Fourth grade was undoubtedly the worst year of school I went through. Take your pick of all the teachers I'd had at any of the seven schools I went to, my 4th Grade teacher was the worst. She was a bitter old hag, probably had been in her job for the better part of forty years. She was my teacher for all my subjects except for PE, and she had no idea how to communicate on some normal plane with any of her students, much less me. The feeling of wanting to come to school had long diminished, and instead it was replaced with the feeling of dreading coming to class. Everyone who I'd been friends with in 3rd Grade no longer talked to me (even Daniel, though we'd talk next year).

Basically, I would come to class, get yelled at by my teacher, particularly if it was Art, since my artistic skills were absolutely terrible. Still, to this day, I can't even draw basic geometric shapes without some blatant imperfection. Art was the absolute worst. I didn't like it a lot before 4th Grade, but I enjoyed it. Until 4th Grade. After that, I never chose to do art, aside from Year 6 and Year 10. I had to avoid not doing the work. I didn't want my grades to drop just because I had the worst teacher ever.

So I thought to myself, what can I do? What'll help me through this year, when every day felt like one? That $100 I got for my ninth birthday would come in handy. I knew exactly what I wanted. I bought a second hand Nintendo 64 (the one I mentioned earlier, my dad had that, and we weren't living with him at the time. I managed to get the console, a controller and three games for the $100, though everything was priced at $129, I managed to get everything down to $100. The games were Goldeneye, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Banjo-Kazooie.

As good as the first two are, I wasn't able to play them because, well, I was terrible at them. I couldn't play Goldeneye on anything higher than Agent, and don't even get me started about how much I sucked at Ocarina of Time. But it was Banjo-Kazooie that's sort of partly the reason why I am still a gamer today. It was the only thing that stopped me from going insane in the 4th Grade. I played it for most of the day. I basically woke up, got ready for school, went, did all my work as quickly as I could, did my homework, ate lunch, then stare at the clock until 3pm, when I'd run home as quickly as I could. I'd get home at about quarter past three. I'd go to the cupboard, grab some lollies or Cheez-Its or some other snack, head to my gaming room and play Banjo-Kazooie until about 6:30. Dinner. Then straight back. So basically, it was 3:30 to 6:30, then 7:00 until 10:30. Bedtime. Seven hours a day. Although my mother had no idea that some nights, I would stay up in bed, sneak out at about 1am and play until dawn. Some days I'd play in excess of 12 hours a night.

In 2004, these guys were my best buds. I couldn't go for more than a day without seeing them.
Strange as it sounds, they were a comfort for the absence of friends in the real world. 

All up, I probably beat Banjo-Kazooie about 30-odd times that year. My favourite levels are Bubblegloop Swamp, Gobi's Valley, Rusty Bucket Bay and Click Clock Wood, although a lot of people hate Rusty Bucket Bay. I didn't really like Mumbo's Mountain, Treasure Trove Cove or Clanker's Cavern, the first three levels of the game, but that's mainly because you don't have nearly as many of your abilities as you do in the later levels. Oh, what am I thinking? Mad Monster Mansion is the best level. No, Click Clock Wood... Aw, I just can't decide.

If there's one thing that's weird about the amount of times I've beaten Banjo-Kazooie, it's that I have never, not even once, have I played Banjo-Tooie or Nuts and Bolts. I really gotta get on those two. But I just never have bothered. I've even got Nuts and Bolts. But back to the story. I must have got over 300 hours in that year alone, I reckon. Basically, as soon as I'd finished playing a game (and by that I mean beating the game, not finished for the night), there'd be nothing stopping me from starting a brand new game. I'd even have utilise all three save files at once and see how quick I could beat the game. I've no idea what my quickest times were, probably around the five-hour mark or something. Sometimes, I would just take my time, and a game would be nearing the 25-30 hour mark. I'd either explore the worlds thoroughly or I'd play a level twice.

So the year went by, in a bit of a breeze. Well, the gaming side of it. School was still a drag. My grades were good, but I didn't have any friends. So Banjo and the gang got me through a rough 2004. It's because of this that whenever I'm feeling down, I turn to games. I believe losing yourself in the world of a game is the best relief for stress in the real world. Of course, if you're not a gamer, this can also apply to books, movies, TV shows, music, whatever, but I think it's vital to have some form of escapism from the real world.

What is the game you've beaten the most amount of times? Let me know in the comments below.

Contents:
Part 01 | Part 02 | Part 03 | Part 04 | Part 05 | Part 06 | Part 07 | Part 08 
Part 09 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15