Elite Beat Agents
Nintendo DS
Release Date: November 6th, 2006
Music
Review by Dack
AGENTS ARE GO!! It is rare to get a music game as addictive, challenging, and charming as Elite Beat Agents is on any platform let alone two games of equal quality on the same platform. Osu Take Ouendan, a Japanese-only music game from the creators of Guitaroo Man, and its Americanized successor, Elite Beat Agents, are two such games. In Elite Beat Agents (EBA), you take the role of a trio of secret agents to give a wide variety of characters moral support as they tackle the problems they face in their daily lives. It was an interesting choice to remove the male cheerleaders in Ouendan who are seen at Japanese sporting events all the time and replace them with disco agents but, as strange as it sounds, it works.
Each of the levels goes to one of 15 tracks, most of which are taken from classic rock with a few newer songs that assumingly were put in for the young people who don’t know many of the game’s songs. While this might sound a bit lame, none of the songs are unbearable and the ones you don’t really like at first tend to grow on you. There are also three bonus songs you can access after reaching a certain rank with enough points. These bonus stages are a nice break from the older stages and it’s especially nice when you are progressing through the game’s four difficulty levels and, in the middle of hard, you unlock a new bonus level to tackle.
As mentioned above, the game has four difficulty levels although you start out only able to access the first two – Breezin’ and Cruisin’ – that are easy and normal respectively. The game starts out with a tutorial that is helpful for anyone who has not imported last year’s Ouendan and it is totally skippable for anyone who has. Players who are totally new to the game might want to start on easy to get used to the game’s mechanics that are very unique and make great use of the touch screen.
Similar to other music games, you have a bunch of dots that show up on the screen but, unlike other music games, instead of pressing a button based on the dot’s symbol, you must tap the middle of the circle when its outer circle shrinks to the exact size of the edge of the original circle. You also have paths that go between multiple circles that have dots in the middle. For these, you must tap the circle on one end and then drag the ball that appears to the circle at the other end. These paths can sometimes have arrows on the other side sending you back and forth over the same path multiple times. Finally, there are massive circles that fill the entire screen that you must spin by tracing the circle over and over in any direction as many times as you can before the circle disappears.
If this sounds like you are really going to mess up your touch screen, it sure feels that way while playing it. Anyone who does not have screen protectors on their DS’s dual screens should consider buying screen protectors, specifically Hori brand, before they get very far. It is possible that playing EBA will not harm your touch screen at all but I know personally as soon as I started playing Ouendan last year, I felt the need to get screen protectors.
All things put together, Elite Beat Agents is a superb music game that makes great use of the touch screen mechanics in a perfect follow up to last year’s Ouendan. EBA has the perfect blend of difficulty and addictiveness to keep you playing until you can’t use your wrists anymore. Each of the many levels has a charming story to go along with it and the quality of the songs is all up to personal taste. The developers managed to keep all the charming art style from the previous game and the sound effects in place so it still feels like an over-exaggerated anime setting. Players who become addicted to EBA and enjoy Japanese music should also consider importing Ouendan. Beating all the difficulty levels of each song can take anywhere from 10-15 hours and the game can take even longer if you are a perfectionist and play until you get S rank on each level. EBA is longer and more addictive then the average DS game and a game any DS owner should not pass up.
Final Score: 10/10
Nintendo DS
Release Date: November 6th, 2006
Music
Review by Dack
AGENTS ARE GO!! It is rare to get a music game as addictive, challenging, and charming as Elite Beat Agents is on any platform let alone two games of equal quality on the same platform. Osu Take Ouendan, a Japanese-only music game from the creators of Guitaroo Man, and its Americanized successor, Elite Beat Agents, are two such games. In Elite Beat Agents (EBA), you take the role of a trio of secret agents to give a wide variety of characters moral support as they tackle the problems they face in their daily lives. It was an interesting choice to remove the male cheerleaders in Ouendan who are seen at Japanese sporting events all the time and replace them with disco agents but, as strange as it sounds, it works.
Each of the levels goes to one of 15 tracks, most of which are taken from classic rock with a few newer songs that assumingly were put in for the young people who don’t know many of the game’s songs. While this might sound a bit lame, none of the songs are unbearable and the ones you don’t really like at first tend to grow on you. There are also three bonus songs you can access after reaching a certain rank with enough points. These bonus stages are a nice break from the older stages and it’s especially nice when you are progressing through the game’s four difficulty levels and, in the middle of hard, you unlock a new bonus level to tackle.
As mentioned above, the game has four difficulty levels although you start out only able to access the first two – Breezin’ and Cruisin’ – that are easy and normal respectively. The game starts out with a tutorial that is helpful for anyone who has not imported last year’s Ouendan and it is totally skippable for anyone who has. Players who are totally new to the game might want to start on easy to get used to the game’s mechanics that are very unique and make great use of the touch screen.
Similar to other music games, you have a bunch of dots that show up on the screen but, unlike other music games, instead of pressing a button based on the dot’s symbol, you must tap the middle of the circle when its outer circle shrinks to the exact size of the edge of the original circle. You also have paths that go between multiple circles that have dots in the middle. For these, you must tap the circle on one end and then drag the ball that appears to the circle at the other end. These paths can sometimes have arrows on the other side sending you back and forth over the same path multiple times. Finally, there are massive circles that fill the entire screen that you must spin by tracing the circle over and over in any direction as many times as you can before the circle disappears.
If this sounds like you are really going to mess up your touch screen, it sure feels that way while playing it. Anyone who does not have screen protectors on their DS’s dual screens should consider buying screen protectors, specifically Hori brand, before they get very far. It is possible that playing EBA will not harm your touch screen at all but I know personally as soon as I started playing Ouendan last year, I felt the need to get screen protectors.
All things put together, Elite Beat Agents is a superb music game that makes great use of the touch screen mechanics in a perfect follow up to last year’s Ouendan. EBA has the perfect blend of difficulty and addictiveness to keep you playing until you can’t use your wrists anymore. Each of the many levels has a charming story to go along with it and the quality of the songs is all up to personal taste. The developers managed to keep all the charming art style from the previous game and the sound effects in place so it still feels like an over-exaggerated anime setting. Players who become addicted to EBA and enjoy Japanese music should also consider importing Ouendan. Beating all the difficulty levels of each song can take anywhere from 10-15 hours and the game can take even longer if you are a perfectionist and play until you get S rank on each level. EBA is longer and more addictive then the average DS game and a game any DS owner should not pass up.
Final Score: 10/10