Years ago, game director SUDA51 from Grasshopper Manufacturer and movie director James Gunn teamed up to create Lolipop Chainsaw, a quirky action-adventure game. It was campy and a little jank, where you controlled an 18-year-old cheerleader who is also a Zombie slayer.
Overall, it was a great experience, gaining itself a cult following. Think of it as a superhero game without DC and Marvel star power. Unfortunately, like most PS3 and Xbox 360-era games, it got stuck in the seventh generation of consoles.
Fortunately, Dragami Games, a Japanese developer, worked to re-release and even remaster the cult-classic game, now dubbed Lolipop Chainsaw Repop. It was a huge thing because the remaster claimed to have improved visuals, wholly uncensored and modernized for the current generation.
Despite the remaster and the hype behind this cult classic, the launch was barely satisfactory. Instead, I am upset that I can’t access an old console just to boot up and play this game because the remaster feels exceptionally odd.
The shortcomings of Juliet Starling’s second homecoming
Lolipop Chainsaw Repop launched on 12 September 2024 for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. I’m an ardent SUDA51 fan, so I paid $44.99 for the game because I wanted to relive Juliet Starling’s homecoming with improved graphics and visuals.
With a hurt wallet but a happy heart, I finally installed and booted up Lolipop Chainsaw Repop and immediately noticed some red flags. No display settings were available, which, for a 2024 game, is a rather odd feature to lack. I always like to tweak things before playing any game, so not having the option to alter the visual settings felt strange.
However, I ignored that and jumped straight into the game, and I immediately noticed some problems. The visuals immediately looked off. While the original mode retains its old art direction and visuals, the Repop mode barely tries to elevate that. It has that ugly bloom effect and looks dated, barely adding anything unique.
Furthermore, nothing about the Repop mode spoke remaster. This version still had the same textures and weirdly animated NPC and zombie models. When you call something a remaster, you’d expect some polish in living up to those claims. Unfortunately, Repop mode doesn’t, which is sad.
Juliet fumbles even during the various fights and encounters
I’d be okay if the trouble ended with the visuals, but problems exist at a gameplay level. Inconsistent boss hitboxes and numerous bugs ranging from silly T-posing to downright annoying gameplay stoppers are just some of the issues.
There was even one instance where the second boss, the Viking one, straight up broke because the bottom torso of the boss dropped down from the ship, which was annoying because I was stuck and couldn’t progress any further.
While expecting some quality-of-life changes doesn’t hurt, the game barely comes with any. It still retains that age-old system of playing a level from scratch if you don’t finish it in one go. It is annoying, especially when you are forced to do that because the boss fight gets broken due to a bug, and there is no checkpoint system.
These are just some of the major problems the brand-new Lolipop Chainsaw Repop has, which gets annoying to think about when you consider the price you are paying to get the game. Unfortunately, I had to refund the game because I love SUDA51 and was psyched to own this finally.
Hopefully, Lollipop Chainsaw Repop gets its due fixes done
As of writing this piece, Yoshimi Yasuda of Dragami Games acknowledged the game’s troubles on his X account. Not only did he claim that they’ll fix the bugs for the game, but they will also revisit the pricing.
So, from that angle, it is worth noting that Dragami Games is committed to fixing the game and upholding the legacy of Lolipop Chainsaw. I wish they had done it sooner because judging by the remaster’s quality, Lollipop Chainsaw Repop is not the way to play Juliet Starling’s adventures.
