Elite Beat Agents is a must have for fans of the rhythm-action game genre.
The Bad : - Not much replay value after beating the game on hard - It's not the original Japanese game - May damage your bottom screen if your too aggressive
Do you like quirky, simple, yet highly addictive Japanese games ? If so, you must check out Elite Beat Agents. It's not as popular as most of the first party Nintendo titles, or even the Capcom and Konami titles, but this game is possibly the best combination of fun and challenge on the DS. You play as the Elite Beat Agents, and your mission is to help out people who are in danger. The characters in the story each have their own issues, which must be helped with.... dancing, which yeah, makes no sense. Large circles appear over numbered smaller circles, and as they collapse onto the smaller circle, you must tap the stylus on the screen. The numbers typically run from 1 to anywhere between 3 and 14, and you have to hit them in correct order. You will also be dragging and spinning the stylus, sometimes very urgently. The bottom screen is obviously the touch screen, where all gameplay occurs. The top screen shows the story unfolding, and the story changes from good to bad, depending on how your playing. It's almost like your playing DDR on the go, with your stylus, and headphones on. If your looking for a game that separates the DS from the PSP , or even your GBA, this is one of those titles.
The game is very difficult and can be frustrating at times. On a good note, it's never due to poor game design. You get better each time you play a song through, and you learn certain patterns, and figure out how to get better from thinking about your mistakes. There is 19 songs, a few which are hidden, and all are covers. The covers aren't great, but they fit the purpose of the game. The game is hard enough to where you will get your money's worth, but that's not to say there is a lot of replay value. There isn't anything else to the game besides the songs themselves, so it's typically just one style of gameplay. Also, a lot of purists prefer the original Japanese version " Osu ! Tatakae ! Oundan ! ". I personally enjoy catchy J-Pop and love original Japanese games, but that won't take anything away from your experience with this game ( unless you know your kana and kanji well enough to understand Japanese ). The American version holds up well, the songs aren't something I'd listen to in my car, but they are fun and the presentation is great. I also like stopping by my local gamestore to buy games, rather than paying extra to import and wait for a game. You can probably find this game used for under 20 bucks, so go give it a shot !
Difficulty : Hard
Learning Curve : 15-20 minutes
Track Listing :
1. Walkie Talkie Man - Steriogram
2. ABC - Jackson Five
3. Sk8er Boi - Avril Lavigne
4. I Was Born to Love You - Queen
5. Rock This Town - Stray Cats
6. Highway Star - Deep Purple
7. Y.M.C.A. - Village People
8. September - Earth, Wind and Fire
9. Canned Heat - Jamiroquai
10. Material Girl - Madonna
11. La La - Ashlee Simpson
12. You're the Inspiration - Chicago
13. Survivor - Destiny's Child
14. Without a Fight - Hoobastank
15. Believe - Cher
16. Let's Dance - David Bowie
17. Jumpin Jack Flash - Rolling Stones
18. Makes No Difference - Sum 41
19. The Anthem - Good Charlotte
Gameplay : Easy and intuitive. Play the training mode first though, almost everyone I've spoken to about this game complains that they had no idea what they were doing at first. Some were immediately turned off and didn't pick it up again. I'm letting you know, it's easy and fun ! Just do training first, it takes less than 5 minutes. The gameplay really makes up for any lack of depth in this game. The game makes great use of the stylus, just don't press too hard or your screen will wrecked when your all done !
Graphics and Presentation : The style used in this game is a comic book / manga style, that never takes itself seriously. I really like the style used, as a lot of DS games stick with the cliche anime style. The graphics are all 2D comic style, with the exception of the Elite Beat Agents dancing in the background, which are 3D character models.
Sound : Again, the songs are all covers, so what can be said ? They obviously weren't gonna spend a ton of money producing this game , so with that being said, the sound holds up well. It does what it's supposed to do, and that's supply the rhythm in an action game.
Value : EASILY worth the 20 bucks your gonna spend on it. Not too much replay value once you beat it on the highest difficulty , but it will take you a good amount of time to achieve that. You can always master songs and get all perfects too, similar to a DDR or GH game. Expect that kind of value.
Tilt : I really love this game, I have good memories playing it and helped me fall in love with my DS when I played it. There's no handheld game like it. This game separates itself from other handhelds, home consoles, and even PC's ! There is no other game experience like it.