Like a lot of Suda 51's wares, the game is charming, whimsical, and quirky.
Story: The basic plot of the story is that a young man named Swan (a subtle jab at Bella perhaps?) felt scorned by our heroine Juliet Starling. In revenge he calls upon some demons/zombies from the rotten world (hell) to cause chaos on earth. In the mayhem Juliet's school fall under attack with the majority of students being turned and Juliet's boyfriend nick meets with an unfortunate accident. Now its up to Juliet with the help of NIck's head and the rest of her family to send evil back where it belongs. The story ends up being a strong point in the game, with the quirkiness of Suda mixed with caricatures of western high school and music culture delivering on all ends. The game comes to a satisfying conclusion, yet leaves the door upon for a much need sequel.
10/10
Characters and Humor: These two elements really make this game. From Juliet's ditzy but well meaning personality to Nick's metaphysical look on life as only a head, the characters deliver. Joining the cast are the classical "perverted old man" Morikawa sensei who acts as a Mr. Miyagi to Juliet. Juliet's older sister Cordelia, the cool big sis who is also an expert sniper. Rosalind, is the hyperactive mildly psychotic little sister who is death incarnate behind a wheel. And of course the dad, Gideon Starling, showing gruff southern charm with undying love for his daughters. The villains are equally as entertaining and varied, but I will not mention them for the sake of spoilers. The only thing I will mention that they are music based. Aside from the characters, the game is really strong in the humor department. James Gunn, director of Dawn of the Dead remake worked on the game along with Suda, and they have a good time lampooning everything from the stereotypical cheerleader to themselves. The game like much like Shadows of the Damned has the typical toilet humor found in Suda's works but he does throw in occasionally a streak of satire to balance it out. Closes comparison is probably the Evil Dead series (There is actually an unlockable Evil Dead costume)
10/10
Gameplay: The game play recieved some criticism for being somewhat linear, but thats a given. Its a beat em up action in the veins of DMC or even Bayonetta, games more critically praised but by no means more innovative in terms of gameplay. You build up your character as you go along, almost like an rpg. You can increase stats by collecting coins from enemies or you can buy various combos to make mowing down zombies more convenient. Also over the course of the game you are given gift (its Juliet's B-Day) that upgrade your chainsaw allowing you additional attacks including sprinting, shooting, and some involving Nick's head. The game also introduces a concept known as sparkle hunt, whereby if he kill more than three zombies at once you can get additional coins and platinium medals. Platinum medals can then be used for buying BGM, costumes, and artwork. The bosses are interesting enough and have several phases and variations to them. And in typical Suda fashion different gameplay styles are mixed in, of note is the infamous gondola arcade game.
7/10
Music: The music is a nice combination of classic 80s fare mixed with original works that set a nice tone. Later on you can even buy additional songs once unlocked and set your five song soundtrack to play in the background. Sure you might never want to hear the songs Mickey and Lollipop ever again after playing the game, but the sort of grow on you over the course of the game. The original tracks are very good ranging from techno style songs to heavy rock, and the themes fit the boss fights very well.
8/10
Graphics: The graphics are nice, what you would expect on a system like the xbox with the occasional pulp style comic scene thrown in to introduce character. Stage 4 has a nice retro style to it, to envoke old school arcade games. For the most part the game is fluid, although the occasional glitch has been known to happen.
7.5/10
Re-playability/Extras: The game is not overly long with a first time run taking maybe 7 hours or so, but the game has a lot of replay value. There are 4 difficulties with various changes being made at higher difficulties including additional collectibles and enemies, and even bosses change up attacks at higher levels. There is also a score attack mode, where you can challenge one of three different modes and see if you can make it on the leader boards. The achievements are reasonably selected and combined with the modes end up letting you get 30-40 hours out of the game. Even once you have done everything, its still fun to occasionally pop the game in and play a level or two. There are also two endings, neither of which is overly hard to get. What I really liked about the game were the costumes. In particular, the US version retains the anime themed costume that were in the Japanese version, an extremely rare occurrence and nice treat for US audiences. Costumes are included from Kore wa Zombie Desu, High School of Dead, and Deadman Wonderland among others. There are also plenty of costumes for those wanting something a little more risque like the seashell and rider costume.
10/10
Overall: If you are a fan of anything Japanese, Suda 51, Zombies, Evil Dead, or just oddball humor you will love this game.
9/10