Elite Beat Agents

"If you don't like this game, you need serious HEEEAAALP!!"

In 2005, a company named Inis worked with Nintendo to make a rhythm game entitled, "Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!" The game, starring Japanese male cheerleaders, had the title Ouendan solve people's problems by dancing to popular music. Although the game wasn't a smash hit, it did attract a large fan following. Nintendo, noticing the high import rates of the game, decided to make a sequel for the North American fans, since the original game relied heavily on Japanese humour. So the Ouendan were replaced by a trio of dancing secret agents, and all of the music was replaced by stuff that would be familiar to North American and British fans, such as Earth Wind and Fire, Sum 41, and the Jackson Five. Does the game stand up against its predecessor? I'm pretty sure you know the drill. Read on!


Spoiler Warning:

Obviously, this guide will contain spoilers. Viewer discretion is advised.


Graphics: 10/10
The graphics are simply amazing and very unique. The story is presented in cool comic book style visuals, and the characters have nice yet memorable designs. But on the bottom screen, the Elite Beat Agents appear in 3D and start dancing. The 3D is amazing, maybe even on par with an N64 game (for the DS, this is incredible). Further proving the game's over-the-topness, the characters are the goofiest secret agents you'll ever see. For example, J manages to look cool... and then you see his orange swirly pompadour and subverts all of your hopes. The characters even have unique dance moves in various parts of songs; for example, in YMCA, they do the famous dance. Actually, I don't have any gripes with the graphics at all. A perfect ten.

Story: 10/10
The main story is rather simple. Whenever people are in trouble, Commander Kahn sends the Elite Beat Agents to help them get through their day. Sounds simple, right? Not really. Each stage has its own individual storyline, and they are all just plain hilarious. For example, in one, the agents have to help babysit three rowdy kids while ensuring that their client scores a date with her boyfriend, and in another, you have to help a magician stop five bandits from stealing all of the money in his casino. Before every level, there is a comic-style introduction that introduces your client and explains their troubles. At specific points, there will be intermissions where the plot progresses on how well you're doing. If you do well in one stage, for example, you will help your client dig all the way to Atlantis (and no, I'm not making any of this up). However, if you do badly in another, your client's attempt to save a baby works... but he takes a serious beating. Even though you're supposed to be helping that person, you just can't help but laugh at a few parts. The only exceptions to all this wackiness are two tearjerker stages: the first bonus stage, which follows the Elite Beat Agents as they help a girl live her dreams of becoming a Broadway star, and the twelfth regular stage, in which the Elite Beat Agents must help a young girl bring her dead father back to life. Then, in the last two stages, the agents team up with everyone they've helped so far (as well as the world!) in an all-out war against aliens who hate music. Again, none of it is made up, and yes, it is awesome!



Sound: 9/10
This game features voice clips placed here and there to spice up the mood. At the end of every comic, your client will cry for "HEEEAAALP!!" and Commander Kahn will dispatch the EBA with an over-the-top "Agents are.... GOOOOOO!!!!" These even happen during stages, for example, when an anthropomorphic virus is trying to take over an athlete's body, he yells "Yahoo!" and when baseball player Hulk Bryman saves his number one fan from a golem, he assures him "You bet, kid!" The agents also count down before a song begins. Now the music... this is a music game, so this is prolly the most important part. The music is great. Although most of the songs are cover versions, most of them are definitely improved. The soundtrack ranges from the 1960's to 2006, so there's at least going to be one song everyone will recognize. Never a big fan of Sum 41? Well EBA manages to make that song awesome with perfect timing and a wacky scenario. The original version of La La was absolutely terrible. The cover artist used in the game at least manages to make it tolerable. Some of the songs even sound similar enough, like YMCA, Canned Heat and September (although most songs are shortened to fit three minutes). However, in my opinion, I think that the original versions of a few songs like Let's Dance and Highway Star were better than the ones in the game, although at least they're livable. Unfortunately, the song list isn't for everyone, although there will be at least one or two songs you'll like. In fact, my only problem with the game is the tenth stage. Now, keep in mind that I have never liked Madonna (in fact, I utterly despise her music), so when I found out that Material Girl was in this game... well my reaction was unpleasant. And I'm not too fond of the scenario. It doesn't help that turning down the volume doesn't work, because the stylus still makes the sound of the notes. But other than that, the soundtrack is great, and it features two absolutely awesome covers of Jumping Jack Flash and You're The Inspiration (can you believe one magazine once rated it among the worst songs of all time?). So there's just one minor flaw; the rest of the game's all good.


Gameplay: 10/10
The gameplay is brilliant. The gameplay is innovative. This game is brilliantly innovative. In this game, you tap numbers on the screen in time with the music, and they are timed perfectly, and the sounds are very nice. There are a few interesting quirks, though, such as double notes, when you must tap a note twice with the timer circles and music as your only guidance, Phrase Markers, in which you must guide a ball to the end of the line, while not lifting the stylus or going too fast, and spinners, which usually indicate the end of the song. Here, you have to spin in circles incredibly fast and earn big bonus points. The spinners are definitely easier to spin than the notoriously heavy spinners in the first game. The game features four difficulties; Breezing, led by Agent Spin (the easiest), Cruising, led by Agent J (the normal difficulty), Hard Rock, led by Starr, and Sweating, led by Agent Chieftain. Hard Rock and Sweating are pretty much tied in terms of difficulty; although Hard Rock is slightly faster, Sweating is tougher in my opinion because notes are more jumbled together and it's hard to tell where to tap first, whereas Hard Rock essentially tells you to tap now. The game adds new features that the first game didn't have, such as the ability to skip openings, which is very handy in Without a Fight/Jumping Jack Flash. You can also save replays, in which you can relive your best record and listen to the songs without playing. The game also offers DS Download Play multiplayer, so you can jam with a friend who doesn't have the game. Also, there are 19 songs, 14 regular songs, a two-part climax, and three unlockable songs, an improvement over the first game's 15-song list. The only problem is that explaining the game without going to Training Mode is a bit hard (it took a while to introduce the game to people I knew). But really, you'll get the hang of it in a flash.

Replay Value:
The gameplay is very frantic and addictive, and you will find yourself playing again and again so you can achieve high scores, unlock new characters and unlock bonus songs. In fact, I still play the game after all this time because I can't get enough of it. It's just too much fun!

Recap:
Graphics: Smooth 3D graphics, stylish 2D art.
Music: High-quality sound, awesome music, with a few minor flaws.
Story: Hilarious, crazy and a breath of fresh air.
Gameplay: Addictive? Check. Innovative? Check. Pick-up-and-play fun? Very check.

Overall: 10/10
Truly, you have not lived until you have played Elite Beat Agents. This game is an essential that every DS owner should have, so if you see it, buy it now. It's for a good cause.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/17/09

Game Release: Elite Beat Agents (US, 11/06/06)