Lollipop Chainsaw is clearly going for the comic book vibe. It features a strange-looking filter that lines everything with an odd square-based texture, but it's not out of place. Juliet animates wonderfully; she operates with the same level of grace as The Bride from Kill Bill, if not more. After all, the lass is a super sexy cheerleader. The action looks equally absurd and violent; after a zombie head is liberated from its neck, the stump sprouts sparkles and hearts. And this is taken to the nth degree when you succeed at Sparkle Hunting. More on that later. In terms of pure technical artistry, Lollipop Chainsaw isn't impressive. Some of the textures are dull, which leads to the notion that perhaps much of the level design is simply a means to an end.
Lollipop Chainsaw has one of the best licensed soundtracks in any game. Ever. Toni Basil's "Mickey" rivals Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" for the title of Most Inappropriate-Yet-Completely-Appropriate Song to Slaughter Zombies to. There are some truly inspired choices for certain situations, and trust me when I tell you that they are best left unspoiled. In between the quirky picks is a wonderfully fitting selection of death and punk metal.
Voice acting is top notch. Tara Strong hits all the right notes as Juliet; her airheaded delivery of the airheaded lines makes the character endearing rather than annoying. Even better is Michael Rosenbaum as Juliet's boyfriend Nick; his lines heavily subvert the old fashioned "meatheaded hunk" trope that so many high school dramas have instilled in our collective conscious. Nick is perhaps the only sane person in this game, and his hysterically funny reactions to the insanity around him make him one of the most hilarious and endearing supporting characters I've seen since, well, Johnson from Shadows of the Damned.
