Elite Beat Agents

"What a Game..."

Elite Beat Agents

Foreword
Man, I can't tell you how much fun I have with rhythm based games. Not only do they test a person's ability to react, but they also give a snappy workout to someone's fingers:P. Elite Beat Agents, or EBA, is one of those games that really define an otherwise DDR dominated genre. By placing emphasis on spot on control, hilarious story segments, and top of the line music, EBA's creators managed to put something together that few, if any, developers have before. Now, there is one problem that really plagues me when I play these games, and it stems from the fact that I have the coordination of a 300 pound fat guy that's about 80 years old. You'd honestly never know that I play quarterback in football, and to add to that you'd probably never even guess that I'd be able to play ANY rhythm game. My brothers always make fun of me because of this, but through this game I finally managed to prove them wrong.

The developers of EBA really didn't do anything that hasn't been done before in one way or another, they just added their own personal touch to it. They had several things going for them, and it proved to really give them the boost they needed to achieve these star bound heights. One, they had a good system that could support what they wanted to do. There aren't many systems out there that function like the DS does, mainly in the fact that a touch based system of control could be implemented. Two, they had two screens to work with. I don't recall anything out there that can do that either, so with both of those things coming together they really managed to take advantage of it fantastically. Through all of that though, it's the charm of EBA that really brings the title home, and it's the charm of this game that really made me buy it in the first place. Most of the time you find rhythm games to be nothing more than cheap cash-ins, with nothing that they could call their own. This game changes that though, and I'm sure you'll love every minute of it. This review will give you my honest opinion of the game, melded together with a dose of comedy to bring it home.

Story
Now, in a sense there is no true story to this game, rather segments that play out as you go through each new place. Whether it is a movie set featuring a demented cat with some Godzilla like spoofs to it, or some mother with a guy trying to make her kids happy, this games a riot. What really makes the game what it is though is the fact that you have your own personal cheer leaders in the form of the Elite Beat Agents. These three disco style dancers serve as probably one of the games biggest comedy inducers, working together with your own game performance to deliver a play experience like no other. What they do depends on how well you do in the game itself, and that leads to one of two things happening in the current crisis that you are going through in terms of story. I personally like to mess up on purpose for my first try or two on any given level, mainly because it is normally hilarious to see what will happen if you mess up. For one, your agents will trip and slide over each other, and then revert to a zombie like stance if you get that bad. Once you reach a certain part in the song that is currently playing, the next part of the level will take place. A story scene will play, and depending on how well you did you'll get to see whether or not your agents actually managed to cheer on the current story's participants enough so that they may succeed. Like I said though, make sure to mess up at least once so that you get to see the hilarious parts that occur. Now, since there are two story segments to every level, it basically assures you that an insane amount of replay value will be existent in terms of seeing everything that goes on. Each story segment generally lasts the width of the song that is playing, and that generally leads to about 3-5 minutes per level. I'll be blunt, it's not a long game; it's what they do with the game though that really makes it special. Just the ability to see a couple of guys mess up and then succeed really spurs someone like myself on, and it's fun all in the same.

The story has a charm of its own, something that few games really seem to capture these days. It's almost sad to see that there are so few games out there that capture this kind of performance, and the developers as a whole really need to start seeing what is making games like these a success. Just the spoofs on certain things alone really make the story great, Mowzilla is a great example. You practically know that Godzilla should be the one in the scene, but instead they make it a gigantic lunatic cat that has a smile and the ability to give you a thumbs up. It's things like that added in with the Elite Beat Agents themselves that truly drive things along, and I think that there should be more of these kinds of games.

Game Play
What could anyone possible say about the game play in EBA other than the fact that it is pure excellence. The developers thoroughly took advantage of what they needed to in order to make this work, and it's truly evident in everything that this game has to offer. As I stated in the foreword, nothing is really that new except for some little things, it's just how they implemented these things into the game itself that allowed them to make it their own. I'll be segmenting this part of the review into two sections, one that has to deal with touch screen capabilities, and the other that has to deal with what the two screens themselves bring to the table on a consistent basis.

Now, as you can imagine this game does heavily rely on the touch screen. In fact, it's actually the basis for the entire game play. There are basically no portions whatsoever that has to deal with the rest of the controls on the DS, just the stylus and screen itself. This creates some very fluid game play in several key moments, as it would have been relatively hard for them to actually implement the control pad of the DS effectively. That's a key word. They could have done it, but it wouldn't have come out nearly as good. The world map is a perfect example. You use the stylus to move around the map, and then you tap on an area that you want to go to in order to start a segment. It's that simple. If they had to use the control pad, then it would have come down to automatically movable points, which would have taken away from the feel of the game play itself. It's little things such as that that really shows just how much attention they put into this game. Once you start a story segment, you watch a small scene that involves some basic back story before things get started.

The touch screen is used as a point for the whole thing. If it didn't exist, than this game wouldn't be possible. You use the touch screen to tap targets that have little numbers on them. These targets act as continuing points. If you tap a target as the marker closes in on the circle itself, then you get more points. That's just one thing though in a big circle. If you touch the target before the circle gets to it, then your agents fall down. There are plenty of other things to add to the game play as well. And when you look at the many unique schemes such as double tap targets, rolling ball movement in which you touch a target and roll it along, and connections, you can really see that it is more than just some game.

Now that's great and all, but if game play stopped there it would be pretty boring. Every time you successfully hit a target your agents dance to the songs. If you miss one, then they mess up and fall. The two screens provide an excellent basis for this, as it gives the game plenty of room to actually work. The agents, your time bar, and the story segments play out on the top screen for the most part. The bottom screen is reserved for the game play itself, which it alone should be in the first place. It would have been very hard for them to actually implement both scenes into one screen, so they really lucked out with this. What truly amazes me though is just how they used both of them so effectively. Usually, if a game uses both screens it is for meager purposes, and nothing outside of some of the more bizarre games have really taken advantage of it. (Yeah, this game is truly unique :P.) In everything that they did they committed themselves to excellence, and it's nice to see that taking place.

Graphics
Sporting a richly designed anime influenced graphical scheme, EBA possesses something that the game needed to really make it hit home. By including anime into the scheme, they managed to capture the game's essence, which was fun and jokes. Everything in this game is meant to get a joke out of, and to be quiet honest it worked. By making the graphics compliment what was being offered, they managed to create a feeling that should have been done a long time ago by many other developers. Each area that is being presented looks as if it is in a cartoon, and everything looks as if it is meant to be. My one main beef with this game's graphics is the fact that the agents themselves look extremely pixilated. Maybe it was what they wanted to do in order to synch with the rest of the game, but it probably could have been done a tad bit better. It's not that they are bad by any extent of the imagination; they just look a little too jagged around the edges. The DS is capable of more, and it's a shame to see them waste it. Other than that, there really isn't much more to say about it. Everything worked perfectly, and it was a nice touch to a dieing franchise.

Music
Before I played this game I didn't even know half of the songs that were featured existed, let alone everything else. I rarely listen to current music, especially by some of today's musicians. Call me nuts, but they just don't do it. It was nice though to hear some of the stuff that came out awhile back though, and they melded it perfectly with what was done today. I got to hear many different songs, and mostly they were good. Perhaps the only thing that really threw me off balance was the fact that the game play itself really made me forget there was even music playing. It wasn't that the volume wasn't on either. The game itself has such a way of immersing you into it, in which you forget what is going on around you. The music itself can be used effectively though as a beat to follow, which is the whole meaning of the game itself. If you learn to master the beat that is going on, then you can effectively master this game. There are some excellent tracks, and they keep coming and coming. It gets better once you start to memorize the patterns of the targets, because then you can pay more attention to what is going on in the track.

Difficulty
The difficulty of EBA can be looked at from two stand points. Either it is way too hard, or it is still hard but enjoyable. I'm telling you right now, if you don't like difficulty stay away from this game. I told you earlier in this article that I don't have the best coordination, and I'm not lying when I said that. It may not be as bad as I describe (Otherwise coach would kill me :P) but it still isn't the best. It's because of that that games like this one really are challenging for me, so what I may find difficult may not be that bad for you. This is what really adds to the replay value of the game, simply because it will be taking you many tries to beat a level. By the end of the game 3 or 4 mistakes could end your game. It's a long song to, so it could possibly take you hours to beat it. It is definitely rewarding though, especially when you start actually playing the higher difficulty levels. I only managed to get part way through the super mode; mainly because I had it rented XD.

Family Friendly
This game is definitely bordering on the T rating, not because of the game itself, but because of the actual lyrics of it. That and the fact that there were some other things in it make it very hard for me to give this a fair score. It probably deserves T more than E10, but that's my opinion.

Buy/Rent
I rented it, and beat it fairly quickly. I wished I actually bought it, as it is an excellent game. I may still buy it, but I'm not sure.

Finale
EBA is an excellent game, and it should be played by everyone. I may not have the best coordination, but I sure as heck enjoyed this.

Score Bracket
Story: 8/10
Game Play: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Music: 10/10
Difficulty: 9/10
Family Friendly: 5/10
Buy/Rent: Depends
Finale: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/07