I don't usually fall into the hype of things when it involves tits and violence like a common anime trope...but Lollipop Chainsaw managed to grab me anyways. Perhaps that's thanks to the interesting take on the zombie genre that's flooded the market, or the ludicrous idea that a cheerleader that hunts zombies with her own chainsaw is stupid but interesting.
...or maybe it's because of this game's advertising in North America and using the -extremely- sexy Jessica Nigri (who herself is a big gamer) to cosplay officially as Juliet Starling in this game's commercials and promotional ads.
Either way it got me sucked in, so what exactly is the deal with a game with a stupid but weird name like this?
~Rainbow Explosions, Rainbow Explosions Everywhere~
Well to start, Lollipop Chainsaw is the product of Suda 51, a man that brought us the No More Heroes video game franchise and is usually known for his take on parody and over the top content within his games. I don't mean 'over the top' in the vein of too much violence or too much of something else, but No More Heroes was a game that starred an otaku that got a beam saber that went around assassinating guys that exploded into blood and left tons of coins in their wake.
...so yeah, that's already something crazy. How does Lollipop Chainsaw follow up then? By offering you coins and SPARKLING RAINBOWS when defeating enemies.
But Lollipop Chainsaw doesn't feel like a typical beat-em-up game...at least not a modern action game. Whereas action games come off feeling like a story with some sick (read: awesome) action moves you can do and a score counter second, Lollipop Chainsaw feels like a marriage old school video game beat-em-ups along the likes of Streets of Rage and Fatal Fury while having memorable boss encounters similar to Scott Pilgrim vs The World.
You'll notice I haven't even bothered with the story yet, and that's because other than "zombies are invading the world starting with a high school: go kill them" there isn't much of one. Well, Juliet is a cheerleader who resurrects her dead boyfriend by letting him live (though he only has a head which stays latched onto her skirt) and has to kill 5 musically themed monsters and some butthurt emo reject that thinks the world should bow to him cuz he was chosen last for P.E. games or something. It's intentionally stupid only so you can enjoy the humor throughout it. Juliet is written to be oblivious and naive to many things while her boyfriend Nick is the one who's acting the most normal out of everyone: often reciting thoughts the player may have at times too or getting involved with laugh-out-loud "What the hell did she just say?" moments in the story like:
Juliet Starling: "We have to go find Morikawa-sensei!"
Nick: "Who?"
JS: "Morikawa-sensei! He's my sensei!"
N: "A sensei..? Is that like, what a teacher?"
JS: "*gasp* I didn't know you spoke Japanese, Nick!"
N: "Well I-"
JS:"*speaks random Japanese*"
N: "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SPEAK JAPANESE JULIET I just know that one word!"
JS: "Awww you're so innocent Nick. You're just like a cat; a cat who can't speak Japanese."
N:"..uhh...yeah."
What it is, is an interesting flavor of chainsaw-based combat mixed in with some light physical attacks. I say "light" because there's not a single enemy here that dies from doing the physical attacks (Which are referred to as "Pom Pom" attacks, as done by the Xbox 360's X button) and they are mostly there to stun the enemy. What you want to do is rely on the Y(Triangle), B(O) or A(X) buttons. Y will perform chainsaw moves, B does your dodging and A does alternate chainsaw attacks. You can mix these commands up between Y, A, and X but a lot of the more fluid moves don't come until you not only go further into the story but also grind to buy these moves from an in-game shop. In this store you can upgrade Juliet's combat moveset, make her have more health, do more damage, or get up quicker when knocked down. Players can also purchase mp3s (music to play in-game) or other things.
But guys like myself will want to spend time grinding up money to get the costumes Juliet can wear. When you're engaged in combat you are rewarded bronze coins and platinum coins. Platinum coins are rare and give you the better (? ) rewards out of the shop...however as of this time I have only found them to be used on buying costumes so whether or not they are needed anywhere else is beyond me.
HOWEVER if there is one thing I can gush about and say the game is objectively fantastic in, is its music selection. Every stage has soundtrack accomodations by several bands ranging from several varieties of music, to a background score supplied by Akira Yamaoka. You can't help but laugh when for NO REASON a level plops you in a circular grass-field filled with zombies and "You Spin Me Round" is playing.
When it comes to audio too, the casting of Juliet Starling seems to distract me far more than need be, but that's mostly because of how hot I think she is as well as the fact Tara Strong voices her. She's most notably known to do the voice of Timmy Turner(Fairly Odd Parents), Bubbles(Power Puff Girls), or recently Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic. It may be just that I've heard so many of her voice acting roles in cartoon and/or game history but for practically every line Juliet delivers I keep hearing Twilight speaking because of her mannerisms...that and well...she's wearing a purple and pink skirt, knows magic spells and fights evil doers.
Unfortunately, Lollipop Chainsaw is not a very balanced game unfortunately outside of its humor, T&A protagonist with her costumes, and cool music. It has a very weird and awkward roundabout way of doing its combat, and to top it off any serious gamer can beat the game in (dare I say this) 3-4 hours if they decide not to grind for maximum stats or moves. Despite that I like any action game where I can easily go back to them and replay them...Lollipop Chainsaw is made with a very specific type of audience in mind to fill a very specific type of niche. You're not going to really get this game if you're not already into the subject matter I've shown off here or discussed if the game controls and game length sway you otherwise. IF you do check it out, rent it via GameFly or buy it for the low price it goes for nowadays ($20 roughly) in stores. For me this game is a guilty pleasure, but it lacks the level of finesse' and features that I could get from other accusedly fanservicey games like Dead or Alive 5 so it just falls into "fanservice game that's a 90s beat em up arcade game" rating.
But y'know, with cleavage.
...and just because I can, here: have a picture of Jessica Nigri standing alongside Tara Strong. Both of them basically Juliet Starling, and both of them ridiculously hot.
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