4) Elite Beat Agents
Yes, you read that title right. Elite Beat Agents, that goofy DS rhythm game where people in trouble summon dancing men in black to cheer them on, has a tearjerker level. What’s more surprising than that fact is that it really works by the time you reach its conclusion.
As with every song in the game, you get a standalone story setting up the conflict. But instead of other levels, like the babysitter dealing with bratty kids or a truck driver fighting zombies, we get a not-so-goofy prologue detailing the story of a girl whose father dies during a business trip right before Christmas.
Though the mother begs the daughter to move on, she remains unable to accept what happened, due to her father’s promise to return for Christmas. Cue the agent’s boss observing her plight, and in a nice touch, we don’t get a flashy scene of him summoning the dancing trio like in other levels, choosing to sit silently instead.
[zergpaid]The song choice for this level is Chicago’s 80s classic, “You’re the Inspiration,” and it will probably be hard for anyone who plays this to not associate the song with this scenario afterwards. The accompanying sound effects for successfully tapping each note during gameplay suitably change from the usual loud and flashy noises to more subdued chimes and tones, and the dance moves of the agents themselves are noticeably more subdued.
The level ends on a bittersweet but heartwarming note, as the father’s ghost temporarily comes home to keep his promise of bringing one last gift to his daughter in time for Christmas. The game doesn’t seem to forget the emotional connection many gamers may have with the daughter by that point, too, because in the final level of the game, when the agents are seemingly killed by invading aliens, she ends up being the first one to motivate people to cheer for them to come back.
It’s nice touches like this that helped Elite Beat Agents become the sleeper hit it’s known as today, and this level is one of the best examples in gaming of getting a lot of emotion out of a short period of time.
– John Fleury
