Elite Beat Agents Review

When I heard about a rhythm game for the DS that featured a selection of J-Pop tunes, some that I was more than a little familiar with already, I was sold. When a mate of mine who had always raised more than eyebrow at my interest in Japanese music recommend the game to me, saying how much he loved it, well I knew this was something I had to check out. Skip forward a visit to an import site and a week or two later and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! (or just Ouendan for short) was a permanent fixture in my DS.

Here was a game about a group of male cheerleader-like characters called in to motivate those in a time need, with you controlling the squad by tapping circles on screen to make them dance and cheer. With a mix of quirky comic-style story telling (silly stories that are easily deciphered despite not being able to read Japanese) and some entertaining tracks, Ouendan is a pleasure to play and something any rhythm game fan should track down and import. And many did.

In fact, the import numbers for the game were so surprising that iNiS, the game's developers, decided to make a version for the Western market. While some may ask why then didn't they just release the original over here, well actually their decision makes a lot sense; Ouendan is a very Japanese game with stories heavily tied to Japanese traditions and culture, and to try and translate it would have been completely at odds with its nature.

So while any sequel was going to be of interest, but this seemed even better somehow. More importantly, I'd argue, it was also a Japanese developer acknowledging that the Western market was more open to their odd little titles than we seem to be given credit for.

Agents are go!

Elite Beat Agents is the resulting game, replacing Ouendan's cheer squad with a secret government agency for helping those in need. So just as bonkers then. Indeed the stories included cover a pretty similar range of fairly typical situations (a taxi driver hurrying a pregnant women to the hospital) to the slightly less typical and outright daft (a humourless truck driver battling laughing, peanut-allergic zombies, or how about cheering on the nurse-like immune system battling the virus of an ill athlete trying to get better for a big race). Regardless of how silly they are, they're nearly always entertaining and provide an excellent compliment to the music used.

The game mechanics are simple: you tap a series of circles in order and in time with the music. If a line appears, you keep the stylus on a ball as it traces the line. The only other type of thing you'll encounter is a little spinner that requires you to spin in frantic circles to build up a meter in a set amount of time. There's an overall 'life' meter that falls over time and is built back up by hitting beats correctly, and if the overall meter runs out then it's game over.

It probably doesn't sound complex, and in essence it's not, but then this is a game that excels on its simplicity. The difficulty comes via the patterns you're required to beat out, and the game does more than enough to keep things interesting and varied, providing a real sense of accomplishment when you finally master a section that's been kicking your arse.

Songs appear on a little 3D mini-globe and you'll unlock a few at a time as you make progress clearing the open challenges. Once unlocked a song is available to replay, and there's a good chance you will return to them many times over searching for that perfect rank and extra few points. There's four difficulty levels to work your way through, with Breezin (easy) and Cruisin (medium) available from the off. Beating the game on Cruisin then unlocks Sweatin (hard), which in turn rewards you with Hard Rock mode once conquered.

There are some nice improvements over the original Ouendan, including the ability to skip the lead-in of any song, not just the introductory story (this is mostly appreciable on the last couple of tracks which have really long lead-ins on inactivity). There's also an excellent save feature that allows you to record a ghost of any performance on a song, though only the one save per song. It's an all-round slicker and more accessible package than its predecessor.

And the beat goes on

OK, so there's solid mechanics in place, but at the end of the day the soundtrack is always going to make or break a rhythm game. But before you go rushing off to find a track list for the game, let me say this: there's a bit of a misconception when it comes to rhythm games, the best songs do not always make for the best rhythm games.

Now I know that sounds a bit backwards, but hear me out. Rhythm games are meant to played a number of times over, so any song they include will be heard more than a few times over the duration of play, certainly if you go for better scores, or work your way through the difficulty levels. Quite often you'll also find yourself listening to the majority of a song over and over in a row as you retry and fail at certain parts. Therefore, if the song gets annoying quickly you'll find yourself wanting to throw something every time you have to retry. Similarly games are about having fun, so the song needs to be enjoyable. This doesn't mean it has to be upbeat, but there has to be an enjoyable quality about it.

So we're talking classic rock, cheesy pop, power ballads and the such like. You may disagree with me, but one look at the Elite Beat Agents track list will reveal a set of songs that fall into that category: YMCA, Sk8er Boi, Material Girl, Jumping Jack Flash, etc. And by Jove do they work a charm. Now, if you provided me with a mix tape with some of these songs on I'd would probably punch you in the face. OK, so I might not actually do that, I'd possibly think about it though and almost certainly would never listen to the songs. These are not songs I'd necessarily choose to listen to, but in the game though they're brilliantly inspired fun, feel relevant to the story playing out and put a smile on my face each and every time. Do I find myself humming and singing the songs hours later? Oh yes I do (much to the confusion, annoyance and amusement of those around me at the time). Are they brilliant songs though? Some are, but on the whole, no they're not (at least not in my opinion - on the topic of music and taste I'm fully aware that this is a highly subjective area and each person's opinions will vary greatly).

Not only are the songs excellent fun, but in a couple of instances they work so well with the story playing out that it can be a bit moving when your target succeeds in their aim. The most noticeable example of this is the level that sees a young girl wishing for her father to keep his promise and return for Christmas. The song for the level is Chicago's "You're the Inspiration", a cheesy power ballad if ever there were one, but boy does it work. It fits the scenario perfectly, an I'm not ashamed to admit that as the tale comes to its conclusion I felt rather choked up (yes, OK, you can stop laughing now you heartless bastards).

It's worth noting that the songs are all cover versions though. Competent covers certainly, but covers none the less. There's also a natural limitation to the sound quality, since this is DS cart we're talking about after all, and for the audiophiles lurking out that coupled with the covers might just push you over the edge.

It takes two (to four) baby

So here's a rhythm game that offers an exceptional one player experience, but it doesn't stop there, no no. As with Ouendan, wireless play is available, albeit limited to local play only. Unlike Ouendan though, up to four players can play together, and from a single cart (though in single cart mode you'll be limited to five songs and Breezin and Cruisin difficulties). Versus and co-operative play is possible, and the versus games can lead to some highly entertaining tugs of war for who will come out on top. The only real issue here is there's no handicapping system, so if one person is better they'll be at a clear advantage.

It's infectiously charming and fun, bright, vibrant and silly. Great as either a single- or multi-player experience. So what's not to like about this game? Honestly, I can't think of anything.

Jam it back in, in the dark.