Elite Beat Agents review

This is a brand new rhythm game for the DS called Elite Beat Agents. This game was originally Japanese but has finally come to the UK with a rock, dance and disco soundtrack and a very sill cartoon-strip storyline that can’t help but raise a smile as you tap your feet along to the beat.

You play the Elite Beat Agents, three secret men in black with funky hair, helping people around the world through the power of dance. What that means to you the gamer is tapping the touch screen in time to the beat as circles appear on the screen, and also dragging the stylus across the screen in time to a ball. This doesn’t sound like much fun but when you take into account the tapping is all well timed to the music and thanks to the game’s design, you’re not just pressing the same buttons but moving the stylus in different ways all the time, this makes for a highly infectious game that really gets you into the groove.

To begin with I wasn’t too chuffed with the teen rock soundtrack but as I played through the game I got to groove along to some Bowie, The Village People, Jamiroquai, Madonna and even Cher. A warning to you now, if you don’t like silly camp disco and gaudy colours, don’t bother this game isn’t for you.

For everyone else, you’ll enjoy the stupid stories told with captions on the top screen as you tap out the beat on the touch screen. To begin with you have to help an American Footballer babysit his girl’s sister which is pretty standard stuff, but it’s not long before you’re helping two bimbos seduce animals on an island to get food and a tan, going on a quest to find some treasure with a pirate and even shrinking into an athlete’s body to help fight off some germs Incredible Journey stylee.

This game’s a lot longer than PaRappa the rapper and the learning curve’s just right. After you’ve finished the single player game you can even play along with a friend with or without another game card and even save replays to watch later. My only gripe is you sometimes miss the great animations on the top screen as you concentrate so hard on keeping the beat.

If you’re looking for the best rhythm game on the DS, look no more. Elite Beat Agents is it. 9 out of 10.