Reviews

Even a couple of years after its release, Elite Beat Agents remains popular amongst DS owners, and is still regularly recommended to new adopters of the hand-held device. Is this reputation justified, or is EBA just another over-hyped gimmick?

One thing that EBA is for sure, is another example of a game that probably would never have seen the light of day in Europe in the pre-DS days. The success of the console has allowed games like this, Phoenix Wright and Cooking Mama to make an impact where they might have been ignored on something like the Gameboy Advance.

These agents are about to get funky!

The Elite Beat Agents are a group of suave, suit-wearing gents who spend their days solving problems through the power of dance. Yes, you did read that correctly. By successfully moving and grooving their way through a variety of tracks, they can help solve simple problems like getting a pregnant woman to the hospital or even stopping an invading alien fleet who are turning people to stone.

You can control the Agents (plus the Beat Divas on the hardest difficulty setting) through these songs, using your stylus on the touch screen. There are three types of move you must perform. Standard beats will appear on screen as numbered circles with circular outlines compressing around them. You must tap the circle as the outline matches up with it to score points. The more accurate your timing is, the higher your score will be. Miss a beat though, and it will cause the bar at the top of the touch screen to fall. If this empties out entirely, you fail the level.

There are also Phrase meter beats, which work in a very similar manner. As soon as you tap the screen with these, a ball will appear and start to move along the screen. This must be followed with your stylus to gain a score. The third and final scoring opportunity comes from the Spin meter. When this appears on screen, you simply move your stylus around it in a circular motion, in whichever direction you see fit. The faster you go, the greater your chances of scoring bonus points from this are. The spin meter usually shows up at the finale of a song.