Don't Stop, Girlypop! Review: An Explosion of Y2K Nostalgia

As someone who grew up in the pink futuristic hyper pop sparkles of Y2K, surrounded by recordings of Cheeky Girls' live performances, I lustfully look at the latest flip-phones right now just for the nostalgia aspect. Now with adult money, I can get my own flip phone, and no one can stop me, even if it’s a bad idea. I have to tell myself that phones need to be functional rather than be pretty in my pocket.

Thankfully, the flip-phone in Don’t Stop, Girlypop! is more symbolic, functional, and fits in the aesthetic of the bubblegum space dream of the game. I was already sold on the game thanks to the soundtrack when I first saw the trailer, but the blinged-up gun, Y2K, and Blåhaj add-ons helped seal the deal. I had to check this out for myself.

Can There Be Too Much Girlypop?

In Don’t Stop, Girlypop!, you play Imber, who is a part of the faeries fighting for the revolution. This made me kick my feet happily from Neopets faery nostalgia.

I remember playing a few different dress-up or otherwise ‘girly games’ when I was younger, but the main criticism was that even if the games were good, they rarely had enough attitude beyond the aesthetics. A slick shooter with bright pink graphics about faeries back then would be talked of as a bad move because ‘real gamers’ didn’t want pink or rhinestones or dress-up customisation.

Even today, a game like Don’t Stop, Girlypop! remains revolutionary. It was only in late 2024 that we got a game focused on dressing up and aesthetics with AAA treatment in the form of Infinity Nikki, and that title is still frequently belittled for a myriad of reasons.

Don’t Stop, Girlypop! Might frontload the pink and the glitter, but it backs that up with topics that feel ever more relevant today. What is the revolution for, and how are we remembering the fallen who fight for it? How is the resource management going since there are starving children out there, and what to do in order to get resources?

Since the worldbuilding and lore would get lost in the lightning-fast gameplay, you get to hear it instead by triggering echoes, functioning essentially as mid-game cutscenes projected in certain rooms. These complement the radio intercepts and the flip-phone chat fed to you.

Committed to a Fault

Creator Jane Fiona has been toiling away at Don't Stop, Girlypop! since she was a teenager, and that kind of unashamed enthusiasm is the perfect fuel for a game that is so rooted in its aesthetics.

Beyond the bling and the hyper tunes, this unapologetic design also translates to the gameplay. Most of the time, this works for the game, but the stubborn route is not without flaws.

As Don't Stop, Girlypop! makes abundantly clear that the core mechanic of the game is movement. The faster you go, the harder you hit, the quicker you heal, and the less damage you take by virtue of being a hard target.

One implementation I didn't really vibe with is wave hopping, triggered by spamming jump, plunge, and dash in sequence. Don't get me wrong, it works just like it says on the tin, benefits and all, but it adds an overly mechanical flow to a game that thrives precisely because of the chaotic freedom you have.

Some of the enemies, especially bosses, also felt too spongy while dealing an inordinate amount of damage. I like the challenge for the most part, but I wish it were possible to get around some of the harder fights without having wave hopping as the only practical way to overpower enemies.

Don't Stop, Girlypop! slowly feeds you better weapons early in the game, but at no point did I feel like any of them had enough punch past the starter shotgun. Maybe it's because the music was so overpowering that it muted the gunshots, but the vibes take precedence here.

Boom Boom Boom

The main event in Don’t Stop, Girlypop! is obviously shooting enemies that are trying to take down the faeries, Imber, and stop the revolution from happening. You end up piecing things together as the game progresses, and you tune into frequencies to hear what’s happening beyond the two-way shooting range.

The combat in Don’t Stop, Girlypop! impressed me right off the bat, with a rhythmic flow that sent me straight back to my childhood. This is a mesh of Dance Dance Revolution beats and classic Unreal Tournament, complete with the jumping spam that walked so Fortnite kids could run.

I was also reminded that, two decades later, I am still abysmal at fast-paced shooters. At least there will always be Metal Gear Solid V infiltrations to heal my ego.

Just like a shooter in an arcade where I would have to grind away all my pocket money to get good, complete with the overbearing pop music, the “you’re too slow” audio cue in Don’t Stop, Girlypop! Made me want to lock in harder than most survival instincts do.

I haven’t felt such an adrenaline rush in years, sitting and trying to get a boss down while being all blinged up. This hit me so hard that it got me to revisit the toxic Y2K gamer discussion on whether modern games are too easy now. Ah, to feel young and dumb again.

After playing Don’t Stop, Girlypop!, I do feel blinged up, all covered in pink glitter, and rushed. The controls can be a bit janky at times, certain enemies might not be shot because the glass isn’t indicated as well, but a girly fantasy this maximalist needs to exist because it’s cool, not because it is immaculately polished.

Don’t Stop, Girlypop! fits a very specific niche that has been ignored for far too long: a game like DOOM or Unreal Tournament to be played while wearing a pink bow and long nails. This game is for people who want to play classic shooters but are tired of the drab visuals, and there is no better way to replace that than with a Y2K-inspired hyper pop pink space glitter fantasy.