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Elite Beat Agents might not have flown off store shelves when it first released, but it did manage to gain cult status among gamers appreciative of its weird and original take on the rhythm game genre. Players guided the titular agents who went around encouraging people through trials and tribulations with the power of dance and music, which translated to using the DS touchscreen to tap, swipe, trace, and spin to the music. The bizarre, exaggerated, and even at times touching nature of the challenges at hand just made the experience all the more endearing. But, of course, the series has never seen another entry– though Japan did get Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! and its sequel, which delivered the same gameplay set to different music and scenarios.
While there remains no new title in sight, the series creator Keiichi Yano isn’t to blame, because he’s as up to a sequel as the franchise’s fans.
“I’d certainly love to make another version of it, and hopefully it’s on the next platform,” Yano stated in an interview with Polygon. “I think, as with many of these types of games that have this following and at some point they come back, I think there will be a right time when it feels like [the series] should come back. A lot of times, the platform will dictate those kind of things.”
This seems to suggest the developer might be waiting to see how the series would benefit from new hardware, like Nintendo’s NX or whatever the 3DS successor might be, but he did say it is ultimately Nintendo’s call, though he added he has, “a great relationship with Nintendo.” Unfortunately we’ll have to look at this as hopes and dreams for the time being, but Nintendo has revived long dormant and cult franchises before, so you never really know what the company might have up its sleeve.
Source: Polygon
