Elite Beat Agents

Nintendo, if you didn't know, has been doing some damn smart things with their systems lately. Beyond their implementation of ?nonstandard? gaming features (such as the DS touch pad and the Wii nunchuck), they have made a very powerful attempt to put out games that are unique and original- something one would have never expected from the ?Mario, Zelda, and Metroid? company.

In their recent attempts to keep the DS alive and powerful against the PSP, Nintendo has been working on music based games, trying to bank off of the massive popularity of games like DDR and Beatmania. About a year ago, Nintendo released a game known as ?Osu!! Tatakae Ouendan?, a musical game based around the concept of (male) Japanese Cheerleaders. It should come as no surprise that because the game was so weird yet unusual, it hit Japan by storm.

But obviously, since the game was so Japanese oriented, it wouldn't work in America. So what was Nintendo to do? In this case, they were to make a completely new game based on Osu!!, known as ?Elite Beat Agents?. And that's where this review begins.

Elite Beat Agents is, much like Osu! Tatakae Ouendan, a musical game that has you tapping and moving the DS stylus along with the beat of approximately 15 songs. Each song features a ?story? and a ?problem? which the Elite Beat Agents must fix, and obviously, by your successful completion of the song, the Elite Beat Agents are able to help fix the problem and move on to another person needing help.

One of the most obvious things about this game is how Nintendo blatantly aimed it at the American audience. Instead of sticking with Japanese songs like Osu!!, this version contains only American Pop songs, from Earth Wind and Fire to David Bowie. As well, though the game continues to contain Anime-like visuals, all of the stories are very obviously set in America instead of Japan, the resulting effect being much more ?international? than it's granddaddy Osu!!. The levels are actually quite inventive, one even going back ?to the past? to help Leonardo DaVinci woo the woman who posed for the Mona Lisa. To a Queen song. Odd, but entertaining all the same.

Much like DDR, Elite Beat Agents makes itself something of a challenge. Though the game features levels of difficulty, it nonetheless cranks up it's own difficulty even in the easy mode, presenting a Nintendo-esque challenge to anyone who plays the game. Some of the difficulty comes from the use of the touchscreen which can sometimes seem unresponsive, but this tends to resemble issues with DDR pads more than a game-ending flaw.

There is a lot that Elite Beat Agents does well, but there is also a lot that needs work. Because the Nintendo DS uses flash cards for the games themselves, the game itself can only hold 15 songs- a far cry from DDR's 40+ on a single disc. This is tied along with the game's significant lack of sound quality (again, from the lack of space, as well as the lack of a decent sound system on the DS itself), which means that a lot of the faster songs tend to not be represented well on the tiny two speakers.

Even though I obviously have issues with the feasibility of a music game on the DS, I love this game with a passion. Elite Beat Agents is wacky, entertaining, and a mix of everything good that Nintendo can do. Would it not be for some sound issues, Elite Beat Agents would probably be an absolute must-buy for this console- but because of such sound issues, a lot of the quality of the game is restricted. Nevertheless, if you have a DS, this is a must buy- even if it's just because it has Earth, Wind and Fire.

4.5 star(s) out of 5

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