Elite Beat Agents came as a total surprise to me but it turned out to be one of the best games I've played on a portable
User Rating: 9.6 | Elite Beat Agents DS
If someone had described to me the premise in Elite Beat Agents on its own, I dunno if I would have bit,I mean it's effectively a game about a bunch of dudes cheerleading. Regardless of that quirky idea, Elite Beat Agents is one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. It combines addictive gameplay with a compelling soundtrack, bizzare stories and colorful graphics to be one of the most fun games to be had on the Nintendo DS. The Basic gameplay in Elite Beat agents is kind of unique. It starts by placing dots down on the touch screen. Around these dots a concentric circle starts to close, when this circle reaches the edge of the dot you need to tap the dot with the stylus. In addition their are times when you need to do a multiple tap mechanic, tap and drag or spin the stylus in circles. This all sounds pretty simple but everytime the game throws a new wrinkle at you it can begin to seem pretty complex. It's also worth noting that the game has a longer learning curve than most as it takes a bit of time to get the timing right. If you miss too many points then your meter will start to sink and if it gets to zero you have to restart. While the gameplay is great it wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun if the game didn't have some really awesome music. It's an ecclectic mix of pop with such highlights as: YMCA, Highway Star, Rock this Town, Material Girl, Jumping Jack Flash and Anthem. If there is one complaint that could be had with a few of the songs is that there are one or two songs that kind of feel tacked on to add some modern music. The most glaring of these songs is Sk8er Boi. While these songs are covers they are very close to the original and in only one or two of the songs did differences with the original really stand out. All in all this game's soundtrack stands as one of the best I've ever heard and by far the best music I've ever heard in a portable game. The game also has a great multiplayer mode where you play songs either competitively or co-operatively. Not only that but you can play songs you've unlocked against your save game to just practice the song for multiplayer. It's really unfortunate to see this game coming out without Nintendo Wifi connection support as it would be a great game to play online. However it does a fine job at local multiplayer. The games graphics are about as good as you can expect for a DS rhythm game. The Agents are nicely modeled in 3d and have very colorful backgrounds and the stories are nicely shown in a sort of traditional cartoon style. Which brings me to the game's narratives. Each level has its own mini-story within a story. These are all 100 percent surreal. They range from two prima dona pop-stars stuck on deserted island to washed up Athletes saving a child from a monster to a casino that's attacked by bandits and earth being enslaved by aliens who are afraid of music. 
