie Mariska, the funk rock, auto-tuned Josey, and the classic rock-and-roll zombie with an 코끼리 motorcycle, Lewis Legend, all representing a sort of genre of rock music. Along the way, Juliet gets help from her two sister, Cordelia, a take-no-shit sniper, and Rosalind, a hyper teenager, and even gets help from her father, Gideon, who is just every action movie hero 당신 can think of. With the help of her family, her cynical boyfriend, and perverted sensei Morikawa, she has to stop Swan’s plan for destruction. And let me just throw this out there, this game is dumb. This game is really, really, REALLY dumb. And I 사랑 it!



~Gameplay~

Lollipop Chainsaw is a game that is filled with really dumb moments. After all, this is a game that has a cheerleader cutting apart zombies with a chainsaw while sucking on lollipops as she cuts their heads off with rainbows and sparkles shooting out while 저기요 Mickey plays. And yet I 사랑 that. Granted, the tutorial level isn’t too great with it’s combat. 당신 have a stun attack and a kill attack. And that’s it. But let me tell you, once 당신 buy the first set of upgrades in the first level, that is when the game starts to pick up, and get real good, in that classic Suda51 fashion. New combos, styles of attacking zombies, and methods of dodging out of an attack and delivering a follow up attack just feel so satisfying once 당신 start to get the hang of it. Having to clear hordes and hordes of zombies with these moves can prove to be real satisfying, as 당신 manage to stun a whole army of them and then cut their heads off, granting 당신 a ton of points and medals. Oh, also, this game is just as much a highscore racking game as it is a normal hack n’ 슬래쉬 game. Sure, points may seem like a whole nothing thing for this game, but when 당신 see that there are points, and 당신 take yourself out of the hack n’ 슬래쉬 mindset and put yourself in an arcade kind of mindset, you’ll see just how much fun it is. Not to mention, Beating Dad’s Score (That’s what it’s called in the game) will grant 당신 a ton of medals that 당신 can use to buy new upgrades, trait boosts, uniforms, and 음악 that 당신 can listen to when playing through the game.



Other things 당신 can do in the combat is enter a sparkle mode where 당신 just start cutting apart zombies like crazy, one hit killing them, and getting 더 많이 points for it. It’s fun, but only for a limited time. Another thing is the Nick Roulette, where 당신 use a ticket to use any ability of Nick, from Nick Toss, where 당신 그네, 스윙 his head around to kill zombies, Nick Shake where 당신 shake his head to get 더 많이 money, Nick Popper, where 당신 shoot Nicks head to stun the enemies for multi-kills, and Nick Throw, where 당신 roll his head to kill groups of zombies. While the combat is certainly good, there are some sequences that mix up the combat, with some mini-games. Some of them are okay, like driving around in a 트랙터 while slicing apart zombies while listening to 당신 Spin Me Around 의해 Dead 또는 Alive. Other ones, like Zombie 농구 또는 the Chainsaw Dash sequences are okay, nothing spectacular. Zombie 농구 leaves as soon as it came, and Chainsaw Dash has a very odd, almost stiff feel to it that keeps it from being perfect. And that scaffolding mini-game and Zombie Baseball can go rot in hell. The scaffolding mini-game throws constant, almost hard to spot crap at you, and if 당신 get hit 의해 one thing, it’s an instant kill and 당신 have to restart the whole thing. Zombie Baseball has a terrible auto-lock with the Chainsaw Blaster, a gun for the Chainsaw, that only sticks on the zombie to aim at, but never stays on them when they move, so it starts to make 당신 feel like everything’s out of control. It doesn’t help that Nick has to cheer every time he passes a base, making 더 많이 zombies rush at him. Thankfully, most of these are one and done, unlike most games that would have these awful sequences and make 당신 do them several times.



Other things that this game does well is the style of humor. Let me tell you, this game had no right to be super serious and dramatic like No 더 많이 히어로즈 2 또는 Killer 7, so naturally, it took all serious situations and threw them out the window. This game is full blown insanity and it just goes along with it. This game gives me a similar feeling that Saints Row IV did. Constant banters between Juliet and Nick about fetishes and 음악 references. And the hilarious descriptions of the zombies 당신 find. This is not a game 당신 should play if 당신 are not used to vulgar slang. The characters swear every minute, and zombies will say vulgar trash just for fun. This game feels like a huge parody filled with sex jokes and references. Shit, this game gives me some Panty and 긴 양말, 스타킹 feeling. Shame they didn’t have a PSG costume in the game. The costumes in this game are pretty good. Sure, 당신 have the typical sexy uniforms, but then 당신 get ones like a full bunny costume, a Japanese maid, and some based on anime. There is one from Deadman Wonderland, the edgiest 아니메 of the 2000s. Not one, but two Highschool of the Dead uniforms, proof that it truly is the best anime. And a uniform from this shit 아니메 called Is This a Zombie, a series that people want me to review when they realize that I will never review that trash. The different things 당신 can buy really give this game 더 많이 replay value, just so 당신 can see what else 당신 can buy if 당신 put the time into it.



A lot of people say that this game is far too short for the price it has on it, and while I would agree, especially at full retail price, I don’t see the short gameplay being a factor. Hell, I see it as being a benefit to this game. The short campaign that is about five to six hours works in the favor of replay. 당신 wanna get to a section because 당신 screwed up on saving one survivor, just skip to that section and save him. Wanna beat Dad’s Score in one area, done. This works in the favor of frequent playthroughs and I don’t have a problem with it. I do have a problem with this game being charged with 더 많이 than what it’s really worth. Seriously, thirty bucks, at the least! But one thing that is always a staple in Suda games is the boss fights. The boss fights with the Dark Purveyors is some of the best I’ve seen in video games, as is common for Suda games. Having to deal with Zed throwing slang at 당신 that can actually physically harm 당신 to having to fight off Lewis as his motorcycle always changes no matter how much damage is done to it. These bosses add so much creativity to them and just make them stand out 더 많이 than most hack and 슬래쉬 bosses. No one will remember shit boss #5 from Devil May Cry 2, but I think everyone will remember the first boss of Lollipop Chainsaw… assuming people bought the game in the first place.



~Ending~

~SPOILERS AHEAD~

After Juliet manages to kill off the last of the Dark Purveyors, it’s found out that this was all part of Swan’s plan, as the Dark Purveyors were actually a sacrifice to a much 더 많이 evil creature. 백조 then blows his head off and thus, transforms into the Zombie of All Zombies, Killabilly, a fat, bloated Elvis-looking giant that can shoot lasers, attack 당신 with his long tongue, create a whirlwind to send zombies at you, control cars to run 당신 over, and just in general, make 당신 feel sick just 의해 looking at him. I mean, this is one of the most disgusting bosses I’ve seen, but not too bad. I heard a lot of people say that Lewis was a much 더 많이 fun boss fight than Killabilly, and I do agree, but I thought that this boss was fine. There’s probably some symbolic bullshit in here somewhere. Suda’s good at doing that. After Gideon sacrifices himself in an explosion from a motorcycle covered in dynamite and grenades to open a hole in Killabilly, Juliet makes her way to the 심장 of Killabilly to destroy him, but the only way to destroy the 심장 is for Nick to sacrifice himself and destroy the heart. With a tearful goodbye, Juliet escapes the body of Killabilly, and Nick sacrifices himself to destroy him. But because of his nobel sacrifice, Nick is given a chance to return to earth, but with a new body. I could spoil this, but it’s too funny for me to do that, so you’ll just have to play the game for yourself to find the joke. After that, Nick and Juliet are reunited, and Gideon is also still alive, and the family go home. Now, depending on if 당신 saved all the classmates, you’ll either get the good ending 또는 the bad ending. Knowing me… I got the bad ending. But details.



~Legacy~

Despite the fact that Lollipop Chainsaw was a game that had mixed reception, it still, somehow, became 메뚜기 Manufacturer’s highest selling game of all time. Yes, 더 많이 than No 더 많이 Heroes, which everyone claims is Suda’s 큰 술병, 매그넘 opus (Well, that 또는 Killer 7, but nobody bought Killer 7). Despite falling into obscurity, Lollipop Chainsaw still lives on, with the cosplay community dressing as Juliet in conventions worldwide. Truly a great way to remember a franchise.

~Ranking~

I don’t care what anyone says, I 사랑 this game so much. It’s dumb, it’s stupid, it’s borderline retarded, but it’s great. It has fun combat, funny writing, and just an enjoyable game all around. It’s a quick game that 당신 can pick up and play, really giving it that arcade feel, and it’s just a game that I can’t help but come back to time and time again. It may not be Suda’s best game, but it sure as hell is a good game. The minigames may be bad, and it may be short, but it’s still good to me. With that, I give this game the rank of Excavation Worthy.