Agents are...GO!

The world of gaming has recently been inundated with a plethora of rhythm based games, led by the master of the genre, Guitar Hero. These games are so popular that it seems only natural that the DS - with its touch screen - will get in on the action.

The Elite Beat Agents were created to answer the calls of "Heeaaalllp!" from helpless citizens, so that they may fix all their troubles with an upbeat song and dance number. The story is incredibly unbelievable - even for a game - but it is an original concept that doesn't detract from the fun!

You play an agent, new to the job. It is your task to tap out the notes which appear on the screen. Doing so will cause the other agents to sing and dance their hearts out; miss a note, and they'll (rather comically) fall over. These notes come in the form of numbers, which appear on the screen in various colours. Each number has a large circle slowly 'closing in' on it. When the circle is just touching the edge of the number, tap it to keep those agents dancing! Every note you tap correctly will raise your 'yes' meter - which is constantly falling - and each note you miss (or hit too early) will cause a drop in your 'yes' meter. If the meter runs out, mission failed.

There are only three different types of notes, and the lack of variety can be a little frustrating and tedious. Each song has about two different repeated sections of notes, which again adds to tedium. However, when playing on more difficult songs, there are so many notes on the screen, you need this repetition to pass the mission.

Missions are selected from a globe. Rotating the globe with the stylus and tapping a call for help will bring up a sample of the song you get to play for the mission, and a short description of the citizen you'll be helping out. If you choose to play the mission, you will be presented with a briefing - in comic form. This is a really original idea, and works incredibly well. Presenting the back story of the mission in comic form compensates for the lack of graphical power the DS has, as well as allowing for the briefing to be presented in an efficient and entertaining way, with a lot of vibrant colour.

Playing the songs is an interesting affair. Occasionally the touch screen will become a bit unresponsive, leaving you with some missed notes and a drop in your 'yes' meter. There is a training mode which teaches you the different types of notes and how to play them, but occasionally you'll feel a little overwhelmed (in the harder songs) at the sheer amount that is happening on the screen. Songs are played in sections, with interludes in between showing you how your music is helping the situation. Play well, and each 'challenge' will be resolved; play badly, and you will fail that section - resulting in a drop in your 'yes' meter. There's a lot to look at, between the notes on the bottom screen and the animation on the top screen and occasionally you can get sidetracked looking at the top screen and forget to play, miss the start of a new section, or miss part of the story.

When the screen gets filled up with notes, you begin to see the flaws in having circles enclosing the numbers telling you when to play. This is especially apparent when there are notes on top of each other, as it is hard to quickly tell how many notes are there, and which circle belongs to which number. Another flaw in the songs is that sometimes the notes you need to tap just don't make musical sense. Some are in odd places, or don't even coincide with the beat at all. When this happens it can be quite confusing, and after missing notes it is often difficult to get back on track.

When you complete a mission you are graded on your performance. It's extremely hard to get an 'A' - even more so on the easier difficulty, and missing just a few notes will send you down to a 'C'. While this will deter some players, the aspiration to get a good mark can add a fair amount of replay value for others. This is good because all the missions will only take a few hours to complete. There are two difficulty levels - adding to the challenge, but still a few more songs wouldn't have gone astray.

SUMMARY:
Elite Beat Agents is an addictive game full of colour and plain ol' fun. Each mission is unique, presented in an entertaining and often humerous way. However, flaws with how you play the songs really drag the game down.

GAMEPLAY:
The way songs are played could have been given more thought. A little flawed, but still fun.

GRAPHICS:
The comic book look works fantastically; the world is full of colour, but the agents need a little bit of work.

SOUND:
The songs are upbeat. Some are well-known, some not so. More aimed towards a younger generation - but you'll probably be too busy focusing on those notes to care.

VALUE:
On the short side, but has replay value in the form of marks and a second difficulty level.

OVERALL:
Elite Beat Agents is a fun rhythm game. More variety in the notes would've have been good, but players are still left with a colourful, if somewhat flawed game that is highly addictive.

8/10

It's... dry. I expected, for a generally positive review of EBA, for somebody to mention just how amazingly touching the story can be (If you didn't feel any emotion at all during the Christmas song, you either skipped the opening or are a bastard so evil you enjoy throwing puppies at brick walls).

Yeah, this isn't one of my better reviews...haven't done one in a while.

Thanks for the honesty though!

Reminds me of this.

A review of EBA that doesn't mention its Japanese name of Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! seems to me to be breaking some sort of unwritten part of the Weeaboo Code. It's actually quite refreshing.

Ahh, good old Nintendo. With the exception of Zelda, Metroid, Mario, etc. they really are the most innovative and original console guys out there.

Good Review

However, compared to Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, EBA feels shallow and half assed to me, even if it's practically the same game. I guess for me, lowering the level of strangeness the japanese Game had hurts the game.

SimuLord:
A review of EBA that doesn't mention its Japanese name of Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! seems to me to be breaking some sort of unwritten part of the Weeaboo Code. It's actually quite refreshing.

Ha ha ha.

EBA is awesome. For me it brought back fond memories of school discos & house parties and the assorted good/horrific moments I associate with them. The unrelenting cheesiness of the songs (and the fact that I knew all the words) makes it all the more entertaining. I don't see how anyone from the West can claim to prefer the Japanese version: it's exactly the same except for the fact that the main appeal of the game - knowing the songs and humming along - is lost in translation.

It is a tad dry and reads kinda like some corporate review, but you did a good job touching on the core of the game play.

a second difficulty level? EBA has 4 difficulty levels, and only 2 of them are playable out of the box.

I'm personally stuck on Jumpin Jack Flash on HARD Rock! Mode.. I doubt I'll ever beat it... a shame to get so close to the end though. I was really hoping for Hardware Store by Weird Al to be in it (It was on one of the early songlists for the game).

My friend imported Ouendan, and we played it, and LOVED it, and I found this one an admirable americanized port.

I'm really not sure this review was written by someone who's really plumbed the depths of the game. It's not necessary to master everything about a game to write a review, but it does help to do more then scratch the surface.

Maybe I'll write a review of this game, because it truly is one of my favorite games.

Not a bad review, all in all.