Elite Beat Agents [DS]

Note: This review is about Elite Beat Agents. If you are posting to say that Ouendan is better, or that Elite Beat Agents is just a poor version of Ouendan, just don't bother.

In 2005, a game called Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan was released for the Nintendo DS. It was an extremely popular rhythm game, incorporating many popular Japanese songs. Sadly, it did not see a release outside of Japan. However, the game's popularity with audiences outside of Japan gave Nintendo an idea: What if this game was released outside of Japan, with popular Western songs? Nintendo told iNis of their idea, and Elite Beat Agents was formed.

The game is simple to understand. People in the world have problems, such as having to take care of annoying kids or wanting the weather to be good the next day. These problems can apparently only be solved by dancing to popular songs. These people scream for help, and the Elite Beat Agents jump to action. This is where you get to play. Circles with numbers in them will appear, with a second circle closing in on it. When the two circles meet, you have to tap it. The numbers inside show the order you have to tap each circle. When a number appears with a trail, you have to touch and follow the ball as it moves across the pathway. When a large, colourful circle that fills the whole screen appears, you have to spin it as fast as you can to fill a meter on the side of the screen. It sounds confusing, but it's easy to understand. At the top of the screen is a bar split into two halves. At the start of the level, there is a marker at the right hand side of the bar. This slowly decreases throughout the level. It increases if you do well, and decreases if you make a mistake. If the marker stays on the right hand side of the screen, you are doing well, but if it's on the left, you need to improve. At moments in the level, a short cutscene will appear. If the marker is on the right hand side of the bar, the good cutscene appears. If it's on the left, the bad cutscene appears. For the best score, all the cutscenes should be good, but it's not neccessary to win the level. The number of good/bad cutscenes affects the ending too, so if you want the best ending, try to get good cutscenes.



Elite Beat Agents contains a story, but not much of one. Basically, you are part of the Elite Beat Agents (and, later, the Elite Beat Divas), and your Commander alerts you every time someone calls for help. These problems can vary, from an oil tycoon who needs to earn back his riches, to a taxi driver who needs to get a pregnant woman to hospital, to a cat who needs to save a baby. Each person's personal problem is mostly interesting. However, the final level's story is a good one, so make sure you pay attention to it. Throughout the level, cutscenes will be shown of what happens in the story, and the cutscene shown (good or bad) depends on how well you've done, and these are often humourous. For instance, in one level, a ninja has to break into a building to retrieve the stolen blueprints for a car. Near the start, he has to disguise himself as part of the wall. With the good cutscene, he fools the guards. With the bad cutscene, he can't properly disguise himself and is caught. The better you do, the better the problem is solved. Now, if only we could use the Elite Beat Agents to solve the problem of the Credit Crunch...

The game is purely touch-screen. While you can control the menus with the control pad, the gameplay uses the stylus. You touch the circles, you slide the ball, you spin the spinner. Simple stuff really, but it works well. There's no flaws and there's no time when the game won't recognise the tapping or sliding or spinning. The only problem is that spinning can hurt your wrist, but that's something many DS games can do.



The graphics aren't anything amazing. The cutscenes are hand-drawn, which look nice, but they aren't anything major. The game is quite cartoony, and doesn't take anything seriously, as you've probably guessed by now, so you should be expecting wacky, over-the-top graphics as opposed to realistic ones.

As this is a rhythm game, it should be obvious that the sound is an important point, and makes or breaks the game. Luckily, the sound is good. Each level revolves around a song, which plays throughout the level. For instance, one level where a cat has to save a baby is quite cutesy, so A-B-C is played, while a serious level, which I won't talk about, plays You're the Inspiration. You will recognise quite a few of these songs, which is a great appeal to some, and also helps with getting the rhythm right. Of course, the music will not appeal to some (eg. those who hate some of the songs in the game), but many people will like it (eg. me). The voices are quite good too, as they don't annoy you and aren't played too much.



Overall, Elite Beat Agents is a game that, on the outside, looks like something many people will e embarassed to buy. However, if you get it, you'll find that Elite Beat Agents is a fantastic game brimming with charm and style. You may even find yourself singing the songs or playing the game for months like I have. The game is selling cheap too, with copies going for about £5, so you don't have too much of an excuse not to buy this game. Now, if only iNiS will change their minds and make a sequel...

Story: 7/10 - The overall story is nothing big until the end, but the personal stories are funny, crazy, and sometimes sad.

Gameplay: 9/10 - The game is easy to understand, but difficulty can get hard. While you may get stuck on some levels, you may love the music too much to care.

Graphics: 7/10 - Nothing special, but still charming.

Sound: 10/10 - This game contains at least a few songs you will know, and probably quite a few songs you will love. If you don't like them now, you'll grow to love them.

Value for Money: 10/10 - With how cheap this game is selling for, you should be able to easily buy it, and it's worth it.

Overall (Not an average): 8.5/10

GREAT game
last level was inspiring

This review does this under-rated game justice . I love the cartoon-y nature of this game, some of the missions the EBA get through are genuinely entertaining. Without too much spoilers, the last mission was awesome .

If they ever make a sequel, I reckon they should remix some classic Nintendo themes and have the Elite Beat Agents helping the likes of Mario and co.

Ashworthy-Harvington wrote:This review does this under-rated game justice . I love the cartoon-y nature of this game, some of the missions the EBA get through are genuinely entertaining. Without too much spoilers, the last mission was awesome .

If they ever make a sequel, I reckon they should remix some classic Nintendo themes and have the Elite Beat Agents helping the likes of Mario and co.

Thank you! The last mission was amazing, definetely. Reggie said he doesn't think there'll be a sequel, but we never know, there might be I'd love some Nintendo music in it, it'd get more sales that way.

I freaking love EBA. Still can't get the last rank though, so I'm taking the odd day here and there to replay the missions on all difficulties that I don't have an S rank on. High-score chasing is addictive. X_X

I agree, I love trying to get a Perfect on as many songs as possible. I forget what songs I had Perfect on, but I know I had it on Walkie Talkie Man, Material Girl and A-B-C.