Paperboy

Review

by Brett Alan Weiss

When Paperboy was new in the arcades in 1984, it was quite the sensation. It seemed as though there was always someone playing the game and a crowd was almost always gathered around to watch. Gamers found Paperboy to be unique, challenging, humorous, and irreverent.

While I thought that Paperboy was a bit overrated, I could certainly understand the appeal of the game. What kid doesn't think it would be cool to be on the kind of paper route where you get rewarded for smashing nonsubscribers' windows and for throwing newspapers at obnoxious neighbors.

Mindscape did a pretty good job of bringing Paperboy to the NES. The overall look of the game is basically intact and so is the bicycling, newspaper-throwing action. There are plenty of obstacles to maneuver around and lots of windows, mailboxes, and enemies to throw papers at.

In terms of variety, Paperboy is hit and miss. Each route has you traveling in the same direction, throwing papers to the same side of the street. However, the eclectic nature of the obstacles (lawn mowers, breakdancers, etc.) helps keep things interesting, and the inclusion of ramps and a timer in the training course helps make it different from the standard paper route.

The music in Paperboy is bland and simplistic, but the sound effects are good, especially the breaking glass.

Paperboy never has been one of my favorite arcade games, but playing it on the NES seems more fun somehow, probably because my expectations are lower, and I don't have to insert a quarter every time I want to play.