Lollipop Chainsaw Repop Switch Review

Lollipop Chainsaw Repop is odd title. It is odd, because I question its very existence. This is a remaster of 2012 title that somehow manages to be worse than the original. So I won’t bury it, this gets a YMMV with a seven back-end score. It’s a decent title, but I’m not sure its worth seeking out over scouring retro shops or Ebay for the original Lollipop Chainsaw. I own the original for the 360, and while I didn’t get past level one(due to playing on normal), I think that was a better title than this, which I played through on easy. And now I will explain why.

In Lollipop Chainsaw, you play as Juliet, a nubile cheerleader in a skimpy cheer leading outfit cutting zombies up with a giant chainsaw, oh and you carry around the disembodied head of your boyfriend. There are six levels, spanning high school, to a farm, to an arcade. Most of the levels spice things up, like the arcade level having arcade-game-like sections. Like an Elevator Action section. The story is fairly simple and gets the job done. The highlights of the game are the boss battles, which are all musically themed. One boss is a viking metal-head in a flying viking ship. The farm level features a hippy playing a sitar. The final boss is literally a giant Elvis monster.

The original features a complete licensed soundtrack. Lollipop Chainsaw Repop lost almost all the licensed music, to its detriment(except Lollipop Lollipop). For example, as you attack you build up a meter that when full, unleashes a short “super-mode.” In the original, it played Hey Mickey. Here, its some generic Jpop. The game also lost loading screen music, for some reason. The licensed soundtrack helped give the game its charm, which is unfortunately missing. There are other problems too. They switched engines for the game and somehow the game looks worse. For example, Juliet loses her breast jiggle, among other things. Then stage 5 has serious audio issues, with dialog not lining up, or crackling.

Lollipop Chainsaw is still fun, if rather short, clocking in at six hours maximum. Its fun for a play-through, though nothing you’ll come back to. And it is fine, although I have to give the edge to the original if for nothing more than losing that soundtrack hampers the game. If you must play, and have an older console, seek out the original. But if you don’t, this will have to do. At least I’m not Kotaku, who seemed especially harsh, probably because the game features a sexy heroine.

Overall: Lollipop Chainsaw Repop is serviceable remaster, but a lackluster soundtrack and other problems drag this down. I prefer the original.

Verdict: YMMV

eShop Page

P.S. What to link? This is a hard one, how about Splatter Zombiecaplyse Now?

P.P.S. To flex with my retro collecting cred, here’s my copy of Lollipop Chainsaw for the 360!