{"id":126661,"date":"2022-07-18T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-134455"},"modified":"2022-07-18T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T18:00:00","slug":"soapbox-correcting-a-horrifying-15-year-mistake-by-finally-playing-elite-beat-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2022\/07\/18\/soapbox-correcting-a-horrifying-15-year-mistake-by-finally-playing-elite-beat-agents\/","title":{"rendered":"Soapbox: Correcting A Horrifying 15-Year Mistake By Finally Playing Elite Beat Agents"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"EBA
Image: Nintendo Life \/ Lowell Bell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they’ve got on their minds.<\/em><\/em> Today, Lowell makes amends for a poor life choice and finally gets down with that funky, funky beat…<\/em><\/p>\n

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Rewind with me all the way back to mid-July 2007. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl<\/strong><\/a> were mere weeks away. New Super Mario Bros.<\/strong><\/a> and Wii Sports<\/strong><\/a> spun endlessly that summer inside my Nintendo Wii, and I couldn\u2019t wait for the seventh and final Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows<\/strong>, to debut. Among all this madness, a little rhythm game about secret agents helping out those in need launched on 13th July in the EU: Elite Beat Agents<\/strong><\/a>. For me, this cult classic got lost in that hectic midsummer shuffle.<\/p>\n

Now \u2013 on (well, around<\/em>) the game\u2019s 15th anniversary in the Europe \u2013 I\u2019ve finally set this egregious error right.<\/p>\n

Elite Beat Agents released as the international equivalent of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!<\/strong><\/a> and the second in a trio of rhythm games developed by iNiS and designed by Keiichi Yano. However, the localisation process resulted in two very distinct games with a strong familial connection, rather than the same gameplay with translated text.<\/p>\n

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I found myself huffing air out my nose in amusement so often my screen fogged up.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Despite living in the Land of the Rhythm Games, it turned out to be quite difficult to get my hands on a copy of Elite Beat Agents as it was never released in Japan. Online, I could find plenty of South Korean copies, but as Nintendo had some archaic region locking practices back in those days, I couldn\u2019t play that version on any of my 3DS family of consoles.<\/p>\n

So, I decided to go cave-diving in Japanese used electronics stores for a copy of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! instead, which also proved fruitless. So fruitless in fact that I managed to find a copy of the sequel, Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii:<\/strong> Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2<\/strong><\/a>, buried in a veritable wall of used DS games for the tremendous price of \u00a5270 (about \u00a31.60).<\/p>\n

But not the original. Dejected, I searched online for Ouendan 1, and as if by providence there it was in the More Items To Explore<\/em> section \u2013 a compatible copy of Elite Beat Agents. And it arrived in pristine condition two days later.<\/p>\n

\"EBA
Image: Nintendo Life \/ Lowell Bell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A dozen hours of Elite Beat Agenting later, and I can\u2019t think of a more pleasantly absurd game. Split into two screens, the top half depicts people in dire and humorous circumstances, calling out for help as if for the Ghostbusters. Whether a story about a painter named Leo trying to convince a woman named Mona to become his muse, or the Captain of a ship searching for treasure after his crew mutinied, the Elite Beat Agents arrive to cheer them on by dancing to covers of early-2000s pop-rock on the DS\u2019s touch screen, though many tracks, such as David Bowie\u2019s Let’s Dance<\/a>, were pulled from decades prior.<\/p>\n

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there\u2019s a disconnect created through adapting the original game for a non-Japanese audience because in Japan, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan somewhat<\/em> makes sense<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I am no stranger to rhythm games \u2013 I managed to clear most Guitar Hero 2 songs on Expert back in the day \u2013 yet still struggled with Elite Beat Agents on the Crusin\u2019 (normal) difficulty. Once I nailed the rhythm of tapping the circles with the stylus in their numbered sequence as the outer circle overlapped, however, I could nab a B ranking and even a few A rankings, being more than happy to go back and play some of my favourites \u2013 particularly Sum 41\u2019s Makes No Difference<\/a> \u2013 over again for a higher score.<\/p>\n

If I hadn\u2019t lived in Japan, I may never have understood why<\/em> the Agents cheer these people on through their problems, instead accepting the absurdity of the three Men In Black<\/strong>-inspired protagonists as they leap from a convertible to dance to Sk8er Boi by Avril Lavigne<\/a>. Indeed, there\u2019s a disconnect created through adapting the original game for a non-Japanese audience because in Japan, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan somewhat<\/em> makes sense.<\/p>\n

The scenarios are reminiscent of a comedic manga. Rhythm games were and still are quite popular in both arcades and on smartphones here. And ouendan \u2013 or cheering squads<\/a> \u2013 make appearances in almost all real-life sporting events. I\u2019ve personally seen several ouendan performances at Japanese high schools during sports festivals, for example, and their less-traditional counterparts during Renofa Yamaguchi FC football matches.<\/p>\n