Rockin' the Suburbs (Paperboy)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Paperboy
Date:	05/10/05 (95 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun novelty; humour to appeal to children

Disadvantages: Limited appeal; gameplay is frustrating and limited

However simplistic, cheap-looking and frustrating to play, Tengen’s ‘Paperboy’ remains one of the more memorable Amiga games I struggled through as a child. Devoid of a plot or any kind of versatility in gameplay from the onset, Paperboy sees a young boy attempting to deliver newspapers to an American suburban community that seems bent on destroying him and his little bike.


GAMEPLAY & CONTROLS


Paperboy is played from an aerial view that begins looking down from the left, becomes a central birdseye view in the middle of the stage and shifts to the right for the third part. The Amiga joystick moves Paperboy’s bike left or right, and can speed up or slow down by pushing forwards or pulling back.

But Paperboy is, thankfully, much more than a simplified BMX simulator; the joystick’s fire trigger, coupled with a shove to the left or right, will release one of the precious ‘Daily Bugle’ newspapers to serve the customer or cause havoc. If Paperboy is hit by an obstacle, kerb or thrown missile he falls off his bike and pulls a grumpy face, and the player loses a life. Lose all three lives and the newspaper cover declares ‘Stop Press: Paperboy Fired!’ You must then begin all over again.

If the player makes it through a level relatively unscathed, they will be rewarded with a bizarre obstacle course than can be completed for bonus points. If you are hit during this stage, as you often will be, Paperboy loses no lives but there is no opportunity to resume the course – play jumps to the next day.


DELIVERIES


Successfully aiming and hitting a mailbox leads to a chime and the player receiving 250 points, while a less accurate hit of a door receives a more modest 100 points. Either way, a delivery has been made and the customer will remain loyal the following day unless Paperboy smashes their windows at the same time. Breaking the windows of non-subscribers (who initially inhabit the run-down ghetto areas with broken TVs and brick-throwers in the front garden, as some kind of weird message about early 90s society) is encouraged and awarded with points.

Points are also awarded for every act of paper vandalism, ranging from releasing a roasting chicken from its oven to dropping a car bonnet on a bloke’s head and hosing sunbathers, no matter where their loyalties lie. Delivering every newspaper on a day results in a ‘perfect delivery’ message and extra life, before play resumes on the slightly more speedy next day.


VERDICT


Paperboy embodies everything that is pointless about early video games. The sequel added little of interest aside from a random level generator, new contrived situations and the unsophisticated ‘Papergirl’ option which involved colouring the Paperboy sprite slightly differently and adding longer, red hair.

Not a game that deserves to be recognised so long after fading from shelves, although the premise is a fairly original and certainly memorable one. Gameplay was difficult and frustrating, but certainly addictive for a limited time as new discoveries wait to be made. Features such as stopping the runaway baby and knocking out the burglar add a sense of trigger-happy satisfaction, and I’m sure less than five newspaper-missile atrocities were influenced by this severely dated game.

Summary: There goes the neighbourhood