Elite Beat Agents NDS

by Nintendo

• By tapping and tracing patterns that appear on screen with the stylus, players play along with the song's rhythm
• After each section, the player gets judged; The animated story changes depending on how well the player performs
• If the player makes it though the whole song, he or she will be judged on the whole thing and get one of three endings -- the worse players do, the worse the story might end up
• Every scene is accompanied by rump-shaking tunes, but players have to keep the Elite Beat Agents grooving
• Rhythm games have come and gone, but no one has ever seen anything like the Elite Beat Agents!

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000HE9LL8
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 6, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (121 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,419 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Elite Beat Agents are a super-secret agency made up of the coolest group of guys this world has ever known. Of course, according to official records, they do not exist. Their leader, an ex-CIA agent named Commander Kahn, scans the world, seeking out cries for help. When he finds one, he dispatches the agents, who assist their targets by performing a song and dance. The hypnotic nature of their rocking revives the targets with "Groovy" energy that boosts their willpower and helps them overcome their obstacles. Whether they're helping a lost dog find its way home or helping a babysitter charm a hunky football player, no crisis is too weird.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly fun for all ages November 14, 2006

By Lisa Shea HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Elite Beat Agents is one of those games that seems awfully silly - but is incredibly addictive once you get started. It's a rhythm game with some fun songs to play along with.

The plot is the silly part. Secret agents watch for trouble - babysitters trying to calm down kids, little girls missing their daddies - and jump in to help out. The way they help is by dancing along to the music. This is like finding a "plot" for tetris. Just ignore it :)

The real fun is the actual gameplay. You have a song playing in the background - the 19 different tracks include songs like YMCA, Material Girl, You're the Inspiration, La La, Sk8ter Boi, Let's Dance and much more. There's a good mix to please most players. Now you tap along with the song on circles on the screen.

Let's say you're playing Material Girl. They might show 4 circles in a row for you to tap along with the song. A larger circle will show around each circle, closing in on it and matching it right when you're supposed to tap it. Sometimes you slide along a line. Sometimes you double tap. The taps make drum beats and cymbals, so it really does sound like you're playing along with the song. The "closing circles" are really easy to see and understand and draw your eyes along.

In between verses, the top screen shows you manga-like scenes of the "story" you are following. So in one story, a weathergirl is trying to get rainy clouds to go away so she can have a picnic with her son. The scenes show her getting help from people in blowing away the clouds. Depending on how well you do in your playing, you get different endings - so you really have incentive to do your best and to replay.

There are two levels of difficulty, and on each level you get a rating of how well you did. You can easily go back and replay levels to get the highest rating in each one.

You might think that 19 songs aren't a lot, but really, you don't play a song just once. That would be like listening to a song just once on the radio or on your MP3 player! You listen to and play them repeatedly because it's fun to hear the song and fun to play along.

Highly recommended! Read more ›

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and very, very fun November 26, 2006

By N. Durham HALL OF FAMEVINE VOICE

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Here's another exclusive, unique, and innovative triple A title for the DS. Elite Beat Agents follows the exploits of three black suit wearing secret agents on a rescue mission. And the only way to find success with your mission: dance to the rhythm! Now I know what your thinking, that this game is something for acquired tastes and isn't for everyone. While this may be true in some respects, Elite Beat Agents is surprisingly easy to get into and pick up and play. The bizarre but wonderfully drawn cut scenes help reel you into the gameplay, as the soundtrack features a whole laundry list of older and more recent pop songs that are sure to grate on your nerves at some point or the other, but they all feel at home here as you use your stylus to keep the rhythm going. What's really surprising is that how addictive the gameplay becomes once you really get into it. This is easily one of the best games stylus-use wise for the DS, totally making excellent use of the touch screen as well. There's some unlockables as well to help keep your interest, however the only real downpoint of Elite Beat Agents is that at times the game can get too challenging for it's own good. There will be frustrating times aplenty, but the good obviously outweighs the bad here. Even if games like Dance, Dance Revolution (which is one of the most easily comparable games to this) aren't your thing, if you have a DS you should really give Elite Beat Agents a try, I think you'll be pleasently surprised.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy way to suck hours upon hours of your life away November 8, 2006

By J. Mattingly

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Fans of dance/rhythm games rejoice, for you touch screen narcotic has arrived.

I originally got to play a demo of this at a local electronics store. It consisted of the first level which, obviously, was simple enough. Still, anyone familiar with games in this genre know "simple" lasts for about three songs. I promptly bought it first thing the day it was released.

The premise of the game, while seemingly cheesy to describe, is absolutely brilliant.

Ready? Here goes: You are a trio of elite special agents who go around and assist people by dancing.

Each story conflict is told through an anime comic style on the top screen, with the dancing happening on the touch screen. There are animations occurring on the top screen during gameplay, but you don't really have time to watch it seeing as you're too busy concentrating on getting your dance on.

To get through a given level, you'll need to tap, spin, or drag numbered circles to the rhythm of the song.

There are two difficulty levels to begin, being able to unlock an additional two.

With gaming classics like "Walkie Talkie Man," 80s flashbacks such as "Material Girl," and Pop tracks like "La La," Elite Beat Agents is filled with hours of gameplay.

As with most multiplayer DS games, I'm kinda disappointed you can't play the game over WiFi Connect.

Also, and this really shouldn't be filed under "con," but it would have been great if there were an option where you could play your unlocked songs while the DS was closed. Sort of a little added "Hey! You get a mix album!" would have rocked and I'd be forever grateful if Nintendo threw that in when they make a sequel (that's right, I've owned the game for less than a day and I'm clamoring for a sequel.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Now this is how you do a rhythm game! November 11, 2006

By Dewgunner

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Over the years I've played my share of rhythm games from Parappa the Rapper on the Playstation to arcade embarrassments like those Para Para games (which, while fun, were just painful to perform in public). So I entered Elite Beat Agents (EBA) with more than a little baggage and a confident swagger that it would not be anything I've never seen before. I was wrong. This game is immensely fun and addictive. I tested it at the bus stop across from the shop where I bought it and did not stop until I got home (almost walked into a couple of trees along the way home). The game starts nice and easy and quickly develops into a challenge without being mind bogglingly difficult.

The song choices are great and even though I had some misgivings about some (like Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er Boi") I was blown away about how RIGHT all of these song choices were. EBA just makes them fit.

The animation is quirky, fun, and laugh out loud entertaining. You cannot help but fall in love with EBA.

If you have not bought this game yet you should seriously consider placing an order for this gem right now. EBA is easily one of the DS's best games, period.