I finally beat Elite Beat Agents (EBA) today. Last night, I played the second stage of the final level (set to "Jumpin’ Jack Flash") for about an hour before I beat it. This morning, I unlocked the final bonus level and beat it on all four difficulties.

What does it mean to beat a game? In many of the games I beat, you get a nice little movie and that ties up the story. EBA had a small movie where the agents helped save the world and everyone was happy. It sounds typical enough, but EBA is very different from a game with a more linear narrative.

EBA rewards players in a different way – it has unlockables that are present in so few games that I’ve beaten. I have to admit, it’s very satisfying to mark your progress in an episodic game with milestones such as increasing rand and new difficulty levels. Although this game took relatively little time to beat, I found my confidence increasing and I felt like an Elite Beat Diva by the end.

After finishing EBA, I wondered how much more I would play it. I did go back to increase my score and unlock the final bonus level. I after beating every level on every difficulty, I also got access to the character Commander Kahn. I really love this game and I will happily share it with others, but I don’t know if I will have nearly the same devotion to it in the future that I did while I was beating it. I have unlocked most of what I want, and the only way to get points now is to beat my near-perfect scores. That is no small feat, and I have endured much frustration due to the repetition involved getting those scores in the first place.

While some may want to play the game until they have perfect score in everything, I don’t think I’m that type of player. Going back to Richard Bartle’s player types, I think I am an achiever but not in the extreme. I am driven to beat a game I enjoy, but I don’t want to spend hours on perfection. After all, the frustration I would find through going through these levels over and over again just to get a certain score do not make it worth my time.

However, I would highly recommend this game to almost anyone who owns a DS. I really enjoyed its originality and excellent understanding of design for a portable console. I love it so much, in fact, that I am considering getting the imported original version. Perhaps I’ll have it finished by the time the newly-announced sequel is released.