Elite Beat Agents Board FAQ

Written by FFandMMfan for the GameFAQs board. Formatted and hosted here with permission.

elite-beat-agents-125.jpgHello Agents! This FAQ has been made to answer some of the many common questions and also to provide various information about the game. Veteran Agent or Rookie agent, you’ll find your answers here!

Table of Contents

What is Elite Beat Agents?

Elite beat Agents is a rhythm game for Nintendo DS, though if you are here, you probably already know that. It is the spiritual sequel to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, a Japan only game, that was among the greatest games of 2005. It is considered to be one of the most artistic and inventive rhythm games to date, though it is not without it’s critics.

The best way to understand what EBA really is like is to watch a gameplay movie. Images and text don’t really do the game justice, but for those with dial-up, a review will do fine, I suppose. In short, it is a quirky and over-the-top rhythm game, featuring decades worth of songs and great humor.

How does it differ from Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan?

In Elite Beat Agents, you are secret agents who use the power of song and dance to bail people out of tight situations. In Ouendan, you were a group of male Cheerleaders (and trust me, traditional Japanese cheerleaders (Ouendan) are not like our cheerleaders by any stretch of the imagination) who used bold and fierce energy to give people the strength to overcome their problems.

The concept is very much the same, but executed differently. But those who read this section have probably played Ouendan, so I’ll get right down to business!

There is an entirely new set of songs (19 of them, as opposed to Ouendan’s 15), the characters are all redone, the stages are redone from the ground up, the interface is better, the story is entirely changed… basically, it is an entirely new game, and not just a localization.

The Song List

There are 19 songs in Elite Beat Agents which can be played in any of the 4 difficulty modes. Three of them must be unlocked by raising your ranking (which is a large number made up of the total scores of every stage you’ve played) and the last two songs are part of one stage, one plays directly after the other, but they can be selected independently from then-on.

Here is the list, in order by stage number. I will not list the names of the stages, to avoid spoilers.

Please keep in mind, that all songs are Cover versions, though they are, for the majority, good covers.

  1. Steriogram – Walkie Talkie Man
  2. Sum 41 – Makes no Difference
  3. Avril Lavigne – Sk8er Boi
  4. Queen – I Was Born to Love You
  5. Stray Cats – Rock This Town
  6. Deep Purple – Highway Star
  7. The Village People – Y.M.C.A.
  8. Earth, Wind and Fire – September
  9. Jamiroquai – Canned Heat
  10. Madonna – Material Girl
  11. Ashlee Simpson – La La
  12. Chicago – You’re the Inspiration
  13. David Bowie – Let’s Dance
  14. Good Charlotte – The Anthem
  15. Two parts:
    1. Hoobastank – Without a Fight
    2. The Rolling Stones – Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Bonus Songs:

  1. Cher – Believe
  2. Jackson 5 – ABC
  3. Destiny’s Child – Survivor

Common Questions

Why is (Insert Song) so hard!? I can’t hit anything!
One of the major problems people seem to have is that things don’t sync up properly. That is simply not the case though. Instead of being on the prominent note (say, the vocals) it may be asking you to play to the guitar sound. Keep your ears and eyes open, because it’s not always the vocals you will be playing to. Cruisin’ and Breezin’ mode also have greater space in between the next note, as opposed to playing every beat of the song like in later difficulties.
Is Breezin’ supposed to be this horrifyingly out of sync and easy?
Yes.
Why does the song list suck!?
It doesn’t. Everyone likes different things. I personally enjoy most of the songs, but person B may like only half of them, and person C may love each every one of them. Person D may not like any of them, and should probably play another game. If you hate the song list so much, you don’t need to come here and post about how terrible you think it is.
Will this game ruin my touch screen?
If you keep your screen clean and use a Nintendo brand stylus, no. If you use a knife as a stylus, yes. Half the reason why people get “damaged screens” from EBA/Ouendan is because they let it get dirty and use third party styli. Wipe the screen down before you play, and you should be good to go.
Why isn’t there any Jpop!?
Because this game was released in America. Go play Ouendan or deal with the songs in this one.
Is it wrong that I cried in A Christmas Gift?
No, most of us did. And for good reason, it’s a very sad story.
How do I beat Jumpin’ Jack Flash!?
The Guitar plays a major role in the notes you must hit. That, and practice makes perfect. It’s a very hard song, but you’ll get it eventually.
How do I get an S rank? How are ranks decided?
90% 300s and 10% or less 100s, with a maximum of 1 or 2 50s will gain you an S rank. No misses as well. For every other rank, I don’t know the specifics, but the higher your 300 > 100 amount is, and the lower your misses, the higher your rank.
Are spinners as hard as they were in Ouendan?
No, they are considerably easier.
Hey! I saw some Ouendan characters! …Or did I imagine it?
Nope, there are several cameos of Ouendan characters. A few of them are only viewable in failure scenes though. Keep on the look out for cameos in Makes no Difference and Let’s Dance! And no, as far as we know, none of the Cheer Squad appear in EBA.
Does unlocking the secret character eliminate the leader for the Divas?
No, you can switch them.
How is Hard ROCK! different from Sweatin’?
The notes are flipped upside-down and reversed, the notes are made smaller, and appear right before they must be hit, the life drain is greater, and Spinners are harder. That’s it.
Why is this game so easy!?
My guess is that you’ve been through Ouendan, play a lot of rhythm games, or are playing on Breezin’ or Cruisin’ Modes. Try Sweatin’ and Hard ROCK! Mode before you dismiss it’s difficulty.

Unlockables

Here is the list of what can be unlocked in EBA, and how to do it.

  • Unlock Sweatin’ (Hard) Mode – Complete Cruisin (Normal) Mode.
  • Unlock Hard ROCK! (Very Hard) Mode – Complete Sweatin’ Mode
  • Unlock Commander Kahn – Complete every song in the game on every difficulty. He replaces the leader of Hard ROCK! Mode.
  • Unlock Bonus 1: Believe – Reach the 4th Rank.
  • Unlock Bonus 2: ABC – Reach the 6th Rank
  • Unlock Bonus 3: Survivor – Reach the 9th Rank.

Common Terms and Acronyms

Here’s a list of phrases and sets of words that you’ll see a lot around here:

JJF – Jumpin’ Jack Flash, the last song of the game.
RSG – Ready Steady Go, the last song of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
OTO – Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, though most people just call it Ouendan.
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan – The Japan-only prequel to this game.
Ouendan – See above.
Spinner – Spin Markers. When no one really knew what they were called when playing Ouendan, the name sort of caught on.
Track – What we called Phrase Markers in Ouendan.
ABC – The first three letters of the alphabet. Also the name of a song.
OTD – Over the Distance, a level similar to You’re The Inspiration in EBA.
You Bet Kid! – A phrase said by a character in The Anthem stage, people find it funny.
Lucy – An important character. One of the only characters everyone calls by name.
EBD – Elite Beat Divas, the characters you play as in Hard ROCK! Mode.

1 Comment

Leave a Reply