Jon Wahlgren
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Writing For
Nintendo Life
Push SquareLatest Reviews
Come for the wonderful presentation, stay for the baddie boppin'. Crossing Souls nails its 1980s aesthetic, no question there — the 'long-lost-cartoon' game is strong here, right down to the artfully placed VHS artifacts in the animated cutscenes playing out across a sweeping adolescent adventure. Nostalgia aside, the story and beat-em-up gameplay please and surprise in a few key ways, but come with a few too many paper cuts to prevent Crossing Souls from breaking through to that next level.
It's generally a bad idea to judge anything by its title or cover, but one look at either pretty much spells out what to expect from Grasshopper Manufacture's latest fever dream, Lollipop Chainsaw: comic books, pop music, rainbows, titillating exploitation and lots and lots of violence. These are all the makings for perfect video game pulp, and in many ways Suda51's vision of chainsaw-wielding cheerleader zombie hunter Juliet Starling slicing through the undead community with help from her boyfriend Nick's magical decapitated head absolutely nails it, if not mechanically then at least with regards to presentation.