I was really excited when I finally got together with a friend who had a DS. I’d heard about the wireless capabilities and how you could play games together, but I never was able to experience it until recently. I have to admit it was even more fun than I expected.

I was most eagerly anticipating the chance to test out the Elite Beat Agents multiplayer mode. I had tried playing in versus ghost mode, where you play against your saved replay of the same level. It was frustrating when you did worse than the replay, because your buttons would shrink and you screen would shake to make it more difficult. This concept seemed odd to me; the game didn’t seem to follow a “beat you when you’re down” philosophy in the story mode. While this feature was the same in the two-player versus mode, it was not nearly as fun as when I was playing with someone else.

Most of my gaming is an independent experience, so I’m sure that the rare opportunity to play a traditionally single-player game with someone else made me like it from the start. I had forgotten what it was like to be able to share my triumphs and defeats with someone. When you scream, “Oh crap! I missed one!” someone actually reacts to you. It’s no longer just about you; it’s a friendly competition where you have to pay attention to the other person.

While it was somewhat amusing to hear “Oh no! I keep missing a bunch in a row because my buttons keep getting small,” I do like my friend and felt bad that he had spent less time with the game. This meant that, while some competitions were close, he had more small button occurrences than I did. Instead of allowing us to have a fun, close match, it would keep him behind if he slipped back a bit. The same happened to me on a couple occasions and I remember feeling like a sore loser because the game seemed to hold me behind.

After both of us grew somewhat frustrated by this situation, we switched to co-op mode. The two players mostly take turns on the level, with a couple instances where you play simultaneously. It was so much more fun. We could laugh about our bright moments and not so bright moments at the end when the score screen showed each of our health graphs. I really enjoy co-op games in general because it brings both people together. You cheer for each other and focus on what they do right, rather than hoping they’ll do something wrong.

I was really satisfied with the Elite Beat Agents multiplayer mode. While it is not something that I could play for hours, it is certainly a fun new way to play the game. I especially enjoyed playing with a friend who was close to my skill level, making the co-op mode a more balanced experience. I hope I can play it more in the future.