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

Okay, it's 11:10pm. Little over 45 minutes to get this done. Yeah, these 'deadlines' are strict. This part's continuing on from yesterday, and it's all about Pokémon (well, probably all of it). The first time I ever had a console to call my own was my Game Boy Colour, a birthday present I received for my 6th birthday. I mentioned in the previous part I played a lot of Pokémon Blue as a loner in the 2nd Grade. I got pretty good marks in school, but I never talked to anybody. In fact, I found it strange when I got a friend request on Facebook not too long ago from someone with zero mutual friends. It's weird when it happens. I normally hit the Decline button or Deny or whatever it's called, but for the reason that I don't know them. When I saw that she 'Graduated from _____" (being the name of the school I went to back then), I thought "Nope, no way. You're probably as much of a bastard now as you were then."

Of course, I'm not really judgemental. Just those guys were all snobby little brats whose parents bought them anything and all got driven to school in expensive cars like Mercs and BMW's. That's not to say I'll take a look at you and form an opinion of you for myself, but doesn't everyone do that? First impressions. They truly are important. Anyway, so my mother got into an argument with my grandparents, who I was living with at the time, and I find out we're moving to Caroline Springs, a then-new suburb not far from where I lived. We built a house and went to a(nother) religious primary school. And this time, things were a little different.

First day there, I was in the 3rd Grade, and technically, I was still a six-year-old (turning seven in about a month). Yeah, welcome to the big leagues. From Prep right through to Year 2, I was the top student. No ifs, no buts. No comparison. But it was a bit of a step up. I don't know whether this new school was just really smart or whatever, but I was somewhere in the middle, maybe a little lower. Of course, in PE I still struggled, but I liked the teacher. He was pretty cool, so I still rocked up to my classes. Most times. Anyway, so academically I was average and in PE and Art I was struggling, so a decision was made to put me back into the 2nd Grade (which is really where I should have been, since I pretty much did nothing in Prep).

Here, I made some pretty cool friends in the 2nd Grade, and since I'd got a PlayStation for my birthday (the slimline model) and Gran Turismo 2, I'd invite said friends over to my place for some racing action. But the real fun started in (my second attempt of) the 3rd Grade. Much easier this time around, and with people I had gotten to know, we were moved from these crappy portables to the newly built area of the school. And for some stupid reason, was rarely, if ever, supervised by teachers. So what we'd do is the most insane plan ever. Me and my friend Daniel (who was actually in the year level below me) came up with such an awesome plan. Kids who hated coming to school were so pumped to go because of the two of us.

Have you ever wondered about what Pokémon would be like as an MMO? Well, check this out. As long as you had a Game Boy, a link cable and a copy of Pokémon (be it Gen 1, 2 or 3, but not too many people had the latter since it was too expensive), you basically walked around with your Game Boy in your pocket, found someone else who wanted to battle, and go for it (provided you've found a spot safe from teachers). It was literally the best thing ever. I'd take people on no matter what they had. I had Blue, Silver and Crystal, but I didn't have a 3rd Gen game. But you'd see a kid you wouldn't know, he'd flash his Game Boy and you'd know what he's there for. Business. And business must be taken care of.

As long as you had a Game Boy, you had someone who wanted to take you on
It's almost as if our school was the scene of a Pokémon MMO. 

So you'd basically just walk around the school, staying away from teachers as much as possible (because they'd confiscate your Game Boy, which happened to my twice) and battle against anyone you could. You'd use the battles to try out stuff for fun, and trade to continue your own adventure. But nothing was better than just finding someone and battling them. You'd often get only one or two battles in at lunchtimes, but sometimes you got a third or even a fourth. But there'd often be more than half a dozen battles taking place at some point in the school. So you'd trade and battle, trade and battle. It was the life, I'm telling you. It made 3rd Grade go by in a flash.

Alright, I might as well wrap this up. So all in all, the 3rd Grade was pretty much the wonders of link cable and Pokémon. But for some reason, the 4th Grade was really crappy. First day, one of the parents pretty much demanded that we stopped using our Game Boys at lunch time, and anyone who was caught with one got it confiscated for a whole week. 4th Grade turned out to be a really boring and rather depressing year. It was the worst year I'd ever gone through at school. I had a crazy as old hag of a teacher, some of the kids I played Pokémon with the year before wouldn't talk to me and my grades were much lower than in the 3rd Grade. Time to do a bit of hardcore gaming at home. Something's got to change. I was miserable at school, worse than in the 2nd Grade. I know. Let's buy a second-hand Nintendo 64.

Did you ever find a way to implement games with your schooling buddies? Let me know in the comments section 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

School. I really don't know how to feel about it. It's true what they say, I guess. The whole "you hate it when you're there, but as soon as you leave, you want to go back." You miss your friends, the good times, and honestly, sometimes even the classes were fun. But if you were to tell me that school was really a good place to meet people back then, I'd probably think you're nuts. You see, the first two years of school were absolutely shocking. I hated it. Absolutely dreaded it. I didn't want to get up some mornings. At this stage of my life, I was living with my mother's parents (I've no idea what she was doing, but from what I've heard recently, she was trying to hook up with random guys. That's what my grandparents recently told me).

I started school in the year of 2000. I went to some poshy religious private school in Taylors Lakes, and I hated it. All the kids were mean and all the teachers were strict. I couldn't bear it. School to me was like that time in the Simpsons when they show a flashback of Bart's first day at school. He's all excited and so was I. But when I came home, I was as miserable as he was. Thanks to my grandmother, I had already learned everything we were doing before kindergarten. Things like drawing the letters of the alphabet (with lines to trace), although my pen(cil)manship was shocking without them. I don't remember much of the time I spent in Prep, because we'd basically get a sheet of paper with about a dozen simple maths questions, things like 2+3, or 6-4. I'd be done in only a couple of minutes, and there would always be two or three students who would require a whole hour.

So because the Preparatory curriculum was well beneath me, I was moved into the 1st Grade just a couple of weeks into Term 2. Just perfect. For some completely stupid reason, the principal of the school felt it was most effective to run every class as two seperate year levels. And in this case, it was 1st and 2nd Grade. And that meant that for the next eight-odd months, I'd be going to school with my sister. And she did whatever she could to embarrass me, be it her telling stories about things that happen at home, or her trying to get her friends to throw things like pencils and balls of paper at me. All I remember was half the time I would be working, the other half I would be sitting in the front row, all alone, quietly sobbing.

Then the 2nd Grade, in 2001. Oh my crap, second grade. It was the second worst year out of all of the years at school. My teacher scared the living daylights out of me. A yawn or sneeze during silent reading got you removed from the classroom. And this happened way more often than I wanted to. Until I worked out the best plan of all time. Silent reading was always for the last hour of the day. We'd do whatever other subjects beforehand, like Art or English, which I'd happily do on my own, except for Sports. When we'd do sports, I was always the last picked on every team. I was always pushed over during soccer or basketball or whatever, and I hated it. To make things worse, my 2nd Grade teacher was actually the school's PE co-ordinator, so we'd have him. And he was one of those teachers who was really into his sports and expected the students to push themselves. And if they didn't, you'd do laps. Not fast enough? Push ups, then another lap. Still too slow? Get on your hands and try again.

This got me out of many awkward moments in the 2nd Grade.
Most times I'd take it everywhere I went, but it came in really handy during Sport.

So I'd do two things that got me out of both silent reading and sport. For the former, try and induce a sneeze, or fake a yawn. And get kicked out of the classroom. And just before sport (like 20 minutes before, to not make it seem so obvious), I'd fake a migraine and head for the sick bay, only to 'detour' to this classroom that was always empty, but never locked. And I'd do my gaming in there. I played Pokémon Blue. Sometimes I'd take a book just in case a teacher was walking past. But I'd spend a couple of hours a week in that room. It was hard for me to make friends with the kids there, so I'd just lose myself in the world of Pokémon.

Bit of a short one today, guys. I've got an engagement party to go to. I'll dive more into the world of Pokémon tomorrow night.

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

I mentioned in the previous piece that I was quite the sore loser as a child. I suppose it stems from the times I would go to my grandmother's place (my father's parents, the ones mentioned in the previous part). We would often play what we called The Princess Game, although sometimes there were other names for it as well. The objective was for my cousin James to rescue my sister after I kidnapped her. It was similar to hide and seek, but it's really much more than that. The game would start with me kidnapping the princess (hiding her in the closet or under the bed, or some other concealed location). Then, he would start his noble search, carrying a (plastic) sword and shield. His sword would go up against my pistol in duels to the death. After I would either surrender or be killed, the princess would be rescued.

For the most part, the combat scenes would be equal, and the noble soldier had to fight valiantly. I would never win at The Princess Game. Because the princess must always be rescued. Always. You know, just like 90% of fairytales ever. But sometimes, the game would turn sour. My cousin, you see, hated to lose as well, and sometimes would go all out with the sword and cut my arms off three seconds into the fight. And the more often we played this game, the more often it end quickly. One time, he had enough, so he cut my head off and dragged my corpse into the toilet and locked me in there. Good times.

So when I won in that first race in Gran Turismo, I realised that maybe I didn't have to lose every time. Maybe I could actually be good at something. I would later try playing it on my own, but controlling the steering and the acceleration proved a little too difficult. So I asked my dad for an easy game I could play. Too perfect. In the Christmas of 1998, I got Rugrats: Search for Reptar. I do know that it was the first game I played by myself, but I don't remember too much of it. At least, these days. The game was essentially a mish-mash of mini-games. The babies wanted to play with their Reptar puzzle, but could only find one piece. Cue awkward cry animation. Completing mini-games would magically make a puzzle piece appear. There were a couple of cool mini-games, including Mirror Land and Incident on Aisle 7, although the latter was bloody hard for me as a kid.

Nothing on that game came close to the awesomeness that was Ice Cream Mountain minigolf. A nine-hole minigolf course that went up to four players on the one controller. The minigolf aspect of the game wasn't all that great. It was simply a matter of lining up your shot and using the Triangle button to set up your shot power. The thing that made it so enjoyable was the voice over guy. "Come again soon... buh-bye!" and "You don't want all that ice cream anyway. Boy, talk about phlegm." Tommy's "Who made up this game anyways?" was always a hoot. The Rugrats overworld was also pretty entertaining as well. It just featured that great, catchy Rugrats music that was just so awesome.

Forget Grand Theft Auto, this was the first open-world game I played.
Things got crazy when you headed down to the basement. Or looked into the mirror.

The holes used in the mini-golf game were your stereotypical minigolf holes (which reminds me, I've been wanting to go minigolfing for some time. Gotta get on that). There's the windmill hole, there's the door that opens and closes. But then there's some out there ones, none more so than the pyramid hole. You could actually go into the pyramid and grab some Reptar Bars, but there were mummies in there that used to scare the crap out of me. When I saw one, I'd go running out of the pyramid as fast as I could go, back onto the course and finish up to go to the next hole (which is actually the final hole).

I got my own memory card, one that my dad gave to me to use. I was approaching four and started to play other games that we had. Crash Bandicoot was one. Good ol' N. Sanity Beach. Other games I played were A Bug's Life, Croc, and Gex, along with returning to Gran Turismo. However, other than Gran Turismo, I never spent a great deal on any of those games. I was much more interested in the colourful worlds on the Nintendo 64. The only four games I would play, however, were Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, Yoshi's Story (I sucked at that, from what I remember. I just enjoyed collecting the fruit), and Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt, which came out in late 1999.

Speaking of 1999, I'm finally off to kindergarten. Due to my parents' divorce, I would live with my grandmother (my other one, my mother's parents) during the week, and I think I was seeing my mother on weekends. The kindergarten was literally within walking distance (even walking distance for a four-year old, you could see it from her house). She considered intelligence to be an important thing and so when I was there, I would often spend time looking at things like this giant multiplication chart and educational games on the computer. Because of this early exposure, I knew my times tables (up to 12's) on day one of kindergarten, and whenever my grandmother had problems with her computer, I would often know the solution, but they were only simple things, like changing the wallpaper or changing the page layout on Microsoft Word to landscape. I'm four, remember.

But I had no idea that that wasn't normal. Our kindergarten would have a reading hour, where we would read a story together for the first half hour and were encouraged to read independently for the last half hour. From what my grandparents tell me, I was reading phonebooks and newspapers rather than those learn-to-read stories. I didn't give it too much thought, though. I didn't really care why the other kids weren't reading newspapers. I was just enjoying it. I'd rather read about the sports pages than books that are made for pre-schoolers. They weren't engaging. It was like reading it was the equivalent of that Simpsons sketch: Two plus two is four. Boring. But even though I was kind of a loner back in kindergarten, it was nothing compared to how things would be at school.

Did you ever come up with your own childhood game? Let me know in the comments section 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

So it's been fifteen years. That went by quite quickly. Fifteen years since I first held a game controller in my hands for the very first time. Almost, actually. We haven't come to the exact date yet, but it's fast approaching. Basically, this blog post is going to be one of (hopefully) fifteen posts in a series entitled 15 Years of Gaming, which commemorates the very first time I played a video game, something which I've since dedicated a strong portion of my life to. Basically, how this thing's going to work is I'm going to work on this over the next two weeks. I aim to make this a pretty hefty blog series, seeing as I don't do it all that often. This'll let you guys know all about my gaming history. From May 23, one post will be posted each day until the final day, June 6, 2013, which marks an incredible 15 years since I started playing games. It's not only going to be gaming-related, more like an overview of my life so far and how gaming ties into it. I'll also have a little reader interaction by posting a question at the bottom of each part so that you can tell me a little about your history.

Describing my childhood can be a little hazy. My parents always seemed to be fighting, from what I've noticed, not that I could remember any of it. A few years ago I heard of the time my mother belted my dad in the face with that steel part of a vacuum cleaner hose. Ouch. To put it simply, I don't have a single positive memory of the two together until their divorce about three or four years after I was born (I tell people the divorce was finalised in 1999, but I really have no idea for sure, not that I care enough to ask my dad about it). However, there are some moments that simply stand out as things I'll never forget, no matter how long ago it was. There are some moments from my childhood I remember from when I was two or three, and stuff I forget from recently even though it only happened within the last few years. As a long-time video gamer, one of the most treasured moments was the first time I played a game. It was almost breathtaking. This idea of actions done on this controller turned into movements on the screen, in this case, a car.

You see, the very first game I played was the original Gran Turismo. It was on June 6, 1998, little over a month after its release, and it remains an important date in the brief history of my life (as stupid as that sounds). You see, as a three-year old, I kind of lacked the motor skills necessary to play a racing sim like Gran Turismo, what, with its (then) highly realistic physics engine and all the engine tweaking and tuning that to this day I still am clueless at what half the settings do. So I'm basically sitting on the couch, watching my dad play. A busy day home from work, he just wanted to relax and put his feet up, ignoring whatever argument was going on between my parents. I don't remember what made me want to play, probably the fact that I had an interest in cars from a very young age.

When I was around this age (actually, June 6, 1998 would be exactly three years and three months old, which I only just realised), whenever I would go for a drive with my parents, I would often look around at this great big world I was in and just how immersive it was. My dad essentially has a GPS wired directly into his brain (not literally, of course). What I mean by that is that I've rarely seen him need a street directory: he just has a knack for knowing which street to turn into, even in places he rarely goes into. He told me a story a few weeks ago of this time when he was about five years old, and he was going to see relatives in Carnegie, from Fairfield. Now, his parents had been there once before, but had forgotten how to get there, and thought it would be rude to ring up and ask for directions (don't ask me why, I would've done it). But my dad basically said to my grandfather, "I know how to get there," to which my grandfather gives him a look that simply says "Shut up, you little brat. You're going to get us lost." But he was so confident, he told my grandfather which streets to turn into, which roads to go in, which direction at intersections, and he led them to the front door.

Essentially, my dad looks for key landmarks and remembers them. Soon enough, he'll learn the fastest ways to get from A to B, taking into account things like traffic and roadworks. I kind of had this similar instinct, but instead of recognising certain landmarks to get across town, I'd stick my head up and look all around me. I'd see cars all around me and start remembering the shapes of cars and putting them to their names. I could do much more than say that red one or that black one. I used to be able to identify Holden Commodores, Ford Falcons and Toyota Corollas before the age of three. I could recall each badge I saw, the differences between certain models, like how a Ford Falcon EF looks different to a Ford Falcon AU. Even though they look different, I could still tell you that they were both Ford Falcons, but this one is an EF and that one is an AU.

That's something that irritates me though, when people can't identify cars straight away. I understand that not everyone is a gearhead, and really, put me in a garage with a car and ask me to fix it, you'd achieve better results faster if you asked a horse to do it. But I'll tell you something, say I'm walking down the street with friends (and this has happened several times, at least enough to become a nuisance). One of them will see a car that they like, and they'll say something like "I like that blue car." I'll be left with one of two options. Either (a), I'll notice several blue cars around me and ask them which blue car they're referring to, only to have them reply with "the one off in the distance," meaning I can't identify it, or (b), I'll tell them "you mean that Toyota Camry over there?" Only to be met with blank stares and awkward silence.

Anyway, back to Gran Turismo. He offers me a seat in his lap and places the controller in my hand, then places his hand over mine. I'm holding a Sony DualShock controller. Boy, this is something. He tells me that the X button selects things and the Triangle button goes back. So he leads me into the Arcade Mode. Wow. Look at how good the cars look on that menu screen. Amazing. Well, they look quite dated now, don't they, but back then, this game was groundbreaking in terms of its realistic graphics. So he says to press the X button on Single Race, and choose the Easy difficulty. And when I proceeded, Ah, I thought, I recognise these makes (or manufacturers, as they were called in the game). At that moment, manufacturer became the longest word I knew of at the time, which is something that's completely irrelevant.

The level of detail used in the cars in this menu screen blew me away at such a young age.
The in game models did the same thing as well, don't worry. 

So with my car selected (a Honda NSX), I jump onto the Clubman Stage Route 5. My dad helps me with the controls. He controls the steering, I'm in charge of acceleration and braking. So it's simple. Hold the X button to speed up, and hold the Square button to slow down. Dad's got the cornering, so we just have to keep the car moving. And move it we did. It took me just a few seconds to get into 5th place (you start from 6th in Arcade Mode, qualification only occurs in GT Mode) and I shot into fourth just coming out of the tunnel. Those who know the track can probably visualise this race. Fourth came before long, third just before that final left-hand turn coming on to the final straight, and I was into second place just as the second lap began.

I couldn't seem to catch that pesky Impreza WRX that was leading. I made ground on every car up to that point, but I was only slowly reeling in that first place. It all came down to the final turn where I had moved into second place one lap ago. I kept the speed really high through the corner and was able to use the power of the NSX to cross the finish line in first place. My first race, at three years of age, resulted in a victory. Granted, I wasn't controlling the steering, only the speed, but I was able to pick up the win. I consider it a monumental moment in my life because I used to be a sore loser. Badly. Had I have lost, I may not have picked up another controller again. But I'm glad I did.

What was the first game you played? Let me know in the comments section 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

Table of Contents

Part 01
My first gaming experience, Gran Turismo.

Part 02
Early gaming in pre-school with Rugrats.

Part 03
Dealing with hard times with my Game Boy.

Part 04
Pokémon, as an MMO. You heard that right.

Part 05
My two best friends, Banjo and Kazooie

Part 06
Back to the basics with Gran Turismo 4.

Part 07
The best game of all time (opinionated, of course). 

Part 08
The local youth centre, and becoming a Guitar Hero Expert. 

Part 09
A year in country Victoria. Not much gaming here.

Part 10
Moving back to Melbourne and finally getting my Xbox 360. 

Part 11
GT vs. Forza debate, for some reason 

Part 12
Getting back into Pokémon and Final Fantasy 

Part 13
Gaming with Year 12 pressure, and Pokémon. Again. 

Part 14
All my gaming in 2013, including FIFA 13. 

Part 15
A look at what lies ahead for me as a gamer. 

Welcome to the first part of my Top 50 Games of 2011. 2011 was commonly hailed as the year of the sequel, where we saw numerous titles, both the highs and the lows. You'll see a majority of sequels here, but where do the new IP's fit amongst them? To find out, let's begin the Top 50 with the games in the spots #50 to #26. This was a pretty hard list to make, and some games were unfortunate to miss out. But I hope you enjoy reading the list and thinking of the memories you had with the game.

#50

Homefront

Homefront was disappointing for some people due to the game having a short campaign and stale multiplayer. The multiplayer's maps were rather uninspired, but the campaign itself was rather interesting, given the storyline's relation to a current world crisis (which is the main reason for my original interest). The game has decent game mechanics, but unfortunately it doesn't have that spark of longevity that other shooters have.

#49

LittleBigPlanet 2

Platformers aren't usually my thing. I'm not really one to go past Mario or Sonic in the genre, the latter who has let me down recently. However, the one thing that made me like this game was the Sackbots. Sackboy's cute enough, but having three miniature ones right by your side made it much better in my opinion. I'm pretty terrible with customising stuff, but the UI on this game also makes it really easy to make user-generated content.

#48

Brink

Just like Homefront, this game was considered by some to be too short and too boring. However, due to this game being highly advertised, and a lot of bugs relating to online connection, many people saw it as a letdown. I didn't mind the premise of the game, but it wasn't one I could play more than twice, which I have.

#47

Madden NFL 12

The tough thing about rating sports games is that they don't really change much from year to year, unless they move to a new console. So when I rate games like this, it's more the memories that occur rather than the gameplay features they contain. My cousin bought this when it came out and I played it at his house for a bit. We play more to crash into each other as opposed to legitimately. However, this game has top notch graphics and it's EA Sports' best title in years.

#46

Catherine

Overall, this is a pretty weird game. Although I've heard great things about it, it's not one that I'd have looked up if it weren't for recommendations. The puzzle elements seem really tricky and therefore it's not really my kind of game.

#45

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Since I suck at fighting games, I was really glad that this game had a beginner mode, where you could exploit the combos without needing to press 100 buttons. I'm not a fan of many of the Capcom characters (since I don't like any Capcom games except Dead Rising 2 and Resident Evil 4), but the lineup from both parties is spectacular and plentiful.

#44

Shift 2: Unleashed

It looks like the dark days of Need for Speed are over. After a few years of terrible titles, Shift 2 returns to the series roots. On the track, back where it belongs. Sure, it's no Forza 4, but if you're looking at getting into a racer without needing much knowledge of cars or skill at racing games, this is a perfect game for you.

#43

Bulletstorm

I've always told people that this game is basically an extensive tech demo for Gears of War 3. This game didn't have multiplayer, which was a massive letdown for most people, especially considering we were all anticipating it. The campaign was a solid experience that would have been a lot better with friends, unfortunately all we were given was online co-op.

#42

Sonic Generations

Sonic Generations tracks back the 20 years of Sega's mascot and transforms them all into modernised levels. If you liked Sonic the Hedgehog's previous titles, this makes for a great pickup, but unfortunately, something about it just doesn't feel right. It doesn't have that special element that made the previous games so special. Basically, this game feels *too much* like a remake.

#41

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

At some point, people have become sick of Call of Duty. Contrary to my opinions of the first two Modern Warfare titles, the third in the series is where I've dropped off. The multiplayer in this game is stale, and the maps are terribly uninspired. Spec Ops returns for another round, which is a bonus, but the addition of Survival mode felt like it was tacked on. Fortunately, the campaign retains the quality that made the series so good in the first place.

#40

F.E.A.R. 3

The first title was such a letdown for me, I couldn't even bear to finish the first level. If I recall correctly, F.E.A.R. 2 won the 'Most Disappointing Sequel' in Gamespot's 2009 Game of the Year awards, although I didn't think it was all that bad. F.E.A.R. 3 (damn, that's annoying to type) is pretty much more of the same. It doesn't really improve on its predecessor in any way, but overall it's probably the most quality the series has had in a title.

#39

Bastion

Yeah, here it is, Chickan. Knowing that I probably wouldn't play it myself between last month and by the time I compiled this list last week, I decided to do the dirty and watch a few episodes of a Let's Play on Youtube. And all I can really say is that it's probably the greatest game available on Xbox Live Arcade, period. Maybe second to Limbo. The story's intriguing, the characters a little off in my opinion. The main downside would be level design (that camera perspective would really irritate me). If it's ever less than 800MSP, I may end up getting it.

#38

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

I never "got into" this series like everyone else did, but Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was a real eye-opener for me. Unfortunately, Revelations just stabbed a pencil into it. Another annual release from this series and it left a sour taste in my mouth. I'm interested in seeing what's going to happen now that Ezio will no longer be involved in the series, but I think this game has just killed my interest in the series now.

#37

Driver: San Francisco

I gave this a test drive at JB Hi-Fi and I was really taken aback at how much road you could cover in this game. I looked it up, it's something like 340 kilometres of road or something similar that you can drive on. It's amazing that open worlds have become much more detailed while also becoming larger. As for the game, the cars are still hard to handle and have a generic feel to them, but considering I haven't played a Driver game since Parallel Lines (which was terrible), it's a refreshing change. Or was that the last one?

#36

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Ok, so I hired this one when it came out, back when I was in the internet-less days because the Space Marine title interested me. Big mistake, it turned out, considering you needed knowledge of the whole Warhammer 40,000 universe to get a basic understanding of exactly what in the hell is going on. However, gameplay aspects are solid enough for a third-person action game, and there's a hoard of equipment for you to use. Not a bad game, but the plot went so far over my head, the same reason I hated Assassin's Creed II.

#35

Stacking

Yeah, so here comes the contradiction in my countdown. Earlier I said that Bastion is one of the best XBLA games ever, but then this one came along. The way the dolls hop around makes me laugh, but the puzzle elements are both simplistic and engaging. Both clever and humorous, Stacking manages to get the best of you and make you laugh at the same time, something so few puzzle games make me do.

#34

Motorstorm: Apocalypse

Finally, a racing game on the PS3 that's impressed me other than Gran Turismo 5. This is the game that the first games should have been. One of the reasons I love this is that the online system is easy to set up and race. It's hard to get a real plot happening in a racing game, and I didn't like it here because it seemed way too repetitive, but at least the race action is addictive enough to divert your attention elsewhere.

#33

SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs (also called SOCOM: Special Forces)

The Americans always get the better cover art, don't they? As a personal fan of stealth and tactical shooters, this one was a great improvement over SOCOM 3, although mainly because there was a long wait between games and they span across two consoles. However, its campaign was more compelling than SOCOM 3 and overall SOCOM would probably be the most underrated shooter franchise of the last ten years.

#32

Dragon Age II

Considered a letdown by some and a terrible game by others, I was a little more than disappointed when hearing all of the negative comments, but then I actually played the game. It's not terrible, it's just the story was nowhere near as engaging. Combat was improved and this time around, I felt more like a person and not a character in a video game. I'm praying to God that it happens in Mass Effect 3. I want to be Commander Shepard, I don't want Commander Shepard to be Commander Shepard.

#31

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Was it really 10 years ago when we saved the galaxy from the threat of the Covenant and the Flood for the first time? Yes, and I was six when it happened (although I never played it until I was seven). This year, we were blessed with a HD remake of the game, whose campaign, revered for its length and creativity, still holds up really well today. Online is a bit worse than you'd want, as there were only six maps from the original game, but at least it was a glimpse at what might have been.

#30

Infamous 2

Alright, short and sweet. Infamous 2 focuses more on its open-world type gameplay and mechanics than the first game but still manages to get both sides of the coin in one neat little package. Cole is still one of the most awesome characters of this gen. This game is what Prototype (shudders) should have been. Rumours of a threequel are high.

#29

The 3rd Birthday

At first I thought this was a new IP, but when I first played this, I realised it was a sequel to Parasite Eve. Pretty addictive stuff. Somehow Square make everything so compelling, at least in my opinion. Didn't soak as many hours into this as I'd have liked (around 5 to 6), but enough to give a justified view for this game on my list.

#28

Total War: Shogun 2

So I don't know much about this game and it would have flew over my head if it weren't for its mention in the Best of 2011 awards, because frankly, strategy games aren't my thing. But "DAMN, BOY!" is all I can say at the graphics on this game. Blew me away first time I saw them. Probably not one I'll be picking up in the near future, but a nice little package nonetheless. The Bloodpack DLC makes the game even more awesome, especially the way blood splatters on the screen.

#27

Test Drive Unlimited 2

Some games just can't help outdoing themselves. This game is so immersive and I spent so much time on it. Despite its main appeal towards online, the game has a vast single player experience as well. The community is still packed, so if you like driving games, grab a copy now, as long as you're cool with downloading a heap of patches on a regular basis. Car customisation is top notch, allowing to do virtually anything you want without needing to study up on how stuff in a real car works first.

#26

Rage

The best of the worst of the best of 2011 goes to Rage, and for some reason, it's flatlined in price since its release. By no means is it a bad game, it just doesn't have the mass appeal that it deserves. It got released at a bad time (Beyond Good and Evil, anyone?) In true Bethesda fashion this game contains RPG-type elements, but is mainly an action game. Not the prettiest looking game in the world, and I kind of don't like the scripting, but it's an interesting plot and the whole post-apocalyptic setting is intriguing.

So now we're halfway through. Check out Part 2 of my countdown (#25-#11) here.

Welcome to Part 2 of my Top 50. Part 2 looks at #25 to #11 in the countdown, so let's get right into it.

#25

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Another legendary (God forbid I use the 'C' word around here) game has been cashed into a remake, this time it's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, hailed by many as the greatest video game of all time, which was released earlier this year on the Nintendo 3DS. I was never a huge fan of the original. I loved it, but I wouldn't say it's the best game of all time. That honour, my friends, would likely go to Final Fantasy VIII. However, there's no denying the impact this game had on the gaming community as a whole, and its release on the 3DS was inevitable. While it didn't really change the plot in any way, the game mechanics were altered a bit, such as utilising the 3DS' touch screen to select inventory, tilting the 3DS to alter the flight path of the arrows, and more. A refreshing update to one of the greatest games of all time.

#24

Star Wars: The Old Republic

So this game's not supposed to have hit our shores until March, but because we've got a little taste of it early, and the fact that it was released in the US before December 31, I'm slotting it in here. I've wanted to play it ever since it was announced, but I'll probably buy it in March, because everywhere I've been, it's sold out. I've never really considered picking up an MMO until now (and briefly last year after seeing World of Warcraft: Cataclysm), but if I can get it to run on low settings on my computer, I'll be playing it all the time.

#23

Mario Kart 7

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this year is the 20th anniversary of the original Super Mario Kart. Mario Kart 7 was recently released on the 3DS, with some great new features. Vehicle customisation is a sweet addition, where mixing and matching certain elements of your kart is crucial for those pesky 150cc races. Additionally, karts are now able to go above and beyond with a hang glider, or down below, with your kart being fully submersible. Another quality product from Nintendo, who know just what to do to avoid repeating themselves with sequels. Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U should be a blast.

#22

Dark Souls

This game is good and all, but it's HARD AS F***. Like, you pretty much need to think all the time, and if you don't, there's severe punishments awaiting you. I haven't played Demon's Souls (are they direct sequels, by the way?), but if Dark Souls is getting similar acclaim, then it must be as good. Is Demon's Souls as hard? Anyway, thank God for the bonfires, that's all I can add.

#21

Alice: Madness Returns

I had never played the original Alice game, nor had I heard of American McGee prior to this one, but for a platformer, this game had me completely mesmerised, despite what people said about this game seeming too simplified and repetitive. From an artsy point of view, this game had some of the best colours I've seen in a game. It was vibrant and it made me believe I was in the same reality as Alice was. One of the year's most underrated games.

#20

Red Faction: Armageddon

I'm surprised I actually enjoyed this one as much as I did. I knew I would like it, but I thought at first I'd place this at around the 35-40 mark, considering Red Faction: Guerilla was pretty mediocre. Regardless, I thought that this game has taken the better parts of Guerilla and left out the bad, because I actually managed to get through this one in less than 48 hours (including sleeping, eating, etc). It's the end of the series with this game, but at least it's gone out on a high.

#19

DiRT 3

Gamespot's Best Racing Game of 2011 comes in at #19 on my list, and from this game onwards, things got very, VERY tough for me to decide. What should go where? Why should Game X miss out? I said earlier on that Gamespot awarded DiRT 3 the title of Best Racing Game because DiRT 2 was, well, pretty terrible, and DiRT 3 improved on it in nearly every way possible. And it did. Spectacularly. DiRT 3 added a gymkhana mode which was an absolute blast in groups, as each player tried to outdo one another. It was more of a social thing for me (see Madden NFL 12), but there's no way that anyone can say that DiRT 3 is a bad game.

#18

Crysis 2

Crysis 2 takes up #18. In addition to improving graphically on Crysis, which was considered by many as a revolution in graphics, the customisable weapons return and are improved. Unlike the first game, Crysis 2 also appeared on consoles (until earlier this year via XBLA and PSN). Once again the characters are a let down, feeling rather stale and tacked on, and AI is a bit stiff at times, but when all's said and done, you've got yourself a hell of a package here.

#17

Super Mario 3D Land

I've heard rumours going around that this was the game that saved the 3DS. Don't know who came up with that one but at least the rumour has some merits, because this is without a doubt the best game on the 3DS so far. As we've come to expect from a Mario platformer, we've got levels seperated into worlds, and the usual powerups make their return: the fire flower, the Tanooki suit, etc. And once again, we're saving Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser. So what's new? Well, other than 3D technology, not much, but that's enough to provide you with a sensational reason to get a 3DS. So what's taking me so long?

#16

Saints Row: The Third

A little riddle for you. If Saints Row sucked ass and Saints Row 2 did also, what did Saints Row: The Third do? Well based on the fact that it's #16 in my countdown, it didn't suck ass as much as kick ass. My memory fails me, but regardless of whether or not Gamespot kept their "Most Improved Sequel" in the Best of 2011, I would have voted for this game, because I was almost convinced to buy it a few weeks ago. Almost. Just like I was almost convinced to buy a PS3 a few weeks back. Again, almost. But where both Saints Rows failed, this one actually felt like the characters weren't trying to act all macho and gangster-y, but rather, they already were.

#15

Killzone 3

Alright, I never played the originals, but after spending no less than 20 minutes I see where all the fuss was from. I heard the jetpacks are an addition to the series, but they kind of annoyed me because I found it hard to control. Gameplay was different, yet familiar, although it's probably because I imagined I was playing a new series or something. I was kind of confused as to what was going on, but I kind of decided to skip the cutscenes anyway. I heard there's something like over an hour of cutscenes or something. I love cutscenes and don't normally skip them, but I was playing at a friend's house.

#14

Dead Space 2

One of the only games where I've actually, physically crapped my pants, it was also a refreshing change of pace (no, not refreshing change of pants). Dead Space 2 was full of controversial moments including the 'Stick a needle in your eye' scene, which doesn't scare me but I can't play/watch that without rapidly closing my right eye, because I'm imagining something driving into my eyes. Pretty creepy stuff. But a great game throughout. Just play it with a friend with you, it makes the experience around 10 times better.

#13

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Capping off the Uncharted trilogy, this is probably the strongest game in the series in my opinion. Despite the first two being more adventure-y/exploration-y and this one is seemingly all combat-y/run away-y-y, the story seems to be told a lot better. I'd say that I prefer the combat system from the second game, though. However, we're still not at the game which made me want to buy a PS3 a few weeks back. Keep looking.

#12

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I am not joking. I am not trying to start a flame war here. I just have never gotten into any game in the Elder Scrolls series seriously except maybe, to a certain extent, Morrowind. With over 300 hours of content stashed into the game, there is no denying that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will keep you busy for a long time. However, that all depends on your ability to want to play the game, and how good you are at the game (of which I will admit I'm terrible at). I don't hate Skyrim by any means, I just don't think it's the incredible game everyone's making it out to be. To people who get 300 hours on the game, great. But I don't even think I could handle 60.

#11

Battlefield 3

In my opinion, the Battlefield series has now firmly placed itself ahead of its Activision counterpart Call of Duty. Let's face it, those two are going to be going head to head until one of them dies off. This is the year where Battlefield put its foot down and said "See you at the finish line, pal." Taking everything that made both titles great, giving it a solid, memorable campaign and actually having decent multiplayer maps. Hell, it's the perfect package for a modern day FPS. Rival companies have a lot to learn from this game. Dice have done it again.

So now we've been through 40 of the game's best titles, and we're down to 10. Which game is #1? Click here to find out.

Welcome to Part 3 in my Top 50 Games of 2011. We're now down to the Top 10 Games of 2011, exploring the best of the best. This was probably the toughest list I've ever compiled, and there probably *will* be some complaints over this, but this is my Top 10. What's #1? Read on and find out.

#10

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

Picking up from where The Witcher left off, The Witcher 2 places you in the role of Geralt. Whether you played the first one or not is irrelevant, because this game does such an impressive job in its tutorial that you needn't bother playing the first if you're not interested in its story. But its story is so fantastic that you should be anyway. Those who didn't play this will have another chance this year, as the game is scheduled for release on Xbox 360 sometime in the next few months. I'm not sure how well it'll port over because this game plays blissfully on PC, but I'll probably buy it on Xbox as well.

#9

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Another milestone game, this one marks the 25th anniversary since the launch of the very first Legend of Zelda game. And this may very well be the best one yet. Utilising the Wii Remote to its fullest capabilities, Link embarks on his greatest quest ever. First off, the maps are SO much better now. You have no idea how many times I got lost in previous games in the series. The enemies look more appealing than ever before, and take damage in realistic proportions according to the motions you make with the Wii Remote. The best part about the game would be the awesome gold Wii Remote you get with the special edition.

#8

Resistance 3

Remember me telling you that I wanted a PS3 a few weeks ago? Meet the reason why and the #8 game on my countdown. It was the little things that I loved about this game, just like last year how I loved the characters in Final Fantasy XIII, this year it's the weapons in Resistance 3. The campaign isn't anything flash, but I don't think I've ever had more fun dying over and over in a video game, all thanks to the arsenal in this game.

#7

Forza Motorsport 4

The greatest racing game of the year by a mile (no pun intended), Forza 4 is so realistic, I thought screenshots were actual cars used to promote the game. Forza 4 taking Jeremy Clarkson paid off big time, as that Auto-something (crap, I've forgotten the name) is such a neat feature. A great list of cars, stunning trackside views and more races than you can imagine. This will keep you busy for a long time to come.

#6

Portal 2

When Portal came out a few years back, it wasn't really that big until a few months later. Lucky for Valve, it didn't suffer the same fate this time around. We all knew what to prepare for. And luckily for us, we weren't let down either. This time, we were given a much deeper, more polished game than we'd hoped for. Portal 2 remains probably the best puzzle game I've ever played. Okay, maybe the original was a better game, but this game's story was better.

#5

Batman: Arkham City

The best voice over job in video game history? I think so. But there's no point on having top quality voice acting if you don't have a good script and gameplay to accompany it. But there's all of that here and more. Batman: Arkham City has even outdone its predecessor, something I'd though I'd never say (or see). The Joker is still the best character, but Batman, Gordon, Harley Quinn, everyone, they all shine. Combat is a lot more clean, too. And the Riddler puzzles are a lot more interactive than last time, as opposed to a simple hide and seek.

#4

L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire has to be the best new game of this year. A bit different to Rockstar's usual setup, where you're a gangster, or a cowboy, this time, you're a detective, helping to solve crimes rather than create them. It's a breath of fresh air for Rockstar, because they've come up with a stunning formula here that works. For the first time ever, I don't feel like I'm forced to keep going with this game, but rather, I want to. All the characters are really interesting, and for the first time in a Rockstar game, so are NPC's. I am really hopng for a sequel here.

#3 (Bronze Medal)

Pokémon Black and White

Yeah, um, okay, so a bit of a biased decision, but wait... this is the game that got me back into Pokémon again. After playing Diamond, I thought I'd never like it again, but this game was on special for $40, so I bought it, and the plot no longer seems generic. Triple battles make a nice addition to the standardised gameplay we're accustomed to. The new set of Pokémon no longer seem like uninspired creations, but look at Oshawott/Dewott/Samurott. They look like Pokémon of old. And the series is back where it belongs.

#2 (Silver Medal)

Gears of War 3

The only game to have been moved up after compiling this list, Gears of War takes the series to the next level. I really liked the second game and didn't know how it could possibly get any better, but Gears of War 3 proved me wrong. I haven't loved a shooter campaign since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and before that: Halo 2. Horde mode was refined, multiplayer had some great maps and the characters were actually touching for a change (ok, they kind of were in Gears 2).

#1 (Gold Medal - Best of 2011)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Here it is...my favourite game of 2011. From the moment I played this, I knew I was going to get sucked right in. Maybe it's the fact that I'm used to (and love) Square Enix's method of making games. Maybe it's the fact that anything sci-fi and set in the future interests me. Maybe it's the fact that I'm a sad kid who dreams about becoming an augmented human and this is the closest I'll get. Whatever it is, this game is awesome.

As I mentioned above, I love stealth and being able to take my time, going when it suits me. Well, this game is full of it. If you charge into any random pack of enemies, you're likely to end up dead unless you've also got some sort of plan. I love just sneaking up behind a guard without anyone noticing and taking my sweet ass time. Also, despite what some people think, Adam Jensen is ridiculously cool (see dreams in paragraph one).

The storyline revolves around social interaction and how that affects the outcome depends on your responses. In any case where I'm presented with that opportunity, I'll be a good guy, because that's the way I would do things in real life. NPC's in this game always have something interesting to say. On top of that, you can pick up trash cans and throw them in the most ridiculous ways just for laughs. Also, there's a poster of Final Fantasy XXVII in one of the offices at the beginning of the game. Another reason to love it. If you love your single player experiences, I'd highly recommend this game to anyone, even if they don't particularly like stealth. Because behind the combat and nitty gritty, there's an entire world, a possible glimpse into our future, for you to look at. And that is why it is the Best Game of 2011.

Remember the time before achievements existed? Of course you do. You played games day and night, for hours on end. Newer games have a different way of making you want to play, through collectable icons for good performances in games called achievements. What if there was a way to give the classic games achievements? Well, I'm not sure, but this is the next best thing. In this post, I'm looking at the original Super Smash Bros. released on the Nintendo 64. See if you would have 1000G on this game. There are 60 achievements overall. Let me know if you've "got 1000 G's" for the game.

Super Smash Bros. (N64)
60 for 1000G

1P Game Achievements

How to obtain: Complete 1P Game on Very Easy difficulty with any character.

How to obtain: Complete 1P Game on Easy difficulty with any character.

How to obtain: Complete 1P Game on Normal difficulty with any character.

How to obtain: Complete 1P Game on Hard difficulty with any character.

How to obtain: Complete 1P Game on Very Hard difficulty with any character.

How to obtain: Complete 1P Game with all twelve characters on Normal difficulty or higher.

How to obtain: Complete 1P game using no continues on Normal difficulty or higher with any character.

How to obtain: Score 1,000,000 or more points in a single 1P game mode with any character.

How to obtain: Defeat Master Hand without any deaths on Normal difficulty or higher.

How to obtain: Complete 1P Game on any difficulty in under 20 minutes.

How to obtain: Obtain the Yoshi Rainbow or Kirby Ranks bonus in 1P Game with any character.

How to obtain: Earn the No Damage bonus in a single 1P Game stage on Normal difficulty or higher.

Character-Unlocking Achievements

How to obtain: Defeat and unlock Luigi.

How to obtain: Defeat and unlock Jigglypuff.

How to obtain: Defeat and unlock Ness.

How to obtain: Defeat and unlock Captain Falcon.

Bonus Stage Achievements

How to obtain: Break all 10 targets with any character.

How to obtain: Break all 10 targets with the starting eight characters.

How to obtain: Break all 10 targets with all twelve characters.

How to obtain: Break all 10 targets with any character in under 15 seconds.

How to obtain: Break all 10 targets in under 30 seconds with all twelve characters.

How to obtain: Board all 10 platforms with any character.

How to obtain: Board all 10 platforms with the starting eight characters.

How to obtain: Board all 10 platforms with all twelve characters.

How to obtain: Board all 10 platforms with any character in under 20 seconds.

How to obtain: Board all 10 platforms with all twelve characters in under 35 seconds.

How to obtain: Complete the Race to the Finish in under 30 seconds.

Multiplayer Achievements

How to obtain: Play on each multiplayer stage at least once.

How to obtain: Play on each multiplayer stage 10 times.

How to obtain: Win on each multiplayer stage 10 times.

How to obtain: Play a Timed VS Mode match on Mushroom Kingdom with a duration of three minutes or more.

How to obtain: Win 100 VS Mode matches of any type.

How to obtain: Accumulate 1000 KO's with any character in VS Mode.

How to obtain: Accumulate over 100,000 attack % damage with any character in VS Mode.

Item-based Achievements

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent with a Beam Sword.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent with a charged swing with a HomeRunBat.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent with a Hammer.

How to unlock: Break through an opponent's shield with a Fan.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent with a Motion Sensor Bomb.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent with a Bob-omb.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent with a Bumper.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent with either a Green or Red Shell.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent with the aid of a Poké Ball.

How to obtain: Obtain a 100% accuracy rating with a RayGun.

How to obtain: Inflict over 100% damage to an opponent with a Fire Flower.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent with a Star Rod.

How to obtain: Replenish 100% of damage with a Maxim Tomato.

How to obtain: Replenish over 100% of damage with a Heart.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent whilst under the effects of a Star.

Secret Achievements

How to obtain: Unlock and utilise the Item Switch menu in any VS Mode match type.

How to obtain: In a VS Mode match, defeat at least 10 opponents and taunt after each one.

How to obtain: Defeat three opponents with a single Hammer in a VS Mode match.

How to obtain: Survive a hammer onslaught of at least two strikes.

How to obtain: In a 4-player, 10-stock VS Mode match, defeat at least 10 opponents.

How to obtain: In a 4-player, 10-stock VS Mode match, defeat at least 20 opponents.

How to obtain: View at least 25 names in the credits by selecting them.

How to obtain: Sustain damage to at least 300% before being defeated in a VS Mode match.

How to obtain: Change into and utilise the new move of all other characters with Kirby at least once.

How to obtain: Obtain every single Pokémon in the game.

How to obtain: Defeat an opponent by throwing a strike-based item at them.