Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 70
 Not for lovers of rhythm. December 18, 2006
Leo Kurt (Indianapolis, IN)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I wanted to like this game so badly, and I did...at first. Then, as I was less and less able to make it through the songs without major frustration, reality started to sink in.
A good rhythm/music game should have a few things. Rhythm, (mostly) great songs, and a somewhat forgiving way of rating your performance in the game. Unfortunately, EBA falls short in all of these categories. First, the choices for beats within the songs are not always particularly intuitive, and are sometimes just mad, arhythmic dashes. Other times, I felt like the game was just not reading my taps. It doesn't help much that the beat sounds are loud and awkward. Next, the song choice is extremely spotty. I understand that Nintendo needs to cater to a wide range of people, but that can be done without sacrificing quality. And, do we really need a song from Good Charlotte AND Sum 41? They're practically the same band. Furthermore, they aren't classic bands or even particularly popular these days. What gives? "Sk8r boi" is even more painful. Thankfully there are a couple of gems, especially the Bowie song. Finally, the difficulty is unforgiving. Basically your timer is always counting down and you have to hit the marks to keep it up. This seems like it'd be okay, but on much harder difficulties the meter almost runs out faster than you can get to the next beat. What this means is there is basically no room for error and that's not really fun at all. I could have a huge score and be 3/4ths of the way through a song with basically no errors, miss a couple of beats near each other, and lose before knowing what happened. The aforementioned spastic beats further confound this problem.
That being said, the design is great and many of the stories hilarious. The off-kilter humor is pretty refreshing for a video game, but then rhythm games like Parappa and Gitaroo man were far more eccentric and entertaining. All and all this is a good idea gone a little sour and stale. Guitar Hero has really raised the bar for rhythm games in all of the points I just mentioned and then some. They popularity of that series shows that Harmonix really nailed the rhythm genre and all future developers need to take a cue from that game.
 Just plain fun November 9, 2006
Marrw
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I own the game that Elite Beat Agents is based off of (Osu! Tatake! Ouendan), so I was very excited for this game to be released here. Elite Beat Agents keeps the same addictive gameplay as the Japanese counterpart, but changes out the songs (while adding 4 more for a total of 19), telling new hilarious stories, and making general enhancements (such as reviewing your recent failed attempt, saving replays, skipping long musical intros).
One can only complain about the tracks themselves. A few of the songs don't seem to fit in with the game (slower tunes). Other songs you know so well that the cover just doesn't sound quite right.
But overall, here's a game that once you start playing, the time just flies by. Harder levels are frustrating, but by practicing, they're never impossible (and the feeling of accomplishment is great). I'm hoping that iNis makes this game a series. I also can't wait to see what they can do on the Wii.
 Fun Time December 19, 2006
Debbie O (New Jersey & Pennsylvania)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
After stealing the game from my boyfriend whenever he would let me have it for a couple hours, he got it for me for Christmas. When he first got it for himself, I thought it was boring and I was going to hate it. But now I can't stop playing. It's nice because the songs aren't long so you don't have to commit too much time to playing each time you turn it on. I find it really challenging, as I have no rhythm. I've been telling people it's like DDR, except you're tapping on a screen rather than tapping your feet on the floor. To me, it's definitely worth picking up. The only negative...too much stuff that can be skipped. Luckily, they have a skip option!
DDR For the Hands December 28, 2006
Q. X. Agerate
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I had no intentions of picking up this game until I was in Target and playing it on their display DS. Immediately I found myself liking the game, even though I didn't really understand how to play. Once I found out the extremely simple to learn controls, I played the first level.
One of the things that attracted me to the game was the art and animation. On the lower screen, you have three agents in 3-D, and on the top screen are characters in the same style as the Wario-Wares characters. You have to play songs and hit the notes in time to the music in order to make the people happy. Every once in a while, you'll get a break and watch a scene where good things (or bad things, depending on how you did) happen to your characters.
The game itself is quite difficult, much like playing DDR, except you use your hands. If it gets too easy, too, there are other difficulty modes, and I've got a feeling there's a lot more to unlock.
The only thing I wasn't so impressed with about this game was the music selection. I would have preferred them to pick songs like those in DDR instead of having pop hits like "Sk8er Boi." I know I probably won't ever play the level with "Sk8er Boi" again just because I simply hate that song.
So if you love crazy games that keep your toes moving in time to the beat, definitely pick this one up.
 Potential, lost due to poor soundtrack December 28, 2006
Kordesh
3 out of 22 found this review helpful
I had played Ouendan, the japanese game this game was modeled after, and while they play basically the same, the original was much better. This is primarily due to the fact that the soundtrack for Elite Beat Agents was terrible. The songs in Ouendan were popular Jpop, and had fairly catchy tunes. Elite Beat Agents uses either unheard of or ancient songs such as YMCA. Basically, it seems like they just looked for the cheapest music licenses they could find. It could have been an awesome "sequel" for those of us who played ouendan, but instead it ended up being a major disappointment.
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