If rhythm games have taught us one thing over the years, it's that they don't really enhance your sense of rhythm. I mean, honestly, who learned to dance by playing Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series? Who learned to rap with Parappa? Anyone? No, I didn't think so! It's good to see then that Nintendo have decided to do away with the concept of teaching us something and instead incorporating rhythm-based gaming into one of the most entertaining DS games ever made. Bold claims? Perhaps, but justified.

Elite Beat Agents is a follow-up to a Japan-only titled known as Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and incorporates more or less identical gameplay, but with a Western track list for those of us not fluent in happy, jumpy, techno-Jpop. Ouendan became massively popular in its native homeland and has a cult following worldwide, with many satisfied importers thirsting for the quirky slice of gaming joy provided by its intuitive gameplay.

The general premise centres around a small Government task-force known as the Elite Beat Agents, led by the charismatic Commander Kahn. In order of skill (choosing an agent determines your difficulty level), they are Agent Spin, the rookie of the group, Agent J, the seasoned supremo who adorns the game's case and most of the official artwork, and Agent Chieftain, a scary-looking tall guy in a cowboy hat with more dancing talent than a gifted child prodigy ballet dancer with three feet. There are also two companions who accompany you on each mission, although they're just there to make up the numbers and fill up the screen. [You might say they're there to back you up then? Sorry. Ed].

Levels are selected by scrolling around a 3D globe with the stylus, looking for landmarks with a large animated "HELP!" yell springing from its surface. As an Elite Beat Agent, your purpose is helping those in dire need. This interface is convenient and functional, although at times it's difficult to keep track of just where you have and haven't looked for your new mission. Even so, after a few frenzied spins of the globe you'll be on your way to another mission within seconds.

The thoroughly entertaining, funny and occasionally emotionally moving plot is told through a series of comic book style scenes, with scenarios such as helping a washed up baseball player to defeat a giant fire-spitting golem at a fairground and aiding a bankrupt oil tycoon in his quest to regain his riches, as well as his superficial girlfriend. The scenes are very well animated and fit in perfectly with the quirky feel of the game, presenting everything in a simple yet effective manner that is used cleverly to create a striking visual image, despite possibly not being able to pack the power of, for instance, a PSP.

Keeping with the graphics for a moment, during missions the lower screen is occupied by three 3D models of your respective EBA crew performing more and more elaborate dance moves, depending on how well you cope with the mission. You won't get much chance to appreciate these until you watch your replays though, since all of your focus will (or at least should) be on the matter at hand - tapping, dragging and spinning circular prompts in time to the music.

If that all sounds ridiculously simple, in theory it is. Numbered prompts appear on the screen with a decreasing circle surrounding them. You tap the numbers in numerical order in time to the beat, signified by how close to the number the circle is. The proficiency with which you keep up with these prompts determines both your score and the flow of the story on the top screen. Perform well and you're treated to more beautiful comic book cut scenes showing a successful phase in the mission, whereas a bad performance that's not quite at 'game over' level will reflect negatively on the story, although sometimes these are actually more entertaining than succeeding!

As I say, in theory, this sounds easy, and for the first few levels it is. However, the learning curve is a steep one and you'll soon find yourself in a tapping frenzy, trying to clear a small cluster of prompts before moving on to a symbol that requires you to drag the stylus halfway across the screen, then on to a large spinning wheel that you have to physically spin as fast as you can. After a few missions you'll either be completely exhausted or well on your way to becoming an Elite Beat Agent in your own right. Herein lies a small problem for me, which I seem to have with a lot of rhythm games; each mission is judged on a star rating for difficulty and I've found that, as in games such as DDR, tracks with a supposedly lower skill rating are in fact much tougher than those rated two or three stars higher. I can't tell for certain whether this is a personal thing, but I expect it is, so my advice to you would be not to be put off if you fail something supposedly simple, since you'll probably ace the track afterwards.

The tracks you'll be tapping along to are varied to say the least. Covers of songs like Avril Lavigne's Sk8er Boi, Sum41's Makes No Difference and Good Charlotte's The Anthem will have a large proportion of the younger generation tapping away with mainstream joy, whilst more mature players or those with differing tastes will appreciate The Rolling Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash, Earth, Wind and Fire's September and Queen's I Was Born To Love You. This is the point on which the game seems to garner the most criticism, although I'm honestly not put off by the choice of songs, since I find most of them match the scenario (getting a lost dog home to the tune of Deep Purple's Highway Star, for instance) or the fact that all the tracks (aside from the Village People's Y.M.C.A.) are covers. After all, I played and thoroughly enjoyed Donkey Konga and at no point was I thinking, "This game suffers for not having the original artist's rendition of this song." There really is enough variety for everyone to find at least a couple of songs they like, and when you couple that with the intuitive, challenging gameplay it's enough to keep anyone engrossed.

Replay value is massive, as there are three hidden tracks to be unlocked by rising in rank (a simple case of completing stages on tougher difficulties) and, as with most rhythm games, if you like a certain track or stage then you're going to want to revisit it anyway. There's also a competent multi-cart multiplayer mode, featuring competitive and co-operative play, played in the same style as the main game. Competitive is obviously somewhat self-explanatory, requiring you to outperform your opponent, whilst co-operative takes a stage and splits the beats between those taking part, effectively loosening some of the pressure on each player. There's the option to transmit the training level via Download Play too, although this seems somewhat tacked on and won't exactly prove too much fun for your friends.

Elite Beat Agents is a quirky, imaginative title that is exactly the reason why the Nintendo DS is dominating the market currently. The gameplay brings home console rhythm gaming to the palm of your hand seamlessly thanks to inventive and natural usage of the stylus, with a varied track list, an entertaining storyline told through a relevant and clever visual style, and hours upon hours of addictive replay value. EBA is one of those games that shows off exactly what you're meant to do with the Nintendo DS and will easily remain one of the most entertaining games to ever hit the striking little handheld.

Reviewed by Zayne Finch for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).