Elite Beat Agents: Agents are GO!
GameGuyPete
95% score
Elite Beat Agents is one of the most original rhythm games to arrive in quite some time. Considering that it's a Nintendo DS game, and that the music had to be compressed to fit on a tiny game card, it's also a technical marvel. The general idea behind Elite Beat Agents is that you (and your team of agents) are sent to fix certain bad situations... by dancing. Yes, it's a silly premise... but so are the situations. In fact, many of the storylines are pretty humorous and are represented via comic-book style storyboards. The gameplay engine is powered by stylus taps and drags. If you were one of the 15 people who played Technic Beat on the PS2, you'll have a minor advantage. The idea is that there are beats that need to be tapped... but, in order to stay in rhythm, you have to wait for a surrounding circle around the beat to overlap the outer edge of the beat itself. Other beats (drum rolls) are performed by dragging a ball through a tube. It sounds odd, but it is easier in practice. With four difficulty levels, it's easy to learn to play and then really challenge yourself. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Elite Beat Agents is the sound. Although the original music tracks are not present, over a dozen covers of pretty well-known songs are contained in this game, spanning from disco to dance to rock. These aren't snippets, either... these are 2-3 minute songs in entirety. The sound quality is slightly dull, but still impressive as compared to what other games on the DS have had to offer in terms of sound. There are only a couple of minor things that keep Elite Beat Agents from nailing down that perfect 5.0 rating. Stylus tapping can be somewhat imprecise at times, keeping you from hitting those high scores that you're shooting for. Also, in higher difficulty levels, the touch screen can get extremely busy and just too tough to follow. Despite these nitpicks, Elite Beat Agents is easily the best rhythm game available on a handheld system and is arguably one of the best games of its type on any system, handheld or not.
