Edit: Fixed the link issue.
I haven't watched the series, but the art style looks awful to my eyes. What is the appeal to others?
If you need to ask, then Lucky Star is probably not for you. The art style is notoriously polarising that way.
Play Again? Y/N
Yeah, Lucky Star is a bit of a WJT (Read: Katamari Damacy is normal in comparison). The art is almost Chibi in style, so it really is, as he put it, polarizing.
Finally, someone that actually paid attention to the humor in Lucky Star, rather than overly focusing on the anime/manga/video-game references used to set up the majority of the humor. Too many people saw a shout-out, and jumped to the conclusion that the shout-out/reference was the entirety of the joke, when it was actually the reactions/comments/come-backs of the rest of the cast that was the 'punch-line' of the joke.
Will long-time anime fans get more out of the show than someone with little experience with anime? Yes. But is the majority of the humor so self-referenced that it's not funny to those that don't know the references? Not really.
I'll even give a personal example to illustrate:
When Konata goes to the Animate store, the manager has an emergency meeting in the back to plan out how to sell to 'Legendary Shoujo A' (whom we know is Konata, since this isn't the first time she's been called that). What follows is a hot blooded and ridiculous series of scenes of absolutely over-the-top antics that are rather extreme; and they all fail, but not for lack of trying. Most of the humor for that scene was the sheer over-the-topness of it all. You didn't need to know about Sgt. Frog or Code Geass to find it funny. How do I know that? Because I didn't know anything about either show when I saw this episode of Lucky Star, and yet I still laughed. When I went back to watch Lucky Star for the third time, I HAD seen both Code Geass and Sgt. Frog and I'll admit that it added to the humor, but it was an addition, NOT the entirety of the laughs.
That is repeated through-out the show. Otaku will get more out of Lucky Star, but it's still funny for the casual anime fan too. There are quite a few Japanese-culture jokes and references, but that's to be expected for a show targeted at a Japanese audience.
I'll also agree that the art-style is very polarizing. It's also one of my top five anime comedies.
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One of my favorite series
Plot - 8/10
The plot of Lucky Star is best related to a documentary. A documentary about Moeblobs. You watch the girls go about their day to day lives, with nothing particularly world changing happening. Yet, this simple plot line leads to some of the most hilarious moments in anime, and manages to be more gripping then many of the best action series. Each episode undergoes huge changes in pace, in one episode going from a careful explanation of adult visual novels to a slow complaint about homework to the ridiculously fast paced "Lucky Channel" section within 10 minutes. Yet this shift in pace is a major appeal of the series, and has to be seen to be understood.
Humor - 9/10
Humor in anime has, in my view, stagnated. While Accidental Pervert moments and unwarranted Megaton Punches can certainly be hilarious, after a while you want something a little more subtile. Lucky star provides this, using everything from hidden irony to blatant misunderstandings for laughs. Each episode contained at least one hilarious moment for me, and without doubt, the funniest exchange I have ever heard in an anime was in the OVA.
Art - 9/10
Describing art in a series this iconic seems futile, but I will say that this series is very moe. If you like that, you will love this series. If you don't, then best steer clear.
Overall
I think it is safe to say that this series is one of the few black or white issues out there. You will either love it, or hate it. And that is fine. For too long have series been trying to appeal to everyone, and thus end up only being ok. This series is very strongly in my top 5, and will remain. Watch the first 5 episodes, give it a chance. If you don't like it, drop it.
9/10