Cyberball 2072

This achievement is difficult to the point that it's borderline unfair. I spent a ton of time over the years working on this and I hope that by sharing the knowledge that I’ve collected, others might be able to benefit. Here is my successful run (edited to remove failures) that hopefully will illustrate everything that I've explained below:

(Unedited vid HERE)

Full disclosure: I finally got over the hump to complete this achievement by playing the MAME version of the game. The 360 version is a direct port of the original arcade version and the MAME version is basically identical. In MAME, you can create save states which allow you to practice each play any number of times. Without the ability to practice the harder plays on the later pages repeatedly, this achievement would be borderline impossible.

This is not an exaggeration- many of the plays on pages 9 and 10 took me hundreds of tries each to find strategies that worked sometimes and without MAME, you would have to play up to that point (taking ~20 minutes) just for maybe 3 chances at the plays before game over. It would take hundreds and hundreds (perhaps thousands) of hours if you only played the Xbox version to get enough practice with the final pages. I'm extremely skeptical that anyone did this before I figured things out, especially considering nobody before me has any video proof.

Game Breakers is a secondary mode where you are tasked with scoring a touchdown over the course of increasingly difficult scenarios. There are 10 pages that need to be completed, each with 6-10 plays. Plays on the earlier pages give you two and sometimes three chances to get into the end zone but starting around page 7, most plays give you one attempt (and often start you around midfield). Failing results in a strike and after three strikes, it's game over. You get two continues that you can use through page 8, but you cannot continue on pages 9 or 10. You also have a strike removed after completing pages 3, 6, and 9.

Each page has an "ante" that you must reach in order to complete the page and each play is worth a set mount of money. This gives you some leeway in terms of which plays you can complete. Feel free to experiment with all of the plays if you'd like to try to succeed with plays that I chose to skip.

When the ball starts critical, you fail if you don't score on your first attempt. When the ball starts hot, you will get a second chance if you don't score and when the ball starts warm (only on the first two pages), you will even get a third chance. These extra chances allow you to pick from four different plays in three different categories-running, passing, or option plays. The plays offered here are chosen randomly from a large pool so it's hard to plan directly.

Most pages also offer a couple of defensive scenarios, but I found these to be far too difficult to succeed with since you can only cover one side of the field, leaving the AI to go the opposite way and score almost every time. I found one defensive play on page 1 worth doing.

There are three types of teams to choose from- balanced, strong running game, and strong passing game.


I used New Orleans (Pittsburg is identical as far as I can tell), a strong running team, since the vast majority of plays require running the ball. The running backs on New Orleans/Pittsburg start out being much faster than those on the other teams and this extra speed is pretty much required to succeed in most scenarios.

Passing plays are a nightmare for a few reasons, but mainly because the later scenarios require scoring on one play and the plays are not really designed for this. Most plays are designed to make a little progress down field like you would in a normal football game. Since you get tackled when a defender touches you, I found juking and outrunning the entire defense with running plays to be the optimal approach. Unfortunately, the later pages start to force you into passing plays, and I was eventually able to work out strategies with some that require an inconsistent deflection off of defenders to a strategically placed wide receiver who can catch the ball and score. More on this later.

For the first two pages, the goal is to get specific players tackled so that they get damaged and can then be upgraded. You need to quickly and efficiently upgrade your primary wide receiver (WR) and your primary running back (RB). It's possible to get the primary wide receiver damaged and upgraded a second time to be even faster but I found the first upgrade to be sufficient as he is only needed a few times. The upgraded running back is your workhorse and his insane speed allows you outrun entire defenses and score in absurd situations.

The New Orleans/Pittsburg RBs start at the first upgrade and only need to be upgraded once to be at max speed. The RBs on the other teams start at base level, making them slower and requiring two upgrades to reach max speed.

Getting the right players upgraded is more difficult than it sounds because there is no way to directly distinguish between primary and secondary players. If a play only has one player of a specific position, it will always be the primary. But if there are two running backs or wide receivers on a play, then the only way to know which is which is through trial and error. And it's vital to know which is which since you can only have either the primary or the secondary upgraded- upgrading one reverts the other to starting status if it had been upgraded. This makes upgrading secondary players pointless since it isn't available on every play.

Once you have the primary RB and WR upgraded, you can then shift focus to completing plays efficiently. This requires understanding how to best approach each play which, for the later pages, I was only able to work out through hours of practice on MAME. On MAME, you create save states at any point and therefore practice individual plays ad infinitum. Most plays require precise execution and a little luck that the defense and your AI players react predictably and appropriately, which isn't always the case.


Suggested play progression: Snakedance, Wham-Bam, Prevent (the only defensive play worth attempting), Trail Sweep, Twin Engine (5/6)

This page is forgiving as the plays give you two or three chances to succeed. The goal on this page is to get your primary WR tackled twice, then upgraded for $30k. You also want to get your primary RB tackled three times if possible.

Snakedance: Hand off to the left RB (I think this is the primary RB, but I'm not certain), then get as close to the end zone as you can and let yourself get tackled. For the second play, choose Running, look for a play with a single WR that you can hand off to (Filler, for example) and again get him tackled as close to the end zone as you can without going in. If there is no play where you can hand off to the primary WR, choose one where you can get the primary RB tackled.

* In Trail Sweep, Scatter, and Easy Rider, the primary RB is the one on the right.

* In Right Jab, Wide Angle, and Shakedown, the primary RB is the one on the left.

* With every play moving forward, I only use primary players, so you may want to reference my play guides in future pages since they will likely be offered as second chance plays throughout your runs.

* Crosstown and Tidal Wave are two possible options where you can hand off to the Primary WR. And in Frenzy, the primary WR lines up on the right, but be aware that handing off to the secondary WR on the left as he follows his route towards you, then running left will almost always score a touchdown.

You now need to score on play 3 as the ball is critical. If you're at the 1 yard marker or closer, you can almost always score on a QB sneak. Pick a running play and just run forward after hiking the ball, angling your path if it seems that the defense is able to get past the blocker on the the left or right. This will almost always work but there are times when the defense just smashes in and tackles you.

Wham-Bam: As soon as the play starts, hold up/left and tap A to toss the ball to the WR, then let him get tackled. If this is his second time being tackled, he will be smoking and ready for the upgrade, which costs $30k that you still need to amass. If you haven't gotten him tackled twice yet, you'll need to look for running plays like Filler or Frenzy where you can easily get the ball to him and get him tackled. There will be chances on secondary plays on page 2 if you don't get the right plays on page 1.

Since the ball starts warm, you again get two secondary plays where you want to continue to try to get the primary RB and WR tackled to work towards their upgrades. Remember that plays that only have a single WR or RB will always be the primary. Try to get as close to the end zone as you can before getting tackled so you can do a QB sneak on play 3.

Prevent: Defensive plays are really inconsistent moving forward, but I found page 1's Prevent to be very consistent and the $10k will allow for faster upgrades. You can toggle through the defensive players before the play starts but leave control on the central Linebacker and once the ball is hiked, press A to use your turbo to attempt to get to the QB immediately, forcing him to pass which will almost always result in an incompletion and a success for the play. Should they manage to score a touchdown, you'd probably want to restart to save the strike since getting to this point once you've practiced a bunch will only take a couple of minutes.

Trail Sweep: Hand off to the RB on the left, then run to the right and let yourself get tackled as close to the end zone as you can.

If you've gotten the primary WR tackled twice so that he is smoking, this will be the first chance to upgrade him. When picking your secondary play, then upper left option will offer the WR upgrade for $30k.


If you haven't gotten him to smoking status yet, you'll probably not get another chance until page 2. Continue to focus on getting the primary RB tackled so he starts smoking and can be upgraded. This costs $60k, though, which will take until page 2 regardless.

Some important notes on smoking players and upgrades:

1) If a smoking player is tackled with a critical ball, they explode. This will reset their damage progress and you'll have to then get them tackled 2 or 3 times again so that they can be upgraded. This is bad.

2) If a smoking player is tackled without exploding, they will be damaged further and appear more damaged (on fire, heavier smoke) in subsequent plays. If they get tackled while they are in this extra damaged state, they will explode (even if the ball is not critical), again resetting their damage progress. This is also bad.

3) Once a player is upgraded, if they explode, they will still be upgraded when they are replaced.

4) As mentioned previously, you can only have one player at any position upgraded. So if you get your primary RB upgraded, then get the secondary RB tackled three times (smoking status), then upgrade him, it will revert your primary RB to start of game status. Do not upgrade a secondary player.

5) You may unintentionally get your QB tackled twice over the course of the game, at which point he can be upgraded. If this makes him faster, I couldn't tell, so don't worry about going out of your way to make this happen.

Twin Engine: Run left with the QB, then do a delayed toss to the (primary) RB on the left and continue towards the left sideline and then the end zone. If already smoking, try to score without being tackled. If not yet smoking, get tackled as close to the end zone as you can and then do a QB sneak to score. Page complete!

The best scenario at this point is to have the primary WR upgraded and the primary RB smoking or one tackle away, but if you weren't able to get the WR tackled twice for his upgrade, the next best scenario is to have the primary RB smoking so that he can be upgraded on the next play. If you haven't made good progress towards tackles for these upgrades, you'll likely want to start over as this page is by far the easiest and best chance to do so.


Suggested play progression: Easy Rider, Scatter, Right Jab, Back Door (4/6)

Easy Rider: The primary RB is the one on the right (lined up directly behind the QB). The ball starts warm so you get two secondary plays that can be used to get your WR or RB tackled if needed. If you've upgraded one player and the other is smoking, you want to score without getting tackled. Once your primary RB is smoking, consider using the secondary RB for the next few plays while accruing the money for the upgrade so that the smoking player doesn't explode. Once you have both players upgraded, you no longer want to get tackled intentionally and can shift focus to efficient scoring.

Scatter: The primary RB is the one on the left. The ball starts hot so you will get a secondary play.

Right Jab: The primary RB is the one on the right. The ball starts hot so you will get a secondary play.

This is the earliest that you can get the second player upgraded. Remember, you get the option while picking a secondary play. The RB upgrade will cost $60k:


This upgrade results in a major speed boost for the RB and is what makes the achievement possible. Moving forward, there is no more playing around. Just score.

The goal on every running play for the rest of the game is to hand off to the primary RB, run to one side of the field, then double back to the other side and outrun the defense to the end zone. These are the basic paths you'll want to follow:


All three of these paths are variations of "run right, then go back to the left." You'll have to develop your own paths with each play based on a few variables- which side of the field you are closer to (you may need to instead go left, then back to right), which side of the formation your primary RB starts on, how the defense reacts to your play, and where your stupid AI players decide to stand while you're trying to evade the defense. You'll also find that you have to really optimize your angles and lines in order to narrowly avoid the defense, so when you fail on a play, ask yourself if a tighter turn or getting closer to the sideline before making the turn towards the end zone would have helped.

Defensive formations and reactions are not the same every time. Some plays seem to have consistent defensive setups that you can expect each time. But sometimes the defense switches things up on you, forcing you to throw your plan and intended path to the end zone out the window. The most common scenario involves a defensive blitz, where rather than lineup in a static formation and move somewhat predictably, they send one or two players aggressively towards your QB at the start of the play. Fortunately, you have enough wiggle room with strikes and continues that several failures along the way won't cause major problems.

Back Door: Hot Ball. Use the basic running strategy to score by going right, then back around to the left. The defense often blitzes on the right side, though, making it so you want to instead go quickly left and get around the defenders to score. Page complete!


Suggested play progression: Bulldozer, Frenzy, Crosstown, Outhouse (4/7)

Note: it is possible to get three primary WR tackles on this page in order to upgrade him again, but I found it to be too risky (I'll explain the process * within the plays, though). There are a couple of plays in later pages that I had much greater success with when I had a twice upgraded primary WR but since I found this upgrade difficult to get consistently, I chose to proceed without it and either handle those plays differently or skip them altogether.

Bulldozer: Hot ball. The LB will usually blitz on the left. Hand off to the RB and go right, making a wide arc to get to the sideline to avoid the defender.

*It's usually easy to throw to the WR on the left and get him tackled for upgrade purposes.

Frenzy: Hot ball. Hand off to the WR on the left (which is the secondary WR), then angle him back to the left and into the end zone.

*The defense almost always blitzes a safety on the right, making it impossible to get the ball to the primary WR (on the right). If the safety doesn't blitz, handing off to the right WR and getting him tackled is manageable.

Crosstown: Hot ball. Quickly hand off to the RB and go right.

*The defense almost always blitzes a safety on the left, making it impossible to the the ball to the primary WR. If the safety doesn't blitz, handing off to the WR and getting him tackled is manageable. This could potentially be the third tackle for him allowing for a second primary WR upgrade.

Outhouse: Hot ball. Quick toss to the RB and run right, then go back to the left. Page complete and a strike removed!


Suggested play progression: Wrench, Spin-Out, Stunner, Backlash (4/7)

Wrench: Hot Ball. This play is trash because there is no RB or WR, just a slow-as-molasses Powerback and Tight Ends. Run right with the QB and get up the sideline a bit, but try not to go past the solid 10 yard line since defenders seem to blitz more aggressively when you start inside this line. For the secondary play, look for something where you can identify the primary RB, then ideally hand to him, run right, then back to the left.

Spin-Out: Hot Ball. Hand off to the primary RB on the left. The safety will usually blitz on the right, so quickly run left.

Stunner: Hot Ball. Hand off to the primary RB on the left. The linebacker will usually blitz on the right, so quickly run left.

Backlash: Hot Ball. Hand off to the RB, run right, then back to the left. Page complete!


Suggested play progression: Decoy, Swing Out, Rocket, Overdrive, Filler (5/8)

Decoy: Hot Ball. The safety usually blitzes on the left. Toss to RB and run right.

Swing Out: Hot Ball. The safety often blitzes on the left. Hand off to RB and run left.

Rocket: Hot Ball. Hand to right RB, run right, then run back to the left.

Overdrive: Hot Ball. Hand to RB, run left, then run back to the right.

Filler: This is the first play that starts critical (a trend moving forward) so you only get one chance. Toss to RB on right, run right, then back to the left. Page complete!


Suggested play progression: Expressway, High Voltage, Canned Heat, Can-O-Corn, Fender Bender (5/8)

Expressway: Critical ball. Take a few steps to the left, hand off to left WR, then run right.

High Voltage: Critical ball. Hand to right RB, run right, then run back to the left.

Canned Heat: Hot Ball. Toss to left RB, run left, then back to the right.

Can-O-Corn: Hot Ball. Hand to RB, run right, then back to the left.

Fender Bender: Hot Ball. Toss to RB, run right, then back to the left. Page complete and a strike removed!


Suggested play progression: Knockout, Deep Threat, Tidal Wave, About-Face, Juice (5/9)

Knockout: Hot Ball. Toss to left RB, run left, then back to the right.

Deep Threat: Critical ball. Hand to right RB (starts behind QB), run left, then run right.

Tidal Wave: Critical ball. Take a step to the right, hand to WR, then run left.

About-Face: Hot ball. The RB will relocate to the left before the ball is snapped. Toss to the RB, then run left, then back to the right.

Juice: Critical ball. This is the first play where passing can work, but like with all passing plays, your results will vary. Drop back two steps, then throw upwards, pointing towards the WR target (which will turn orange when you are targeting it). As soon as the ball is thrown, you gain control of the intended target who turns white. The hope is that the ball deflects off a defender and right to the WR you now control who can then run for a touchdown. Pay attention to the ball's shadow after the deflection to see where it will end up. Unfortunately, the defense will often intercept the pass and I have been unable to figure out how to more consistently get a deflection rather than an interception. Furthermore, you have to have your WR positioned correctly so that he catches the deflection, which can be troublesome. To complicate this even more, the trajectory of the pass depends on how far your receiver is from the target, and this greatly affects the trajectory of the deflection. All of this is why passing plays are so risky- you need a deflection rather than an interception, you need the right deflection trajectory, you need the right positioning of your receiver, and you need to not get caught by the defense after making the catch. Got all that?

If you'd prefer to run the ball, instead hand off to the RB, run left, then back to the right.

After Juice, page complete!


Suggested play progression: In-Your-Face, Payday, Rumble, Counterfeit, Assault Wave, Chiller (6/9)

This is the last page where you are allowed to continue, so even if you have continues remaining, you cannot use them on page 9 or 10. You want to end this page with no strikes, so if you have continues left when you get to Chiller, fail on purpose until you have to continue, then successfully complete the play. I leave Chiller for last as I feel it is the easiest play on the page.

If you manage to get through this page with no strikes, you'll have up to four chances to complete the plays on pages 9 and 10 (you have a strike removed after page 9).

In-Your-Face: Hot ball. The RB repositions to the right before the snap. Toss the ball to him, then run right, then back to the left. You usually need to angle your initial RB path down/right for this play since the defense seems to move on you quickly.

Payday: Critical ball. Toss to RB, run right, then back to the left.

Rumble: Hot ball. Hand to RB, run right, then back to the left.

Counterfeit: Toss to RB on right, run right, then back to the left.

Assault Wave: Critical Ball. hand to right RB (who starts directly behind the QB), run left, then run right.

Remember- if needed/possible, use a continue to have no strikes here.

Chiller: Hand to RB, run right, then left. Page complete!


Suggested play progression: Wrap-Around, Switchback, Thriller, Double Barrel, Recoil, Grub, Axel Grind (7/9)

This is where things get serious since you can no longer continue. An ideal run through this page will have no more than one failure since completing the page removes a strike.

Wrap-Around: Critical ball. Toss to the RB and run right, then back to the left. In other plays, I would generally circle behind the QB as I changed sides of the field. With this play, cross back to the left between the two offensive linemen and the QB rather than going behind the QB. There will not be much wiggle room with the defense for the rest of the game and even being slightly off with your turns or angles will likely result in failure.

Switchback: Hot ball. Hand off to the Powerback and run right. Since he is so slow, it's unlikely that you'll make much forward progress. Look for a secondary running play that has your primary RB lined up on the left so that you can run left, then back to the right. Plays with the primary WR running from right to left (like Tidal Wave) are another decent option.

Thriller: Critical ball. You can pass or run on this play, but I found better consistency with passing. The target is the receiver that starts on the left. When the play starts, make a 5 step drop back/right, then throw straight up to the central target (the QB's 5 step drop gives the WR time to get into position and moves in line with the target so the deflection goes basically straight ahead). The ball should deflect off a defender and you'll need to position your WR under the shadow to make then catch, then run in for the touchdown.

If you want to run instead, try handing to the RB and running right first, then back to the left.

Double Barrel: Take two or three steps to the right, then toss the ball to the RB on the right. Run up/right, then turn around and run down/left and around the QB before turning up/left to continue to the sideline.

Recoil: Critical ball. The WR will move to your left before the play starts. Toss him the ball, run left, then turn around and run to the right sideline.

Grub: Hand off to the RB and run right, then run back to the left.

Axel Grind: Critical ball. Immediately pass the ball to the target on the right and it should deflect off of a defender. You will likely have to stop with your receiver as to not overrun the deflection, then quickly scamper into the end zone.

Page complete and a strike removed!


Suggested play progression: Switch-Hitter, Bootcamp, Grand Slam, House Call, Eclipse, Shadow, Comebacker, Left Out (8/10)

This is the hardest page by a mile. Most of the plays require passing and no matter how many different approaches I tried, I could never get consistent deflections rather than interceptions. Sometimes (in MAME practice) I could complete a play five times in a row. Then I'd get five interceptions in a row without doing anything different. You're at the mercy of RNG and the only way through this page is to get here enough times so that the passes eventually go in your favor.

Switch-Hitter: Hot ball. The RB will reposition himself on your left before the play starts. Hold up/left and tap A to immediately toss the ball to him, then run up/left to the sideline. Turn up/right away from the sideline to avoid a defender, then turn straight up and head for the end zone. I was able to score on this play about half the time and about half the time, a defender would tackle me.

If the defenders blitz you at the start of the play, toss the ball to the Powerback and quickly pass the ball to the left target where your RB should catch it. Then follow his path as explained above.

If you need a secondary play, look for something where you can guarantee handing off to the primary RB and try to do a left, then right pattern (since you should start closer to the left sideline).

Bootcamp: Hot ball. Hand to the RB and run left, then right. If you need a secondary play, look for something with a guaranteed primary RB hand off and try to do a right, then left pattern.

Grand Slam: Hot ball. This is a coinflip pass. Drop 2 steps down/right, then throw to the right target. If luck favors you, the ball will be deflected and you can catch it with the WR, then run in for a touchdown. If the pass ends up incomplete, you'll get to choose a secondary play and can look to run with your primary RB. If the ball is intercepted, don't bother trying to figure out why. Just accept your strike and try again.

House Call: Critical ball. Another coinflip pass. Move left one step, then throw to the left target. Upon gaining control of the WR, quickly get down the sideline and be prepared to move to the shadow and catch the deflection.

Eclipse: Critical ball. Another coinflip pass. Immediately throw up/left, hope for a deflection, and be ready to catch the ball down the sideline with your WR.

Shadow: Critical ball. Another coinflip pass. Take one step right, then throw to the central target. You'll have control of the white WR on the left side of the field who is on the right side of the other receiver. You want to run straight up the field and hope the ball is deflected, causing it to bounce right to your receiver (you may need to slow down briefly to stay with the shadow) who can catch it and score.

Comebacker: Critical ball. Immediately hand the ball (down) to the Powerback, then immediately throw the ball to the left target. Since you'll be holding up/left to aim at the target, your receiver will move in that direction towards the sideline. You need to turn him upward and run towards the end zone to get into position to catch the deflection.

Left Out: Critical ball. This is the final coinflip pass. Drop down two steps, then pass straight up to the center target. Continue straight up with the WR you take control of and the ball should deflect right to him, making for an easy final touchdown.

Page 10 complete. Achievement unlocked. Congratulations!