Agents Are...Go!!!

A Game Review

Console:
Nintendo DS

Title:
Elite Beat Agents

Developer:
Nintendo/Inis


I like musical games where you have to do something (press a button, move your hands, etc) in accordance to the rythm of the music that is playing along. I admit that I'm not too good at playing the DDR series, since I'm not so nimble with my feet and it's kinda hard to practice since you have to go to the arcades first for that, or buy a DDR mat (something that I prefer not doing since there are only some games that use that mat and I'm not too crazy about DDR). But other games such as Amplitude, Guitar Hero (where I don't have to go to the arcade to play them and where I can just use the standard controler), these are rythm-music games that I really enjoy playing. They test your reflexes and your sense of music and rythm.

I was excited when I heard that a rythm game was released for the Nintendo DS, especially since I own the console. Knowing that it is released for the Nintendo DS, it's pretty obvious that it uses the DS touch screen to full effect. The game, 'Elite Beat Agents', is a game that does not exactly revolutionize the genre, but is a fun and challenging game nonetheless. It uses the touch screen creatively (practically making the gameplay one of the best in the DS), it has a bizarre yet entertaining artwork and storyline, and (this is one of the most important thing about rythm games) it has great music.

The story is about three agents sent to various parts of the world to solve many people's problems. And how do they do that, you asked? They help these people by...errrr...dancing. Yes, I've said that the game has a bizarre story, but strangely enough, it worked successfully in delivering an entertaining and fun experience. The people the agents help in this game varies greatly, from a babysitter to Steven Spielberg look-alike. You want to win the heart of that hunk-of-a-football player while trying to babysit three children? Call the agents. You want to make a mega blockbuster movie so that your producer is happy? Call the agents. And dance, baby, dance! The artwork, influenced heavily by Japanese manga style, also helps in portraying the bizarre story. If you appreciate manga, and also if you appreciate creative story-telling, you'll find yourself smiling and chuckling whenever you play this game due to the hillarious stories and artwork the developer of this game has come up with.

And how do you play this game? The game started with a few stages, and as you progress in the game more stages will be opened for you. You play by listening to the music and touching circles on the touch screen with the stylus at the right time. For each circle there will be an outer circle that gets smaller and smaller and you will have to touch the inner circle right at the time the outer circle coincides with the inner circle. There will also be numbers on these inner circles that denote the order in which you have to touch the circles. There will also be times when you have to touch and trace your stylus following the circle that moves along a trail. Hint: listening to the beat of the music helps. This is a rythm game, after all. And please, play this game with earphones since the DS internal speaker is not loud enough and you really need to listen to the music to be able to enjoy this game fully.

And the music is just awesome. The selection is very good, ranging from oldies to newer songs. These songs are not sung by the original singers (one word: copyright) and some have slightly different arrangements, but they are almost as good as the originals, if not better. The most important thing is, they fit the stories and they get the job done. I don't want to spoil the fun by listing the songs here. You (Nintendo DS owners) should be able to find it out by yourself, because frankly this game is worth owning in my opinion.

A very fun and exciting game that will keep you playing for hours, and if you finish the normal difficulty (there are 2 default difficulty settings) you will be rewarded with a hard difficulty. And when you do get through the hard setting, there will be an ultra-hard setting waiting for you to conquer. So, what are you waiting? Dance away...! (Or should I say, "Touch Away!"?)

Objection!

Game Review



Console:
Nintendo DS

Title:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Developer:
Capcom

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a defense attorney? Well, this game does not give you THAT exact feeling, but what it gives you is an entertaining adventuring time. Yes, even if the premise of this game is to put you in the shoes of Phoenix Wright, a 'rookie' defense lawyer, but in heart it is actually an adventure game.

The game is mainly broken up into 2 parts: trials and investigations. During the trials, you mainly hear the witness testimonials and find inconsistencies in them. You could press them during their testimonials, or present evidences whenever you find contradictory statements during the testimonials. The basic assumption, of course, is that your client is innocent. The other part, the investigations part, is where you investigate around, finding clues and evidences to help you during the course of the trials and also advancing the story line. Don't worry about not finding enough evidence: the game will not let you advance through the story if these evidences have not been found during the adventure part.

The story is quite linear. It is mostly told through texts. The animations of the characters are minimal, but they are more than enough to tell the story. Some of the most interesting and amusing animations are whenever you succeeded in cornering the witnesses and unearthing the inconsistencies in their testimonies. The main character himself is quite likable. You could almost sympathize with him whenever he has to face obnoxious witnesses.

The game utilizes the DS' touch screen and microphone quite well. During the trials, you could actually scream into the microphone whenever you want to press the witnesses, or to give objection and presenting evidences (Hold it! Objection! Take that!). You could also do that with the touch screen, if you don't feel like screaming into the mic. As for the touch screen, mostly it is used to sift through the texts, but some of the brilliant functions can be found during the final chapter of the game. It is too bad that these creative uses of the touch screen is not utilized from the early chapters of the game.

All in all, this game offers a unique adventure game experience with the premise of the story, and for those longing for a good adventure game (and happen to have a Nintendo DS) should never pass this game up.