Aniversários são como rituais, e a glorificação deles é o que forma seu significado, por bem ou por mal. São construções sociais assim como dar bom dia e boa noite; mas acima de tudo, rituais com seus próprios valores. Há quem trate seu aniversário como um dia normal, quem simplesmente evita comentar sobre, quem o trata como o pior dia do ano, e existe também a Juliet – que teve “o melhor aniversário dentro do inesperado”

À disposição desse fenômeno, Lollipop Chainsaw fantasia sua experiência como um sonho lúcido dentro desse aniversário, e por consequência, fantasia Juliet como a protagonista dessa história. Sem se questionar de seus absurdos, o jogo retrata um apocalipse zumbi da maneira mais pós-moderna possível, considerando o boom da internet e as diversas referências à cultura pop, como sua própria trilha sonora licenciada (a música tema do menu ser Cherry Bomb é genial…) e voltando algumas linhas desse parágrafo, será que os absurdos precisam mesmo ser questionados?

Sendo honesto, eu acho que não. Como alguém que enxerga God Hand como um dos melhores jogos do gênero, Lollipop Chainsaw entrega seus trejeitos humorísticos de uma maneira muito semelhante mas com uma abordagem diferente – e Juliet Starling, a estrela desse sonho lúcido, emana constantemente uma energia mais vigorosa do que Gene. Quaisquer zumbis que objetificarem seu corpo terão o próprio corpo cortado ao meio.

Partindo do princípio que Juliet “pode tudo”, o jogo amplifica seu cerne e seus desejos de aniversário para sua própria ludologia – desde sua estrutura óssea onde são necessários diversos minigames e gimmicks para progredir, à sua estética de graphic novel com interfaces, cutscenes e até VFX estilizados para se assemelhar à HQs, à sua estrutura mecânica com seu excelente combate.

Um beat em up baseado em posicionamento e crowd control com temática de zumbi é uma ideia simples mas que eu nunca parei pra pensar sobre ser uma combinação perfeita – pompom para atordoar os inimigos, motosserra para matá-los e todo o resto anda de acordo com suas habilidades de posicionamento e manipulação dos inimigos, e o quanto os encontros com inimigos do jogo variam de acordo com suas condições.

E por fim, Juliet Starling completa seu ritual, se provando constantemente digna de emanar a energia que ela possui – e coroando Lollipop Chainsaw como um dos melhores jogos de seu gênero. Feliz aniversário, Juliet!

God, I forgot how amazing this game was. Overstylized as fuck, a pure fun fest of characters, story and music, my god the music. Licensed songs are raising games to a whole nother level.
Epic presentation, action packed cutscenes, pure mind boggling madness.
Suda51+James Gunn, this delivered what it promised.


They aren't just doing games like this anymore these days. 🥲

o jogo possui uma unicidade tão bizarra quanto incrível, os personagens maravilhosos com certeza são o ponto mais alto da história e são eles que te inserem ainda mais nessa experiência de passar pelos desafios de um mundo caótico, além é claro de uma gameplay super divertida, eu nunca pensei que matar zumbis conseguiria me deixar tão entretido por horas e pedindo por mais.

infelizmente esse jogo tem algo que me deixou desconfortável o suficiente para me impedir de atribuir uma nota mais alta a ele, a sexualização de uma adolescente que acabara de completar 18 anos.

(Slight content warning: Some of the work discussed here isn’t exact safe for work, for a variety of reasons. I chose not to link to anything, but if you dig on your own… y’know. Look Out.)

There’s always a difficulty in viewing works like Lollipop Chainsaw through an analytical lens. On a surface level, the game spews out vicious bloodshed and references-disguised-as-jokes by way of a barely-legal blonde bombshell voiced by Tara Strong, hot off the presses from the seven other games she acted in that year. Cutting deeper, breaking the skin of easy T&A and lukewarm comedy, the blood of the B-movie flows freely, an exhumed exploitation expression bearing the scars of grindhouse cinema. With inspirations ranging from splatter horror and the impressively-direct sexploitation subgenre, and spearheaded by self-proclaimed punk Suda51 and Troma alumni James Gunn, Lollipop Chainsaw is, for better or worse, the same sort of gore-soaked titillation that swept through drive-in theaters and low-budget dive cinemas in the 1960s and 70s.

But, pray-tell, what makes it fit among the prestige derived from that lineage, you may ask? What aligns Lollipop Chainsaw with hallmarks of the genre, with Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! or Cannibal Holocaust? In what way is this game different from the legions of flavor-of-the-month titty games that drop from the garbage shoot that is steam, or the waves of ultraviolent mass murder simulators washing ashore from untold origins? How is it better? How is it worse?

That’s the problem; there is no real distinction. No marks of quality, no big-time writers or esteemed directors could change the fact that the “trash games” of today are, simply, an extension of the “trash cinema” of yesterday. When removed from the context of “children’s plaything” or “unique audiovisual medium”, video games take on the language and identity we ascribe to thousands of films, plays, and books. Looking at work churned out by multi-million entertainment conglomerates, you see the hallmarks of mainstream film being used as the benchmark for excellence. As an interactive mode of expression, it’s inevitable that games go beyond the realm of what is acceptable to a mainstream audience, venturing into the grimey, the messy, the extreme. After all, what is Senran Kagura if not an extrapolation of The Switchblade Sisters? What is Splatterhouse if not the logical conclusion of Hausu?

Now, I understand that this may all come off as statements dreamed up by the utterly deranged, that this could be the result of introspection and pretension too far gone to consider. Before I am soundly laughed out of the Backloggd community, consider: In the Wider Gaming Community’s push for video games to be viewed as art, isn't it also important to appreciate that which goes beyond the traditional accepted view of art? The existence of sleazy slashers and lowbrow smut doesn’t revoke the existence of time-honored masterpieces in film, in written pieces, even in the work of playwrights dating back to ancient times. As the acceptance of gaming as artwork, whatever that truly entails, dawns near, is it fair to deride the messier side of the medium as unapproachable, of being unworthy of contemplative thought? Does Lollipop Chainsaw and its ilk deserve its branding as something holding back serious discussion of gaming, or is that simply an indication of the immaturity of not only the medium, but of criticism around it?

Other than suffering from unfortunate 7th Gen Disease with the final boss going to the large bin of “7th Gen Bosses were really whack”, this was still an undeniable blast to hack-and-slash for a six hour playthrough. The most unhinged, over-stylized gaming experience to go through which was thanks to the insane creative talent pooled together for something so raw and fun. Suda51 being the obvious creative foundation here, but bringing in a Pre-MCU James Gunn with his creative styling to the mix, getting Akira Yamaoka to supervise the music/sound direction, and pulling Mindless Self Indulgence for the soundtrack of the boss fights is an absolute smorgasbord of unfiltered creativity if I’ve seen one for a game.

The game vibrates with so much intense pop-ish color and casual sleazy spunk that I found it incredibly charming than what should easily just be a desperately trashy hack-and-slasher with nothing to offer. The art direction is very creative in how it took cues from how comics are visually presented from the graphic cut-scenes, the way models are shaded and rendered, and even slapping a dark vignette around the corners of the screen’s frame to mimic the look of certain comics is a nice touch. It’s also a very colorful game overloading your visual senses with so much sparkles and pink which suits the casual “we don’t give a fuck” ironic tone which never crosses the line of aggravatingly annoying me but genuinely endearing and quite hilarious. The stages themselves, while following a pretty linear hack-and-slash combat route, stand out a lot still and never overstay their welcome to make anything feel too repetitive thanks to the chaotic moment-to-moment pacing. I can’t name another game where I play as a fun cheerleader slicing up zombies with a chainsaw in so many wonderfully violent combos, so it might actually be the best game ever made from a gameplay standpoint. The story is simple in the most bombastic way imaginable, never taking itself too seriously, but also playing the characters mostly straight in this silly premise of a high school cheerleader killing an army of zombies. It’s a weird game with weird characters, moments (some probably questionable), and set-pieces, yet it’s all treated as being pretty normal in-universe barring Nick who just needs to shut the fuck up and vibe with his 10/10 girlfriend and her badass zombie hunting family saving the world or whatever.

I only wished that this was made available in modern platforms through a simple port, or to go the way of how you can even bring back a PS3 title nowadays, a remaster or soon-to-come-out remake that basically keeps everything intact but with a better frame-rate not locked down to 30 FPS.

A hack-n-slash game that emphasizes on the hacking, which I find appropriate, considering an oversized chainsaw is the primary weapon. Lollipop Chainsaw is a cheeky action game that's humorous and creative in its own fun ways, but leans a bit too heavily on references in lieu of clever comedy. Not that the game isn't funny at times. The gameplay itself is a bit monotonous as well, rarely will it ask you to be strategic with your ways of attacking, and their way of congratulating the player with multi-kills really start to feel like punishment when you've refined your methods to group-up and kill.

The game has plenty of highlights too, I adore the concept of the zombies not just being able to talk, but also talk shit. A lot of their weird little lines and cadence are a delight. The music is also pretty fantastic, specifically the non-licensed tracks. Akira Yamaoka did a fine job providing more of this whacky punk atmosphere, and Jimmy Urine's boss tracks stand out the most, as they should.

Even so, it's a repetitive game that doesn't do a lot asking for replays. The most interesting thing about this game, to me, is seeing it in the lens of sexism. I personally think this game is trying to say some curious things about sexist roles in fantasy. The fact that the roles between the main male and female characters have been reversed from its norm (Nick literally becoming an "object" that's mocked and ogled for his appearance) says plenty, and I like how Juliet isn't exactly a perfect character either, showing her flaws throughout the game.

In other words, Lollipop Chainsaw is a good example of bait-n-switch in the world of power fantasies, but I think the eye candy is a little too in-your-face that I don't blame people for not seeing the game in the same light as I do.