That Time I Got Carded Playing LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW 2: Back2Back
14 years ago, in 2012, the world was graced with the “ultra-violent” and slightly risqué, bubbly, zombie hack-and-slash video game Lollipop Chainsaw. Now Juliet Starling and Nick Carlyle are back to kick some zombie ass in LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW 2: Back2Back. And Sega was even carding anyone who wanted to play the demo at Tokyo Game Show 2026.
If there was one game I was chomping at the bit to demo at TGS 2026, it was LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW 2: Back2Back—if only because of the comedy of hacking your way through a hoard of zombies as a high school cheerleader with her boyfriend's severed head attached at her hip. The complete demo experience, however, was both good and “bad.”
Looking at the “bad” first, the idea that you have to show valid ID to even play LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW 2: Back2Back is pure silliness. While I understand the game has some suggestive elements with the design of the game's protagonist, Juliet Starling, the demo did not show anything so obscene that it required players to present personal ID. For example, even if you adjust the camera to see up Juliet's skirt, it's not as if you can see her underwear. She's wearing shorts underneath. Maybe it had something to do with the blood or dismembering the zombies, but carding prospectively players at TGS 2026 still felt a bit out of place considering all the other violent games I played that didn't require ID.
As for the demo itself, it is fun, if a bit on the repetitive side. No question, cutting through a horde of zombies with pom-poms and a chainsaw will not be enjoyable, and this is doubly true with the amount of blood present in the game. What makes it stand out, however, is the comedy. The boss fight in the demo is a perfect example. You don't face the boss in the traditional sense but instead take on a throng of minions. While the boss encounter follows the hack-and-slash nature of LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW 2: Back2Back, at about the halfway point the game throws a curveball with missile zombies. It's great presentation and something only possible in a game that wants to present a zombie invasion as over-the-top as possible.
LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW 2: Back2Back is one of those games you can pick up for about 15 minutes, enjoy, and put down when you want to unwind. This doesn't make it a good or bad game, but you need to be in the right mindset to play. Honestly, TGS 2026 really doesn't put you in that mindset due to the nature of the event. If I had another 20 minutes with the game, as opposed to the 10, I probably would have let the absurdity take over. In that regard, the demo did exactly what it's supposed to do: get me excited for the full release. And 2027 can't come any sooner.
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