Elite Beat Agents

Best For: Ages 10 and Up
ESRB Rating: E-10+
Genre: Rhythm / Music
Available For: Nintendo Dual Screen (DS)
Producer: Nintendo
# of Players: 1
Fun Factor: 5 out of 5

Got rhythm? Well, you're going to need it if you pick up "Elite Beat Agents," a wacky and cool addition to both the "rhythm" genre and the Nintendo Dual-Screen's (DS) unique and diverse library. The Agents are a trio of well-dressed, sunglasses-wearing men in black who work for a hyperactive and hyperbolic General. The General sends them on missions to solve people's problems by ... dancing. Yes, dancing. Throughout the town are people with problems and frustrations -- these stories are displayed comic-book style in the upper screen. Clearly the real problem each of them has is their attitude. The Agents, presuming they dance well (meaning, you don't make mistakes), make the characters pro-active about their problems, letting them reach a happy ending. If only life allowed for such simplistic solutions.

So, how do you dance in a handheld videogame? Elite Beat Agents handles this cleverly with a musical variation on "Whack-a-mole." Numbers appear on the screen with a circle around them. When the circle shrinks, you have to tap the number with the stylus (other challenges include spinning, rolling a ball, and more). To get the idea, imagine a fast-paced song (sung by the real artist) with you frantically tapping on the screen as the numbers appear -- and doing it to the beat. The action meshes well with the music and the music, for the most part is great. Here's a sample: "YMCA", "Material Girl," "La-La," "Walkie Talkie Man," and more.

All tunes are upbeat and all the stories are adorable. You help a movie get made, a babysitter handle her charges, and an artist named Leonardo get his model to date him, and smile. The stories are presented comic-book style and are often disarmingly funny. Multiplayer is wireless but requires more Dual Screen handhelds. The whole game is available with multiple cartridges, but up to four can play using a single cartridge (and four DS's).

Parents take note: The game is rated for 10-year-olds because of the music, but there's nothing racy here -- except perhaps the song "YMCA" and its generally well-known connotations. The descriptors also claim there's violence, but it's extremely cartoonish and silly, and all of it is in the static comic-book panels. Fun, funny, comical, and extremely challenging, it's rare to find a game with this many surprises, laughs, and polish.

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