Reviews

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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]

Tags: Lollipop Chainsaw, Review, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Suda 51