In the time, we were eagerly awaiting to see what Suda51, the unrivalled genius of the video game industry, was capable of when he developed the idea he had for Lollipop Chainsaw. The game, once we have squeezed it out properly, is a fun, but above all, its a transgressive proposal, which has the same interesting style as most of the games by this designer. It stands out for how bizarre it is, for constantly making people laugh and for having a visual aspect that inevitably provokes some kind of reaction in the player, and at the same time it maintains many of the traits that characterise Suda51’s games. We could call it a version of Dead Rising taken even closer to surrealism, but that would be an unfair comparison, given that Lollipop Chainsaw is a game incomparable to any other.
Juliet is a high school cheerleader who, on her birthday, sees the entire city attacked by zombies. Luckily for Juliet, she not only has a shiny, attractive blonde mane and some killer curves, but she also belongs to a family of zombie hunters. Like her father and sisters, Juliet is no stranger to killing creatures of darkness. That’s why the player will see that seconds after learning about the zombie epidemic, caused by a very bad guy, Juliet will arm herself with her chainsaw to go in search of the person responsible for what happened.
An original version that captivated players
Lollipop Chainsaw is a third-person action game just the way Suda51 likes it, with lots of quick combos that we can perform by pressing buttons without rhyme or reason to get out of trouble. The game is divided into episodes, each of them developed in a part of the city. Within these we find that the development is not completely free movement, but rather we eliminate enemies or perform actions in closed areas to advance to the next one. At least the size of the area is not always the same, which makes the game more dynamic. To defend ourselves from the zombies we have the chainsaw and the pompoms, which initially make use of few combos, but as we advance we can improve them from the store.
The combat system is based on pressing three different attacks with the aim of performing combinations and movements that can finish off all opponents. The effectiveness of these actions increases as we buy techniques, which also adds a nice touch to increasing the variety of the fights. However, leaving aside the flourishes, the mechanics invite a lot of button mashing, although sometimes it is not so important to make combos. Of course, the player will have to keep in mind that only with the combinations will he achieve special deaths in which he will get bronze and platinum medals to later access improvements in the store. When playing, the controls respond well, although it is common that many of the combinations, either due to duration, reaction time or because Juliet’s animations cannot be interrupted, leave us too exposed to the opponents. To get out of complex situations we have a jump and dodge movement that will also be useful when fighting, since it will confuse the rivals.
Throughout the game, Juliet will be able to use a shotgun, with ammunition that we will constantly find around the stage, and the head of her boyfriend Nick, with which we will spend the tickets. Nick’s head, which is activated by a roulette wheel, allows us to use different additional attacks, such as a new shot and a tornado of blows in which we will move the protagonist towards the enemies. Another of the resources that we will be able to use throughout the game will be the rainbow attack mode, which we will activate with one of the side buttons of the controller when we charge the energy to the maximum. In this mode, in addition to listening to different music and finding very striking visual effects, we will have greater strength and our attacks will be definitive for the opponents who are on the stage. In addition, for the time it lasts, we will be invincible.
In addition to advancing from one side to the other while we defeat zombies, Lollipop Chainsaw has more ingredients to pay attention to. For example, we will have to try to rescue the innocent people in trouble in the scene, who will reward us with medals if we do so. Along with this, the game is one of the titles of its kind that provides the greatest variety to the development of the game so that we do not get tired of killing and killing. It cannot be said, if you have played it thoroughly, that Lollipop Chainsaw is a repetitive game, far from it. Suda51 is in charge of making sure that the variety of situations in which we are introduced is unmatched in other similar titles. For example, we will enter different virtual worlds that parody classic video games, such as Pong, Pac-Man or Elevator Action. There will be shooting zones, we will take control of a large tractor with which to cut the grass (taking the zombies ahead of us in the process), we will play zombie basketball, and also zombie baseball, or we will even run in levels where we will go through platforms at full speed.
The difficulty of the main mode is reduced to the point of being ridiculous, especially due to the huge amount of lollipops that are provided to us. This, added to the fact that the game lasts around 6 hours, makes the first playthrough not too challenging and leaves a feeling of having had more impact. Luckily, there are difficulty levels and Lollipop Chainsaw is a replayable title to the core. In the first playthrough we will not even have seen all the enemies that exist in the game and we will encounter them if we play it again on a higher level of difficulty. Replaying is essential to unlock the huge amount of extras that are included, such as added costumes for Juliet (including costumes of characters from manga and anime series) that unfortunately do not give her additional parameters, songs, illustrations, improvements to the characteristics of the protagonist and combat techniques. The game is very loaded, and it does not have just one ending, so in a way, even though it lasts 6 hours, it has many ways to keep the player interested.
This is how zombie hell is represented in high school
The overall look of Lollipop Chainsaw is one of the ingredients that characterise it the most and that has been the subject of most discussion. The aesthetics that have been achieved for the world of the animator break with everything, not because of the settings, which are too generic, reduced and lacking in inventiveness, but because of the way in which the small details are taken advantage of. The blood is very well represented, but above all the violence, the audacity of being able to cut a zombie in two and still see it in action coming back for us once again. There is something about the setting of Lollipop Chainsaw that is irremediably attractive, and we are not talking about the protagonist, although her appeal to the public is undeniable.
The enemies in the phases are very well designed, although the artificial intelligence they display is nothing out of this world. The custom of reduced movement routines is returned to, which will make it not difficult to memorise the enemy’s attacks to know what it will do at each moment. The same thing happens with the normal zombies, those we find in the scene, but these, with a few exceptions, do not have any kind of routine. The designs are adequate, although as is often the case in these cases, there is a lack of a greater number of zombie models, an aspect in which Suda51 could have also given free rein to his inventiveness. But the level bosses, including the final one, are the most unique we have seen in a long time.
Regarding the visual section, we must talk about the combos, which stand out for the good animations they display and for how spectacular they make the combats, and the visual effects, with hearts, lollipops, little stars, all adorable and unusual in a zombie game. The camera is not something we can forget either. Although a lock-on mode is included to lock on to enemies, the camera in general tends to give us some problems, and although it does not become a burden as it was in other titles that appeared in the past, it is something that could have been improved.
Slicing zombies to the beat of pop music
There are few soundtracks that impress as much as Lollipop Chainsaw’s, which is spot on in every way. The creators have selected recognizable songs that we would never associate with a zombie game and have integrated them into the development to create unforgettable moments and sequences. The rest of the audio also does an excellent job. The English voices, for example, are of a very high quality, partly due to the very professional hiring that has been made. The protagonist is voiced by Tara Strong, who is a highly respected voice actress, while Nick is voiced by actor Michael Rosenbaum, whom we know from the television series Smallville, where he played Lex Luthor. The Japanese audio, which in this case had different voice actors for some of the characters, is left out and is not missed at any time. Not only because there are two recordings of the Japanese audio, but because the game, due to its setting and style, cries out to be played with the English voices. Finally, it is worth highlighting the good implementation of the sound effects, with a notable presence of the chainsaw.
Lollipop Chainsaw is a game that, if you like it, will keep you busy for hours. Consider the large amount of unlockable content it includes, with the option to repeat stages in story mode or to do so under different parameters to achieve records. The game is very different and transgressive due to its image, the strong dialogues it uses and all the humor it exudes, but it is not perfect. Its flaws keep it from being an essential title and make it a game that is recommended above all for those who are interested in squeezing it to the maximum. Other players, however, will find an experience they will hardly forget.
