17 Gaming Secrets Only Losers Discover

2. A Christmas Failure (Elite Beat Agents)

With its gratifying gameplay, catchy tunes, bizarre situations, and charming comic-style visuals, the Nintendo DS’ greatest rhythmic gem – Elite Beat Agents – is a quirky, addictive, and meaningful good time.

All of that is encapsulated in the touching A Christmas Gift episode, which sees the eponymous heroes helping a girl named Lucy reunite with her father, Matthew, who died on a trip six months prior. He departed before Christmas, and he promised Lucy and her mother, Laura, that he’d return in time for the holidays with a teddy bear for his daughter.

The story is set to Chicago’s You’re the Inspiration, and if Lucy and Laura successfully complete everything, Matthew’s spirit comes back to embrace them and deliver the teddy bear. Eventually, he disappears, but the teddy bear stays with Lucy.

If Lucy and Laura don’t do what they’re supposed to, however, Matthew’s spirit walks away and the following message appears: 

"Fail 'You're the Inspiration'? Are you insane, or just evil? I've done many questionable acts in games, but let that poor little girl down? I draw the line there. Cut off my hands, and I'll beat the level with my stumps. I. Will. Not. Fail. Her."

It’s very unexpected, and there are several other easter eggs to discover if the mother-daughter duo screw up during earlier scenes of the stage.