PixlBit

Number 10

Remember when I said Pikmin and WarioWare were one of Nintendo’s strangest games? Well what I have here might just beat those 2 games. Back in 2010 I went to my local Japanese import store, JapanVideoGames. I went to take a look at all the wonders that you can get in the land of the rising sun. They have tons of video game and anime goods ranging from toys, plushes, model kits, dvds, consoles, and games. I don’t really go there anymore for 3 reasons, 1. Everything is bloody expensive, 2. It’s pretty far, and 3. see reasons 1 and 2.

However that time I did go in 2010, one game did caught my eye. It wasn’t an import title but one game I heard about but always wanted to try. What game was it? That game was Elite Beat Agents.    

                  
I originally heard about this game in a preview booklet from Nintendo that Gamestop was giving out for free. It is coincidently the same booklet that I learned about Super Mario Galaxy. I think I still have it put away somewhere. I read the description of the game and it said something about using song and dance to solve your problems or something. I always wanted to try it, but I could never find it in stores. I happened upon this copy at the import store and decided to get it. Well it was either this or a new copy of 1080 Avalanche on the Gamecube. It was the last copy of both but decided on EBA, since at the time I was recovering at home and since I had to stay in bed, having a new portable game made sense. This game also served an important purpose in my life too, that I will talk about later in this post.

                                            
When I booted up the game on my DSi, I had no idea what to expect, but it’s one of the games I always wanted to try on the DS. I had it now so the only option was to play it. My honest first impressions of this game was that it was weird, but I was honestly surprised at how addictive the gameplay is. Here’s how this game works, basically a person or people are in a tight situation, they can’t find a way out from their predicament and they scream for help, and the Elite Beat Agents show up.

But you’re probably asking “who are the Elite Beat Agents?” They are basically a group of agents who show up when people need help. They don’t offer any physical aid in any way whatsoever, and you’re probably wondering what is it in the word that they do if they decided to answer the call for help? Well they help you through song and dance and through this method is how people overcome their problems. 
As you can see, it’s as weird as it sounds. As for the gameplay in this game, it’s that good for a game like this. What you do is, the bottom screen is where the gameplay happens and what happens there is what determines the outcome of the person you are helping. What you do is tap on the screen, it will show you on-screen prompts and you have to tap on them to the beat and rhythm of the song. You tap on the on-screen prompts successfully to chain up combos and the higher the combo, the higher the points you get. The top screen fleshes out the story of the particular person or people you are helping. During the touch screen gameplay, you see how that person or people are doing with their problem. If you do well on the touchscreen, the character on the top does well in trying to solve their problem. However, if you mess up a lot, the same thing happens at the top and the character fumbles with their problem.

The gameplay breaks into segments, what happens here is that the gameplay in the bottom stops for a bit and at the top screen you can see how our troubled friends are doing. If you did well in the touchscreen portions before these segments, the troubled characters start making progress on solving their problem. Mess up and they fumble like I said before. There’s also 3 possible ending for the stories of the people you help  and again, the ending is determined by how well you did.

The music the agents jam to while helping others is licensed music and probably the only game with a licensed soundtrack you’ll see here. The music they used s sort of a mixed thing. It’s not the worst soundtrack ever, but the music selection could have been better. I guess these were the songs Nintendo could get licensed to. I’ll admit of being guilty of sorta liking some of the songs.

                                     
The game also has a difficulty setting and not is the game harder, but one of the agents change too. It also has 3 hidden scenarios you could unlock as you rank up. You rank depends on the total number of points with each stage combined. The game even has a multiplayer mode for 2-4 players. My brother and I have dabbled in it with the single card mode and it’s pretty fun.

This game also served an important purpose too. You see, when I was hospitalized in 2009, I lost a lot of strength. I could barely walk and I would tire easily. I also lost strength in my hands and fingers that even holding something as simple as a spoon or pencil became a chore. Sometimes when I had to get tests done, I had to sign a form. It would take me 2 minutes to sign it. You know signing something usually takes 2-5 seconds. As a result of losing a lot of strength, I had to learn to do a few things all over again during my recovery phase. I was recovering and my hands were a little stronger, but not to the point of being normal. It wasn’t till I got this game that allowed to actually get my strength back in my hands and fingers thanks to the fast movements of the gameplay. It allowed me to grip things better and use my fingers how they were intended to be. The Elite Beat Agents literally helped in a way and for that I’m thankful.

The premise of the game is weird, but it’s the good kind of weird . It’s really fun and addictive, the song list leaves a lot to be desired, but I can asure you, if Kirby’s Canvas Curse didn’t exist or convince you about the second screen on the DS, this game would of sold you on the DS.       

So that's it for this one. Have you ever played Elite Beat Agents? Thanks for reading and later.

By the way, the imgae I used for the art might of been incomplete because I actually maxed out the software I used, too k me 5 hours to complete but unfortunatly the software said it might not have saved all the coloring. So appologies for that.