There are some strange rare design choices that cause minor moments of frustration, like one song constantly switching on and off between off-beat hits and another song that can overwhelm you with a flurry of notes right after an in-song cutscene, but in general, this game absolutely rules. It does a great job translating the song's lyrics and major beats into a firmly telegraphed form with the overlapping circles + lines that have to be traced as held notes, and they're all placed carefully in order to keep the chart and the player in-tune with the beat, perfect for the compact DS touchscreen. Admittingly it's not ideal relying on sheer score accrual over individual stage rankings to unlock the bonus stages, but it at least provides another incentive to master more difficult stages and the hardest settings when the thresholds are set that high. Either way, the game's charm is absolutely infectious and it never gets old watching three guys in suits and sunglasses dance away everyone's problems, no matter how minor they may be. Without a doubt, I can see myself coming back to push through the highest difficulty after clearing this on normal, so it's an easy recommendation despite some low points. I saw this advertised all over the place as a kid and can't believe it took me this long to finally try it out: hands down one of the best titles on the DS, and it's a real shame we don't see anything from iNiS anymore.

One of my favorite genres of story is "eccentric protagonist/group of characters go around to different people in need of help in order to give them the strength to overcome their problems themselves in unconventional ways, rather than just doing it for them". This is the framework that Elite Beat Agents uses to deliver some Japanese rhythm game goodness to us all, and I find it to be a genius formula. Sure, there's a lot of obvious goofiness to every episode, but in the end they're all stories of humans (or dogs or white blood cells) trying their best to overcome incredible odds, just needing a little bit of motivation and cheer. I'll admit while the "You're The Inspiration" episode didn't get me that bad, mostly because I felt like it was trying a little too hard to be emotional (not just a dead dad, but a dead dad ON CHRISTMAS), but every time I think about the mom in the "September" episode I do actually start tearing up every time. I just love seeing that kind of strength come out in people, even if it's a person in my funny DS rhythm game. It kind of happens upon a similar "world in harmony" theme that Rhythm Heaven also happens upon. Rhythm Heaven is about finding beauty and rhythm in everyday things, and how they all come together to make a wonderful song that the world sings together. Elite Beat Agents is about harnessing that rhythm to do the impossible and become the best person we can be. It's the perfect framework and presentation for a game like this, I can't praise it enough.

As for the actual rhythm game, it's mostly solid. I agree with JaxMagnetic's review that it isn't all that graceful on a DS touchscreen, in fact I'm willing to bet emulating this makes certain parts a lot easier. There were a couple too many instances of "well you didn't tap hard enough so your input was just completely ignored" or "you didn't have the stylus exactly in the middle of the ball line so you lose points", and that combined with how easy it is to wipe out in this game did lead to some levels being real headaches. Ultimately I had to learn that beating this game requires a mix of both getting into the flow of rhythm and paying attention to exactly when you need to tap certain buttons, because going with only one of these usually leads to failure. I also am not completely sure how to feel about the way song charts just sort of switch between which part of the song to follow, I get that throwing you off is the point but some of the tricks the charts can pull feel down right evil. But no matter how many criticisms I have with this game, I can't help but be in love with it. I didn't even mention how much I love the "America done by Japan" style of this game, people walking around with names like Lucy Stevens and Don Tanner, satirizing American stereotypes in a way feels like it's laughing with rather than laughing at, not that there's anything wrong with laughing at. It's got an unbreakable spirit and a beautifully 2000's soundtrack, you simply can't beat the Elite Beat Agents.

Also I think I need to get a new model of 3DS, the original model kind of sucks ass. Dumb ass retractable stylus, can't stand that thing.

En síntesis, Osu para gente normal.

Pero llendo más allá, se re-nota sabiendo la historia de su desarrollo que se le puso una cantidad de cariño y carisma a este título muy poco usual en el medio actual, se abrazo al máximo el concepto loco e innovador e hicieron prácticamente un saturday morning cartoon ochentero en un videojuego rítmico que desborda un carisma enorme.
Es lo suficientemente absurdo con su sentido del humor que fusiona un sentido de la exageración fantasiosa nipona con el poder "radical" tan occidental, siendo genuinamente atrapante cuando ocurren momentos épicos como el tramo final del juego u serios como la historia que acompaña el tema de "You're the inspiration."

Su sistema jugable, al igual que el resto del paquete, se siente como adictivo, bien pensado, responsivo y a la final muy propio de sus historias, conectando a través de las pistas musicales al jugador y sus historias, exigiéndole dominar el sistema para recompensarlo con los mejores desenlaces.

En resumen, una entrada sólida, apasionada, memorable como poco y que merece mayor reconocimiento general.

Secret agents of the rhythm

A surprisingly eccentric rhythm game, Elite Beat Agents represents the some of the best in absurdity and rhythm and one of the best use of the exclusive dual screens of the Nintendo DS. It almost feels jarring this is the second of three games based on the Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan series which the rest of the titles never came here and this title alone was more obviously western influenced to show for it. Trading japanese cheer squads for slick black suits, the game still manages to bring a unique flavor with its catchy soundtrack and simple yet addicting gameplay.

The gameplay is obviously the best part but the small stories that each mission brings brings a lot of ridiculousness and serve as short but smart breaks throughout the gameplay so you don't get carpal tunnel by the fast paced gameplay. Didn't expect that one mission to manage to bring a completely different mood into the mix and do so successfully. Three type of commands: tapping, tapping and dragging and spinning feels simple in concept but the speed and accuracy of doing it is the real challenge. A lot of difficulties and the soundtrack for this game is honestly almost perfect. Didn't expect Avril Lavigne, Jackson 5 and The Village People and even if they're covers, the DS speakers do a weird enough job that I almost didn't even notice. Really hard to hate this soundtrack even if you got a specific taste considering I feel like there's at least one song you'll really like here.

A hallmark of the DS and worth playing one of the few exclusives that utilizes the touch screen extremely well. The game legit gave me carpal tunnel after finishing it but it's still an extremely solid rhythm title. If you got a DS, play this. That's it. Seriously go play it and tap to sk8er boi like I did.

Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me
I think they're OK
If they don't give me proper credit, I just walk away
They can beg and they can plead
But they can't see the light (that's right, that's right)
'Cause the boy with the cold hard cash is always Mister Right

'Cause we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

Some boys romance, some boys slow dance
That's all right with me
If they can't raise my interest, then I have to let them be
Some boys try, and some boys lie
But I don't let them play (no way, no way)
Only boys that save their pennies make my rainy day

'Cause we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

Living in a material world (material)
Living in a material world
Living in a material world (material)
Living in a material world

Boys may come, and boys may go
And that's all right, you see
Experience has made me rich, and now they're after me

'Cause everybody's living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

A material, a material, a material, a material world

Living in a material world (material)
Living in a material world
Living in a material world (material)
Living in a material world

Living in a material world (material)
Living in a material world
Living in a material world (material)
Living in a material world

There are ways in which this is slightly flawed as a rhythm game or whatever, but it is just not acceptable to complain about stuff like that in this case. Sorry. Magical, joyful game. It gets every pass possible. Soundtrack that on paper seems ridiculous but somehow works PERFECTLY. An avalanche of goofy PG-rated anime gags that might seem cloying or tired after a while, but no, charming as fuck, no matter how long you play. Honestly, I just wish there was more of it - there are nineteen songs and I think that if there was even one more I might have given this a perfect.

You ever go back and watch, like, Shrek or some shit and then you're like "wait a second, since when was 'Bad Reputation' in this? And how does it work so well?" That's every single stage in Elite Beat Agents. A dozen and a half action-packed vignettes concerning characters trying to do anything from babysitting to drilling for oil to surviving on a remote island, accompanied by a licensed music track that, more often than not, feels lyrically contradictory to what's actually going on in the story. And as you're walkin'-and-a-talkin'-and-a-movin'-and-a-groovin'-and-a-hippin'-and-a-hoppin'-and-a-pickin'-and-a-poppin', you might ask yourself... How? How is it that these specific soundwaves, produced by these low-quality DS speakers, originally devised by pop stars who were already outdated by the time this game released, are able to compel my stylus to fly across the bottom screen so quickly? And with such precision? Because, even if you ignore how genuinely witty this game is, parodying at once both American movie montages and the concept of rhythm gaming itself, it's so utterly mechanically satisfying at a base level. There are few, if any, video games that bring me more joy than what I feel whenever I manage to drag myself out of the red with a perfect string of beats as the EBAs pick their heads up and start chanting in tandem to my actions during the most frantic section of "Sk8er Boy" or "Material Girl." And, yeah, the two scoring systems are at odds with each other, on higher difficulties you can die just because there's too large of a gap in between notes, and spin beats don't serve much of a purpose. But, having just now finally completed the game with the Divas after leaving them sitting on "Without a Fight" for the last who-knows-how-many years, I think I can safely admit to myself that I simply do not care. Most of the time, whenever I'm playing a different rhythm game, I just think about how I could be playing Elite Beat Agents instead. And whenever I think about Elite Beat Agents, I usually think about how they managed to cram three minutes of blatant sexual innuendo into a Nintendo game, and how it happens to air while you're playing as an anthropomorphic representation of a teenager's bloodstream. Or I think about how it presents the most painfully melodramatic Christmas story of all time, focused on an anonymous family that you have absolutely no connection to... and how it still works on an emotional level just because Chicago happens to be playing in the background. But, mostly, I just think about how, whenever I hear any of these songs in isolation, I can still visualize the pattern of in-game beats that appear during each section of the track. Music lives.

Every now and then a game will come around that completely changes the way you think about a system or genre. Elite Beat Agents is that game for the DS.

For the most part, the DS touchscreen was used for either a unique (but often worse) control scheme (such as using it for movement in Super Mario 64 DS rather than a traditional pad or joystick), cheap gimmicks, or was regulated to being the "menu" screen (or map in some cases). Rarely did it feel like the game "wouldn't be able to exist" without the touchscreen. Elite Beat Agents is not one of those games.

The gameplay involves touching rings in time with the beat of a song, with some twists here and there to keep it from feeling like they just replaced the classic DDR mat with tapping a screen. It is a game that only exists because the DS had a touchscreen, and honestly it alone justifies the system for having it. It's not the only game that utilized the touchscreen in a new and innovative way, but it is one that always sticks out in my mind when I think of "games that defined a console". When it comes to DS, Elite Beat Agents (and its predecessors in Japan) perfectly showcase what the DS is all about.

Full of Nintendo charm, gameplay that will keep you coming back for more and designed to take full advantage of the system's unique capabilities, Elite Beat Agents is a must play for any DS owner.

If you don't mind listening to some Japanese songs, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and its sequel are also 100% worth trying out. You don't need to understand the lyrics to have a great time with these amazing rhythm games.

It's hilarious humour, decent variation of songs and great re-playability thanks to the 4 difficulties makes this game one if not the best rhythm game ever made. Some stages has not that well made timings but instead could be better on other difficulties/stages. A few stages has really great timings which when it clicks can be super satisfying.

The Christmas stage with the Chicago's "You're the Inspiration" is one of the most memorable things in Video Games History!

- The Bad:
The sound quality and graphics quality is too bad when enjoying in 2022 that it's hard to decipher certain beats and the fonts for the numbers which you need to touch in the right order.

I recommend to play this with a protective shield on your screen and on a normal sized New Nintendo 3DS and with a adult sized DS-pen. I find the DS Light/DSi screens too small to play on for an adult.

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It's a real shame that iNiS (now LIONA) and Nintendo hasn't been able to release any remaster for Mobile or Switch. I don't know who owns the rights but it's probably Nintendo. All the songs are covers and shouldn't be impossible to re-license again. Since the game was published by Nintendo and in one stage has some art mentioning "Nintendo" - the game may be stuck in contract problems with Nintendo. And it could be that LIONA and Nintendo has lost the source.
At least I wish LIONA and Nintendo tried to make an effort making a remaster with or without the help from remaster masters M2.
I mean, this game has the possibility of selling sooo much if it got a mobile and Switch release that they really should do it.

Next I want to play the Ouendan games and Gitaroo Man - all designed by Keiichi Yano.