Elite Beat Agents/Osu! Takae! Ouendan!
System: Nintendo DS
I might as well review both of these games at once considering the fact that they are essentially the same game. These titles are rhythm games where you must tap different spots on the screen in time with the song that's playing.
For those of you unfamiliar with these titles, Ouendan was first released in Japan, where it met with great success. However, when it came time to import the game to the US, the game was considered to be so inherently Japanese that it was completely redone. The games engine was left unchanged, but the storyline and setlist were radically changed.
In Ouendan, the story is about three high school cheerleaders who run around and cheer people on so that they can overcome differing obstacles. All of the songs are popular Japanese songs.
In EBA, the three guys are government agents, although their goals are essentially the same as above. The songs are mostly different rock and roll songs of various eras.
Normally, I do not approve of nationalization. For most things, simply adding subtitles is more than sufficient. However, in this case, I think that Nintendo did the right thing. Rather than trying to just translate the experience, EBA is really more of a sequel than anything.
In the process, a few slight improvements were made. In both versions, you can skip cutscenes. However, at the beginning of songs, there is usually a short time were the music is playing but the notes haven't actually started. In EBA only, you can skip straight to the notes. Generally speaking, this is not a problem. However, if you're trying a song over and over, waiting through that extra part can start to get annoying, for me at least.
Overall, I think I like EBA a little better, primarily because I'm familiar with the songs.
The difficulty associated with the songs shows a sharp spike as you progress through the setlist. At the top of the screen is a health bar that is steadily shrinking. Missing a note detracts from the health, hitting it barely in time (50 pts) adds a small amount, almost dead on (100 pts) gives a larger amount, and dead on (300 pts) gives the most. For most songs, getting nothing but 50 pt hits will let you finish the song successfully. By the final song however, getting a solid string of 100 pt hits will just barely keep you in the game. Getting 50s just prolongs the inevitable.
As in a number of other games, beating on one difficulty unlocks the same setlist for the next difficulty.
Overall: If you enjoy rhythm games and have a DS, I would definitely recomend picking up Elite Beat Agents. It's well worht the money. Once you've tried it out, you can decide for yourself whether or not it would be worth importing the oriinal Japanese Ouendan.