06-13-2007, 02:42 PM
Elite Beat Agents
Nintendo DS
Alex: ARGH! I need to get another review done or Kindrik’s going to have my head...literally…stupid chainsaw. *Sigh* I feel like I can’t even write! *SLAM!*
Kindrik:ALEEEEEEEEEEEEEX!
Alex: *Alex’s head spins around to come face to face with Kindrik.* Heh heh, hey Kindrik. *Gulp*.
Kindrik: WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ALL THIS TIME! YOU HAVEN’T RELEASED A REVIEW IN GOD KNOWS HOW LONG!!!!
Alex: S-s-s-sorry Kindrik! I just can-
Kindrik: DON’T YOU SORRY ME! GET WRITING OR YOU’RE FIRED!!!!!
Alex: W-w-w-w-w-WHAT!!!!!!!! H-h-h-h-h-h-HEEEEEAAAAAALLLLLPPPPP!!!!!!
Commander Khan: Agent’s are…GO!!!
Well, looks like the Agents are coming to my rescue! So, after quite a long time of no reviews, get ready for some fun!
Elite Beat Agents has many missions which all hold small stories. Some could be as simple and funny as putting the kids to bed, while others are more serious like re-uniting a little girl with her recently deceased father on Christmas. All of the stories are fresh and original and will never seem old or re-used.
The stories progress in different ways. If you are doing well, then the story will go along well; although if you start doing badly then the story will end up, naturally, bad. Take one of the missions for example. You are a director and are told that if your upcoming movie isn’t a success you’ll be fired. So, the agents come and help you out. If you do well, the scene the director is filming will be a success; if you do badly the scene will be messed up. There are usually three or four cut-scenes were you’ll see how well you did in the last part. In the end of the mission, if you did very well then everything goes perfectly, alright and things go ok, badly and well, you probably didn’t make it that far anyways.
So does that all work and flow? Well, yeah! It’s probably some of the most intriguing and fun story telling I’ve ever seen in a video game. I love how it plays out in a beautiful comic book fashion. It offers up kick and humorous story. But Elite Beat Agents doesn’t have one flowing story, so this is pretty hard to rate. But the individual stories themselves are brilliant. If you want some simple stories then this is definitely your game.
Elite Beat Agents has quite the impressive visuals. The artists did an incredible job at drawing these characters. All the characters have great expressions and look awesome. The design is very intriguing, the characters also hold a sort of American/Japanese anime sort of style. They’re almost Americanized. Which I think looks great, they definitely did it well.
Also, some would expect that the bottom screen would seem very bland sense you are simply tapping buttons. That’s not entirely true; the bottom screen has the agents dancing in full 3D. The agents look pretty good, there movements go smoothly and they look like humans (yes that’s a plus). They also do some pretty cool things, like for instance, if you miss one of the targets they’ll fly backwards and onto the ground then get up and start dancing to the song again. Also if you start to lose they’ll sag down as if they don’t have the will to dance. It all looks great and will be the only 3D you’ll see in the game. It’s definitely the only 3D you’ll need to see though! Although, it is good to note that the aren’t the best 3D models in the world, but like I’ve stated they are good.
Really though, the visuals will impress you and make you realize that awesome 3D isn’t what you need for good visuals. The fact that Elite Beat Agents visuals are so new and cool gives a very nice and new feel. It’s rather refreshing actually. I know I enjoyed watching at the visuals and would be disappointed if they were any other way.
Tap, tap, tap, TAP TAP TAP, tap, tap, tap. That’s probably what you’re going to hear when playing Elite Beat Agents, the frantic tapping on your DS screen. What would cause that? Simply the quick paced and fun Elite Beat Agents gameplay. Circles will appear on the touch screen that are numbered and are certain colors. You have to tap them in order and by there color. This sounds easy at first and some may think; “what’s so much fun about tapping circles?” Well let me tell you, it’s more then fun, it’s fantastic. With many songs and levels to jam to you’ll find yourself playing for hours on end.
Also though, the circles will have larger rings that will start to come around the circles, when they are around them tap the circle and you’ll get a ranking on your timing. As the circles will need to be taped in rhythm with the song, which is exactly why there is music; you need to listen to the music to excel, by tapping the circles with the beat you’ll fly along through the levels. Speaking of levels, there are many, many levels, not to mention a few un-lockable ones. The levels will progressively get more difficult, longer and usually faster.
Elite Beat Agents has four difficulty settings, there is Breazin’ which is essential for beginners as it helps to give them a feel for the game, it’s also slower. After Breazin’ the game starts to pick up pace with Cruisin’. Both of these difficulties are available from the get go. Cruisin’ is slightly more difficult and faster then Breazin’ but it’s still no that bad. Then, after you complete Breazin’ and Cruisin’ you unlock Sweatin’; Sweatin’ is a much harder, and faster difficulty that’ll get you sweating! (Pun intended. d: ) But after you’ve completed all three difficulties a new difficulty opens up; Hard Rock. This is incredibly fast paced, the buttons become smaller, and it’s all around harder; although you get some ‘new’ agents altogether for this one. Still though, all of the difficulties are fun and challenging enough. Even though you’ll for the most part be re-playing levels it never seems to matter it’s just that much fun.
There’s also multiplayer, basically there are around 5 or more scenarios that the agents will help out with. But you can play with every song you have unlocked against your friend, although it’s smart to note that the person who has gone the farthest in the game should be the one who creates the game as then you can play all the songs they have unlocked. Multiplayer is just as good as single player with some changes. Instead of a bar that will go down if you loose you have stars that will fill up and when one person fills them up the other person’s buttons will become incredibly small for a short period of time. You can’t loose in multiplayer by not hitting enough buttons either which is fun if your opponent sucks.
So, Elite Beat Agents definitely takes gold when discussing gameplay, me I can’t get enough of the game! Trust me, I expect all of you won’t be able to stop playing it either!
Now, moving right along to music; this game is all about music! It’s a rhythm based game, you tap the screen in rhythm with the songs. So naturally Elite Beat Agents would have to have good music and it does. I mean it’s not all my favorite songs but they grow on you and you won’t feel disgusted playing them, they are all perfect fits, fast, catchy and full of beat and rhythm. That’s really all you can ask for with the music.
The music in the game though isn’t actually the original singers, its different people who sing them. But you won’t notice or care because the singers did a tremendous job; I mean that’s what there paid for right? Seriously though, the singing sounds wonderful as some of the songs almost sound exactly like the original which is a great thing. If someone played the songs one after the other you may almost swear that they sound the same; well almost.
There’s also some pretty neat and funny sound effects in the cut-scenes, it’s in comic book fashion so there isn’t a lot of voice work, although there is some, so there’s really only sounds and noises. But the sounds and noises are done very well, especially the sound it makes when hitting the buttons. It fits in so well I’ll find myself just listening to a song from the game and waiting to hear the sound it makes when I hit the buttons; it fits in that well. That’s definitely a large factor of the game and it enhances the experience tremendously.
So really Elite Beat Agents has some awesome music, sound effects, and voice work. They all combine to give a fresh and awesome experience.
I’ve decided to mostly skip controls but just for the sake of it here’s a small paragraph on them. You control the game simply be taping the buttons when they appear on the screen with the stylus. There really isn’t much else, but you don’t need anything else and I think something else would screw it up. So I’m glad they decided to just have the stylus. That’s really all I can say about the ‘control’ in Elite Beat Agents.
Elite Beat Agents is definitely a game to buy and let me tell you, it holds hours upon hours of replay value. Just because maybe you want all S ratings? Perhaps you just like a certain level? Maybe you want that perfect rank? Who knows but you’ll definitely visit this game again and again. This game is really worth your money as well, you can probably pick it up for 30$, that’s not a lot and to me seems like the game should be more! That’s how awesome it is!
View this on YouTube
So, you read my review, why don't you watch it now? Go ahead and visit my youtube video as well on youtube and leave a comment then rate it! Youtube video.
Story-9.5/10
-Definitely same stories to remember here.
Visuals-9/10
-Great visuals! 3D models were pretty good as well!
Gameplay-10/10
-The very definition of perfect.
Audio-9.5/10
-The songs are well done and the effects are great!
Replay/value-10/10
-Worth every last penny.
OVERALL-9.5/10
(Not an Average)
Sadly now, we come to a close. I simply have one last thing to say about this game, BUY IT NOW!!!!! So everyone, keep gaming and reading my reviews! Oh and also, look out for a video review of this game; I hope to have it up on Youtube sometime soon!
Happy Gaming Everyone!
-Alex51011
Go u!
