Developer: Atari Inc. Publisher: Mindscape Released: 1988 Genre: Arcade
I am not ashamed to admit that when I was young being a paperboy seemed like a dream job. First of all they hired kids, which instantly made it appealing. And second you did not have a boss looking over your shoulder at all times. What really made it seem like a good racket was the Paperboy arcade game, which made a mundane job seem like the most outrageous activity in the world. The NES port is pretty good but also suffers in that it is an arcade game first and foremost, meaning the initial thrill does not last long before the repetition sets in. Unless you like competing for high scores (which admittedly can be fun i guess) there is not much here to keep you coming back. Fun while it lasts though.
The goal is simple; you have a list of subscribers who need their morning paper. The closer you get to tossing the paper in the mailbox the more points you score. But also on the block are red houses which represent non-subscribers. As tempting as it is to break the windows of non-subscribers it does not benefit you in the long run. The better you do at delivering to all of your customers the higher the chance those non-subscribers will re-subscribe, making your job tougher but also offering a chance at more points. The game spans an entire week with the ending depending on your performance.
While the goal is simple in reality it is anything but. Seemingly everything under the sun is determined to prevent you from delivering papers. Kids break dancing in the middle of the road, aggressive dogs, even Mother Nature has a bone to pick with you. The funniest has to be Death himself, who randomly decides to block your path. Who knew the underworld had a bone to pick with the newspaper industry? At first these hazards come one at a time and are easy to avoid. But soon enough they come in pairs, raising the difficulty. Trying to avoid breaking a subscriber’s window while a runaway lawnmower, a skateboarder and a hurricane all converge is a nightmare. But that is what keeps the game fresh, at least for a little while.
As an arcade game originally Paperboy has a high difficulty. Most of that stems from its viewpoint. The ¾ view gives the game a unique feel but is incredibly stifling. Because the resolution is lower you have less space to move which presents numerous problems. It can be difficult to judge the distance and position of hazards. This one is the most unfair as you will suffer many cheap deaths because something that looks like it should have brushed past you is actually on the same plane. Your momentum plus positioning play a factor in where your papers will land and it isn’t surprising that most will end up breaking many windows by accident. Many of these issues can be easily overcome with practice. But even with that in mind there is still a major problem with Paperboy that cannot be avoided.
The problem with Paperboy is that by the end of the first level you have seen all it has to offer. Don’t get me wrong, the game is incredibly fun but the novelty wears off quickly. The game shows its hand early on and throws in nearly every hazard in the book from the start. It makes it exciting but at the same time with no new obstacles introduced after that it becomes fairly routine. The gameplay loop is not strong enough to keep Paperboy interesting over the long haul sadly. By Wednesday I found it difficult to find the motivation to complete the full week knowing that it would be four more days of the same thing. Your mileage may vary of course.
In Closing
Paperboy is fun initially but its quick thrills grow old fast. Its pacing kills its momentum and within a few minutes you have seen all it has to offer. The game is fun while it lasts but that is not a very long time in my opinion. This one needed a little more meat on its bones.
