Paperboy review

Remember the Atari game PAPERBOY that was all the rage back in 1984? Elite Systems in conjunction with WB digital distribution have brought Paperboy back to life and into the App Store. Paperboy for iPhone offers the classic version of paperboy, and adds a new 3D mode for good measure. Just like the classic arcade game Paperboy will bring back memories and offer the new generation a chance to experience one of the best original games of all time.

If you’re not familiar with Paperboy, it is game featuring a boy on a bike riding on the sidewalks of residential streets, delivering newspapers by tossing them onto the porches of subscribers, while avoiding the homes of non-paying customers, and avoiding various hazards such as cars and dogs. The game highlights subscribers’ homes so you know which ones to deliver paper to easily.
Pick from 3 streets: Easy Street, Middle Road and Hard Way. To win, you have to deliver papers to all subscribers for 7 days, Monday through Sunday, without crashing your bicycle.

The graphics are pretty clear and have been ported over from the original game in classic mode. The 3D mode graphics are done in the same color and graphics style as the original game, but with a 3D model feel added. Control and interface in the game can be done in 3 ways. A full D-pad, which not surprisingly doesn’t work all that well, D-pad and speed bar, and D-pad and tilt speed. The most effective of the 3 seems to be the D-Pad and Speed bar option, where you move the Paperboy left and right using two arrows on the left side of the screen, while controlling the speed by increasing and decreasing the level of the Speed bar on the right. Using the tilt control works well but it doesn’t feel right mixed with a directional pad for movements. It would have been so much more fun if the game allowed for full accelerometer based controls. The music and sound effects are straight out of the original game with funky retro elevator music and computer chip sounding comments throughout the game.

If you were at all a fan of the original Paperboy game on Atari, you should really grab a copy of the iPhone version which will at the very least lead to nostalgia and keep you busy for at least a few hours.

Here is a video demo of the Paperboy app on the iPhone

AppSafari review of Paperboy was written by Joe Seifi on December 20th, 2009 and categorized under App Store, Fun, Games. Page viewed 8709 times, 2 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.