An inventive racing/shoot em up game (Paperboy)

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	Paperboy
Date:	27/08/09 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: appealing visuals, simple engaging gameplay

Disadvantages: Can get repetitive

The stark limitations of early video game graphics meant that game designers frequently ended up setting their creations in surrealist universes rather than the real world, so invariably the player would end up controlling an anthropomorphic, top-hat-and-monacle-wearing jacket potato collecting diamonds on the rings of Saturn, or piloting a blocky little spacecraft that fired blocks at block-monsters against the black backdrop of deep space. All this made paperboy's mundane suburban setting seem all the more appealing, the game requiring you to guide a bike-riding paperboy through a series of suburban streets, dodging traffic and residents whilst throwing papers into subscribers' mailboxes and vandalising non-subscribers' homes by throwing papers through their glass windows.

The fixed 3d isometric graphics are sparse but appealing and still look rather nice in a LegoLand kind of way, whilst the gameplay is incredibly simple yet engaging, requiring you to keep a look out for extra bundles of papers after your limited stocks run out, and forcing you to keep moving, rewarding delivery at high speeds with extra points and with stopping for more than a moment resulting in a swarm of bees that chase you, forcing you to start moving again. The enemies you encounter are varied and hugely endearing, including dogs, traffic, skateboarders, tornadoes, drunks, remote controlled cars, motorbikes, psychopathic lawnmower owners and even zombies that emerge from the local cemetery. There's also a training course in between levels that requires you to navigate various ramps and obstacles, and the whole game is colourful and imaginatively designed, with a timeless charm about it.

The original arcade machine had a bicycle handlebar as the controller with buttons on either side to shoot papers left and right, but the numerous home computer ports are just as playable, as the control system is so incredibly simple and straightforward. Paperboy is an inventive and charming game and a true classic, but through fun to play its longevity is admittedly rather short. Still, the varied enemies and engaging visuals make it well worth returning to now and again.

Summary: a creative and charming shoot em up/racing game hybrid