Paperboy
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| Paperboy

Whilst we don't usually have much time for gaming nostalgia here at PG towers, preferring to view each title on its merits in the here and now, on occasion we’ll get misty-eyed over a particular blast from the past. Paperboy is most certainly one of them. We all had fond memories of the original arcade machine that boasted real bicycle handles to help you steer your on screen character up the increasingly unfriendly street, dispatching papers in that ballistic American manner as you went.

You don't have to have played the original to know that Paperboy dates from a simpler age; the very fact that your on-screen character could fit a dozen newspapers on his spindly bike, never mind hurl them considerable distances across the street harks back to a time before colour supplements, dedicated sections and CDs were crammed into the average daily. And whilst the Times (arf) may have changed, Paperboy's innate gameplay fortunately hasn't, remaining both as simple to pick up yet brilliantly challenging as it ever was. The controls are intuitive, your bicycling newsboy peddles through a pseudo-3D street scene and you speed him up, slow him down and turn him from side-to-side with a push on the joypad. You'll need to be make use of all of this control, too, as there are plenty of fiendish obstacles to avoid, from errant pets and cars backing-out of drive-ways to tottering drunks, breakdancers and even an end-of-level BMX stunt course.

Of course, avoiding collisions is only half the job here, the main point is to deliver papers, which you must hurl onto welcome mats and mail boxes as you pass your friendly subscribers’ houses. These are highlighted on a map at the start of each day and are pretty easy to spot in-game too, being the light-coloured ones contrasting starkly with the grim gothic style homes of the non-subscribers. Manage to deliver to the right houses and not only will you be rewarded with points for the deed, you'll also receive a bonus for retaining the subscriber for the following day. Fail to post their paper however and they'll cancel their subscription, leaving you with more black houses on the block. Whilst this isn't entirely bad news – a well-aimed broadsheet can wreak satisfying havoc with windows and ornaments rewarding you points in the process – if you manage to lose all your customers it's game over.

In truth though, you needn't worry about this too much when you start to play as even on Easy Street, the simplest of the 3 levels on offer, Paperboy presents a pretty tough challenge to most players and it's more likely that you'll end your game as an elaborate hood ornament on a neighbour’s car than via redundancy. Whilst this may be a valid reason for truly new Paperboy players to steer clear, it shouldn't be enough to perturb anyone with more than 2 games on their handset and merely serves to extend the playing time. Perseverance and patience are definitely rewarded with some increasingly cunning challenges arriving on later levels, and a genuine sense of accomplishment when you make it through the week.

Paperboy

A well-delivered slice of classic arcade action that’s still newsworthy today
Score
Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, bossman Chris is up for anything – including running Steel Media (the madman).