Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

If there was ever a game that deserved, no, should have received a backwards compatible version for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, it was the explicitly controversial hack-and-slash zombie game Lollipop Chainsaw. Yet, it never came to pass, and it happened to be one of just a small handful of console-locked IPs that never got the same treatment as its kin. Except, it did. Sadly, it just took a little over a decade for it to come to fruition. And while you could argue that this flesh-deprived ship has long since sailed, the fact still remains: folks still want a slice of Juliet Starling with their bowl of brains and bone broth. It’s just a darn shame that it took the developers so long to resurrect Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP and reanimate its corpse for modern hardware. Never mind though, eh?

Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP is, for those who happened to miss out on its original debut release on Xbox 360, a candy-coated hack-and-slash arcade game that pulls back the throttle on mouth-watering combos, not-so-graceful acrobatics, and a wildly flamboyant combat system that waxes the adolescent heart of traditional arcade beat ‘em ups. I won’t sugar coat it — it’s a bit of a wild ride, and although something of an eyebrow-raising joke in its explicit composition, a genuinely exciting game nonetheless. The only thing missing from it, really, is a case of god-awful one-liners. Oh wait — no, it does. Scratch that last one.

Let it be said that if you are hoping to sink your teeth into a narrative-driven zombie horror, then you might as well find somewhere else to get your fill. If it’s a mindlessly silly and action-packed zombie rom-com that tickles your taste buds, however, then get ahold of your chainsaw and give it a good ol’ revving. It’s time to take the wheel, Juliet.

Brain Rot, Reborn

Picture a cliche high school cheerleader, and then add in a few bloody poms, a sparkling chainsaw, and an entire undead student body to a classic arcade format. Take all of that, and then bundle in a cheap jock-and-showgirl romance into the net, and you should be left with the basic outlines of Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP. Without divulging too many details, that is more or less what the game brings to the table: an action-packed romp of a zombie arcade slasher that waxes both deadpan humor and high school mishaps, high score grading systems and stage-based shenanigans.

I needn’t bother with explaining the plot, because frankly, it doesn’t leave much to the imagination. For the sake of keeping you in the loop, however, I ought to enlighten you on the story. Or at least, what it thinks is a story.

Lollipop Chainsaw takes us to San Romero High, a school for eccentric cliques and kingmakers, cliche faculty members and morally superior alumni. In the aftermath of a zombie outbreak (don’t ask — it just happens), one Juliet Starling—a cheerleader by day, and, for some reason, an undead brain-bashing slayer by night—finds herself desperately searching for a solution to reunite her decapitated boyfriend, Nick (decapitated, and still conscious, by the way) back to his rightful body. But, as with any textbook horror, a clincher stands between Juliet and Nick’s revival: a school of undead corpses run amok, which leaves you, Juliet, with the janitorial responsibility of cleaning house en route to restoring San Romero to its original living state. Zombies? Check. Star-crossed lovers? Check. Glittery chainsaws? Eh, check.

Same Zombies, More Pop

Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP resurrects that same reckless combat style that we’ve seen being actively regurgitated numerous times before. Scratch that, it doesn’t just bring that pulpy arcade feel to the table; it resuscitates the whole experience, from the graded stages to the frequent boss battles, the optional tasks to the back-breaking combos. To that end, Lollipop Chainsaw is, in spite of all its shortcomings and tongue-in-cheek tendencies in its somewhat explicit nature, a bread-and-butter arcade game with a whole lot of on-the-nose fluff. And you know what? It works.

Granted, if it wasn’t for the iconic roster of eccentric clique leaders and the punch-drunk camaraderie that Lollipop Chainsaw fosters, then I’d probably discard the game as “just another arcade beat ‘em up.” But that’s just it: Lollipop Chainsaw isn’t exactly short of signature set pieces and original features. It isn’t blessed with the gift of longevity, though it does take full advantage of its relatively short lifespan by filling each of its stages with a pulsating energy and an oddly magnetic atmosphere that feels weirdly invigorating to romp through. And honestly, it’s one of the few arcade game that you can genuinely enjoy barreling through on a button-mashing rampage.

RePOP, being the remake of the original that it is, brings about some fresh quality-of-life updates to the table, including increased acrobatic and attack speed, swifter camera movement, and a modern lick of paint to sharpen its somewhat dated visuals. Aside from that, it also features a new licensed soundtrack, as well as Nightmare Mode, which allows you to slip into the same world of San Romero High as the zombie-hunting cheerleader, and embark on some darker, more challenging missions in a slightly grittier parallel dimension. So, quite a lot of extra bang for your buck, all things considered.

Verdict

Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP emerges from its candy-coated shell to infuse its captivating energy and sugar-plaited undead shenanigans with a timeless arcade beat ‘em up blueprint that just feels awfully exciting to carve through. It’s a little patchy in parts, I’ll admit. But, as with most dated arcade brawlers, a little pinch of jank is to be expected — even in souped-up remakes or remasters, to be fair. Yet, Lollipop Chainsaw isn’t a game that gets overshadowed by a concerning amount of wear and tear; it’s a game that, despite having one or two teething issues and a general lack of grace, leans into its strengths with its iconic bubblegum aesthetics and stupidly memorable graveyard roster of clique villains and enigmatic bullies.

If you did happen to skip out on the original Lollipop Chainsaw that launched back in 2012, then you ought to consider this written cue as an invite to indulge in one of the most slept-on arcade hack-and-slash titles of the early 2010s. It isn’t the be all, end all of hack-and-slash video games, but it is most certainly one that you’ll remember once the curtain finally falls and the dust settles.