Cutting a bloody swathe through an army of the undead, Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP joins Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered on Switch. Both games complement each other as flawed but enjoyable examples of Grasshopper Studios' beloved catalogue. An idiosyncratic collaboration between Suda 51 and filmmaker James Gunn, Lollipop Chainsaw highlights the unique style of both creators. It’s a hyper-stylised, quip-heavy action game that remains a uniquely demented experience. Sadly, content omissions and some choppy performance hamper this remaster, tainting the colourful mayhem.
The plot is both a perfect representation of its era and a great opportunity to experience Gunn in a goofy horror mode that was stifled when the MCU beckoned. On the morning of her eighteenth birthday, cheerleader Juliet Starling is inconvenienced by a zombie outbreak in her hometown. Luckily, Juliet comes from a long line of zombie hunters, the undead horde is no match for her skills with a chainsaw and a set of pom poms. Unable to save her boyfriend from a bite, Juliet decapitates him and carries his magically animated head on her belt. Together, they must battle through high school and defeat five musically themed dark lords, summoned by an angry goth kid named Swan to end the world.
There was a time when a story like this wasn’t even that strange, such were the beautiful absurdities of the 2010s. It’s a relentless onslaught of violence and puerile humour, even more so than the tonally similar No More Heroes. Though, as entertaining as the profanity-filled carnage can be, your mileage may vary.
The tone combines the punk rock energy of Suda 51, with the Troma film spirit of Gunn’s early career. Horror references litter the script while thrashing music and cartoon visuals drive the action. Juliet (played in English by luminary voice actor Tara Strong) is a great protagonist, always acting like a high school cheerleader despite basically being a superhero. The supporting characters are also a blast, particularly Juliet’s family of hunters and the Dark Purveyors - the demon lords who are each themed around different music genres.
This being a Grasshopper brawler, the combat is suitably ridiculous. When your protagonist’s main weapon is a souped-up chainsaw, subtlety is not the way to go. Juliet’s main attack loop is to soften up the zombies with cheerleader-fu before decapitating them with a chainsaw swing. Initially limited, new combo chains can be unlocked using currency hoovered up during battles. Finishing a combo with a big swing of your ‘saw will decapitate multiple enemies at once, triggering score multipliers and flashy finishers.
As you mow down the opposition, a special meter will fill that allows Juliet to trigger Star Soul Power, which covers her in a rainbow glow and briefly enhances her abilities. Skill progression is nicely balanced, with a dash and projectile add-on for your main weapon helping to build out offensive options. And, not just a pretty face along for the ride, Nick is used at multiple points to clear a path for Juliet via a QTE event. Tickets can also be collected and used to play ‘Nick roulette’, a wheel spin with the chance to land on crowd control powers.
While Juliet's skills are visually impressive, enemy targeting has a jarring stiffness to it. Closing distance in a fight feels sluggish, something that isn't as noticeable with zombie trash mobs, but annoying as hell during one-on-one boss encounters. There are multiple ways to home in on enemies, but in the heat of a tough fight, movement feels fiddly. Fortunately, Juliet's growing repertoire quickly compensates for the clunky combat, and RePop does lessen the financial sting of buying upgrades. Even so, RePop feels significantly worse to play than the original release, which wasn't perfect to begin with.
Aside from the streamlined upgrade system, Dragami Game’s update doesn't add much added to the experience. The titular RePop mode is a sanitised version of the game that, aside from some altered cutscenes, feels oddly similar to the Japanese edit of the original. Swapping out blood and decapitations for colourful effects feels like the old days of Nintendo censorship. The licensed music is now sadly gone, with only The Chordette’s 'Lollipop' making the cut. Some of the game's best sequences utilised licensed tracks to make them memorable, and now they just have a generic pop-punk score.
What has been added, much to our dismay, is performance issues. Levels are linear pathways with transitions that usually involve Juliet traversing over obstacles. In the original game, this felt dynamic and added to the breakneck pace of the action. Here the system struggles to cope and the frame rate drops considerably between these areas. This goes for large battles and explosion effects as well, which can trigger an unhealthy stutter. It's unfortunate this cleaner, sharper-looking version of the game is hamstrung by shoddy optimisation.
The adventures of Juliet, her monster-hunting family and from-the-neck-up boyfriend is still an energetic calling card for a beloved studio. It’s an interesting look at the combined creative powers Suda and Gunn, who are both playing to their strengths. It’s a shame that RePop is not the best way to experience it.
Conclusion
Lollipop Chainsaw RePop's zombie-killing mayhem is just as childish, stupid and fun as it was in 2012. This remaster brings with it a streamlined experience and decent visual polish. Unfortunately, RePop suffers from poor optimisation, lapsed musical licenses and an extra mode that brings nothing new to the table. If you can, seek out the original.
Comments 44
Oh my... I wasn't expecting it to be quite this bad. I still have the Xbox 360 original, thankfully.
Lollipop Chainsaw: Wasted Potential Edition.
Everything I read about the Switch port before this review was very, very bad.
The Switch is capable of things like Nier Automata, Witcher III, and Doom Eternal. I really, really hope publishers buck this trend of lazy Nintendo ports once Switch 2 rolls around.
The early to mid 2010s feel like a blank space in my mind due to some health issues. It's like this game, for example, never existed for me. And I guess it was quite popular at the time...
@LadyCharlie But at what price do they run on the Switch.
Doom Eternal has plenty of issues in later levels and on higher difficulty, which is a problem with base 30fps.
Nier Automata also has issues, luckily the game itself is less hectic so it's less of a issue.
Witcher 3 while running at roughly 540p is probably the best one out of those 3, played all 3 games but Witcher 3 is very consistent in it's performance.
It's a bit tiresome to see people mention how those "impossible ports" exist on the Switch, totally ignoring at what price they are on that system.
(After playing most of the impossible ports on Switch, I would argue Doom shouldn't even be on the Switch because it pays a way to high price to exist on that system, while with Nier and Witcher 3 the gameplay is different and less problematic at poor performance)
Lollipop Chainsaw runs bad for how it looks, this is bad but was to be expected, however with the right choices 60fps lock should be possible.
Is it a lazy port? Let me state this, the whole game is a pretty lazy attempt no matter the system it is on, with the Switch version being worst offender.
Ah, that's a letdown. I was looking forward to this iteration after not getting the chance to play it upon its original release, it looked a lot of fun!
Not much point in publishing a remaster if it plays worse than the original due to performance issues. It would have been better to hold it back for the Switch 2 if the Switch can’t handle the upgrades in the remaster. There’s a good chance it would have sold more as a Switch 2 launch title.
A very late review. This game has been out for a long while. Nintendolife is usually my go-to for reviews but for this game I had to find other websites.
Yeah, this is probably one of the worst ports I’ve played on Switch. I tried about half an hour when it released and immediately uninstalled it and bought the Steam version. Basically one of the few Switch purchases where I’ve actually had buyers remorse.
There really isn’t excuse for it to run as bad as it does aside from laziness.
I am SOOOO glad I don't buy digital!
I had heard that the game was bad so I also opted out of the physical!
@LadyCharlie
It isn't just the Switch version that is bad.
I know I'm HIGHLY in the minority on this, but I've been SO TIRED of all the conversation about framerate and performance that has dominated the gaming landscape over the past decade. I'm not gonna pretend that smooth solid performance isn't preferable 99% of the time or anything, but as long as the game remains playable and fun, I really don't mind too much.
This goes doubly so for something like Lollipop Chainsaw, a game that exudes late night low budget B-movie charm. It's a Troma movie in game form, and frankly, I find the uneven performance to be part of that charm. Like if it was polished and steady, it wouldn't be punk enough, y'know? I should add I feel the same way about Deadly Premonition and No More Heroes 3. Those choppy scene transitions and stuttery performance? That's a dang FEATURE.
That said, I do miss the licensed tracks. I understand why they're not there from a business perspective, but the generic music they replaced it with doesn't cut it. I'm happy "Lollipop" by The Chordettes remains though.
I actually liked the game and enjoyed it a lot. I found it to be a very good experience. Most of the times I tend to not notice technical problems in games. I don't know why, maybe I play it differently somehow. That said, I have never played the original so I wouldn't know about any differences.
Thanks for the review, fingers crossed Switch's successor can improve on the performance, but since I was able to get a discounted physical import copy I'll eventually give this a try regardless!
So outside of them optimizing the game with a patch, and/or re-adding the licensed music, this is not the definitive experience. If it's rentable on GameFly I'll keep it in queue, otherwise I'll pass and my backlog will thank me.
@Rayquaza2510 mortal kombat 1 says hi that one was rushed out with so many problems which tells us some devs dont care about the switch versions at all.
I still picked this up as I’d never played it on 360, and it came during a generation where I missed out a lot - never played Madworld, Lollipop, No More Heroes, or Xenoblade back then. It is a shame it’s missing its licensed music, which is likely a major contribution to why it was a cult classic.
@whitespy12 I’m right there with ya. I own Witcher and Doom 2016 on all platforms, but the Switch versions are the only ones I’ve completed and 100%. A lot of the time I prefer 30fps to 60 as “smooth motion” tends to trigger my motion sickness - though not as bad as choppy frames. All of it is also more tolerable on a handheld screen than a big tv 12 ft away from me. I missed out on God of War on PS4 because its performance was up and down on the Pro. On quality it was stuttery and on performance there was a pacing issue. Both triggered my motion sickness horribly. But I can play it just fine on Steam Deck now. Go figure.
When I get around to it Hogwarts will likely be another title I only complete 100% on Switch, even though I have it on Xbox and Steam. Comfort and play anywhere are FAR more important to me than highest rez and frame rate.
@RiasGremory I truly hope it’s in a better state by now, but I had to stop playing mid third season. was extremely miffed I grinded big seasonal tower only to find out we were still stuck on season 1 tower which basically didn’t allow Switch users an easier way to grind out characters and cameos. All other versions had that ability to level up the one tower in particular, not us.
@RiasGremory didn't play that game (I don't like MK), but I remember seeing it on Digital Foundry and wondering why they did even bother porting it in that state.
They finally reviewed it? Color me surprised. Very surprised
@Rayquaza2510 One impossible port that runs beautifully is Ace Combat 7. Probably because they worked on porting it to Switch for 2 years. I'd recommend that if you haven't got it already.
Very disappointing. I always regretted not getting this back in the day. Maybe however the switch 2 will be able to improve performance for all the games that don’t run well on switch…
Thanks for the review. Better late than never. Yeah, I held off this purchase due to ropey port issues being flagged up by the other reviewers. Good it comes to Switch, but poor effort IMO
The game is a classic, and the best way to play it is on PS3 I think (dunno if it came out on X360 and I'm too unbothered to check, but if it is, it counts too. Both X360 and PS3 were great)
@Princess_Lilly It was a console exclusive game for both PS3 and XBOX 360.
@kendomustdie What's about dual audio option?
@Rayquaza2510 I loved both Doom games and Nier Automata on Switch 🤷♂️
I could have played them on PS4, and same today with games like the Dragon Quest 3 remake- could play it on Xbox where it looks and runs way better but I’m happy to take the hit in performance to play handheld. For more modern AAA games handheld devices are almost always going to be worse performance wise than what you can get on other platforms, it’s just up to you if that’s a trade off worth dealing with. For me (and many others), it is.
Screw this bad remaster.
Poor performance throughout
I bought it on PS5. Hopefully that solves this issue.
Combat is clunky and stiff
Review says the new version controls significantly worse than the original, but doesn't say how. I'm curious of how it can be objectively worse.
RePop mode feels pointless
I actually think the stylized visuals are much more fun than gore and blood. I don't mind some gore in games, but I think I'd rather have this kind of cutesy satire.
HOWEVER, that's only for the visuals of the violence. I wouldn't want the violence to be removed or toned done. And I also wouldn't want sexual content or language context to be removed or toned down. If RePop mode alters any of that, I will play in Original Mode and just deal with the gore.
Licensed music tracks are mostly gone
That is a shame. Out of curiosity, what licensed songs are missing from the original?
@LadyCharlie unfortunately a lot of devs are leaning on raw horsepower these days, using things like DLSS on PC and now PSSR on PS5 Pro so they feel theycan get away without optimising games properly. Metaphor ReFantazio has appalling performance on base PS5.
@larryisaman I love both Doom ports too. I actually waited for Doom Eternal on Switch over getting it for the PS4 Pro. Doom 2016 on PS4 had such terrible dead zones on the analogue controls that the gyro aiming on Switch made it infinitely more playable to me even with the lower frame rate. They might not look as good, but they played brilliantly.
@Moistnado I was surprised to see this review pop up considering how long the game has been out. I’ve not bought it after reading elsewhere, but this a strange time to review a game 🤔🤔
@BulkSlash Yeah I got Eternal at launch for PS4 and got a few levels in before dropping it…bought it again later that year when it finally released on Switch and played through it in a few days. Convenience of being able to play wherever I want is huge for me and well worth sacrificing visuals/performance for it as long as the game is still playable. I could never go back to a traditional home console at this point, Switch (2) and a handheld PC from here on out
I look up gameplay on the Switch. And yeah it does look bad performance wise.
Well this is one of those games where it is probably best to get the PC version. Because the performance on PC looks good from the gameplay I saw.
Considering how big of a name James Gunn became after this, I think this remaster is so insulting. This is a much cooler, bigger crossover in hindsight and no one wanted to put in the money to put out a good version of it?
It's doubly weird since Warner Bros originally published it, and GUESS WHO IS WORKING THERE NOW?! But I'm also not surprised they wouldn't pay anything to put out something cool and niche, since they hate most art and entertainment.
Though on a funny note, I was reading this review before going to work and the first song I hear on the radio is in fact Mickey, a song not in this version. That made me chuckle.
Suda 51 is not my cup of tea, no more heroes was one of my biggest regret buys on the switch. This may play drastically different but it looks very in the same vein. I hate that it was released in such awful shape though, it’s bs they sell us stuff and we have no recourse but to suck it up.
@Vyacheslav333 Multiple audio tracks available, including Japanese
@Chocobo_Shepherd Re: Music - Lollipop playing over the shop is all that remains. I miss Cherry Bomb, Mickey and You Spin Me Round the most
Regarding combat, I played through the first couple of stages on my PS3 copy to compare and I really feel like Juliet's distance to single targets is more unpredictable in RePop.
I appreciate the review. Lollipop Chainsaw is the best amazing game out there, but it is fun. Too bad the Switch version didn’t turn out too well.
@AdolBannings-Laylee Suda 51 can be hit or miss. It's mostly nonsensical style over substance. It's seems they enjoy absurdist style story telling. As far as game play goes that can be hit or miss too. They do try to incorporate different gameplay styles, but not all of them work.
I'm so sick of this like at this point if you mess up a remaster of a game or something similar to the point it's genuinely worse than the original your team should face actual serious repercussions for it (unless it came about through crunch or exec interference obviously). Making an updated port of a game is one of the easiest things possible mesing it up is like flunking at a preschool art project like. how do you even do that.
@Rayquaza2510 Sorry, what issues exactly does Doom Eternal have in later levels? I played through the whole game including DLC three times on Switch at higher difficulty levels and thought it kept a smooth 30fps throughout the whole game without any stutters or slowdown. I didn't notice any issues.
Wow very late review
Don't know why it got a bad review I have played it all the way throw and it's really fun to play
I will admit there are some bugs in the second level
But the rest of the game is ok
I think the game deserves an 8 out of ten
@kendomustdie Cherry Bomb and Mickey seem perfect for the game
if I were to buy the PS3 game today, would it run? or do games from that era require updates and patches that are no longer live? (I own a PS3 that I got 2nd hand from my brother-in-law, but have almost never used it)
@Chocobo_Shepherd Yeah! The games run fine I think it's rare to have a seventh gen game that requires a patch to run on it's origin console. This did become a thing later on though...
PS3 on PS5 is not possible. PS3 on PS4 is fine with a compatibility patch that I would think is unlikely to be removed.
@kendomustdie can you link me to a tutorial on how to play PS3 games on a PS4??
@Chocobo_Shepherd Apologies, what I said is only semi-correct. There was a limited digital upgrade system available for a small set of PS3 discs (information here - https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/legal/playstation-3-to-playstation-4-digital-upgrade-programme-full-instructions/).
Your only other option is playstation plus classics collection, which has some PS3 titles, alongside older gen titles.
However, if you have a PS3 like you mentioned, you'll be fine playing Lollipop. I got it going on my dusty old 60gb model.
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