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When I got this game I wasn’t quite sure what to expected. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be just the old Paper Boy game made into a 3D layout or if it would be something altogether different. It is essentially a little of both. It uses the basic idea of the old game but expands on it greatly. You still deliver papers but you get to do a lot more than just move a bit from side to side and go faster or slower.

The game has added much freedom in movement and you can do more than just throw a paper to your left. You can now cross the street, knock people over with papers, and even perform tricks with your bike. To find out more about how the reborn Paper Boy plays, read on. Gameplay:

The basis of the game is simple, deliver papers to your subscribers. This may sound simple but it isn’t as easy as you may think. To add challenge to your route, you have a set time limit, hazards to avoid and only a limited supply of papers you can carry.

Let’s talk about the time limit first. Each time you start a route you are allotted so much time. This time may be extended however in several different ways. First, just by delivering a paper to a subscriber you get more time. You can throw the paper to either the subscriber’s door or into the newspaper holder. You get more time for throwing it into the newspaper holder than you do by throwing it to the front door but this is a more difficult throw. You also get extra time by doing tricks as you ride through your route. By tapping the down C button you will perform a hop or jump, the longer you hold down the higher you jump. While in the air, if you push a direction on the joystick you will rotate in that direction. This allows you to perform flips and to spin around. The more flips or spins you perform, and successfully land, the more time that is added to the clock. You can also do poses while in the air. If you hit and hold the down C button after performing a jump then press a direction on the joystick you will perform a pose. The longer you hold the pose the more time you get. These tricks add time to the clock while not slowing down your deliveries, unless of course you crash when you land. I have mixed feelings on your ability to perform tricks. It is a nice touch to be able to do more than just throw papers, but what does performing a back flip have to do with your paper route?

As for the hazards, they come in many different shapes and forms. A hazard can be a rollerblader coming down the side walk, a car driving down the street, a kid racing his R/C car, or even a charging werewolf. The hazards are all appropriate to the levels they are on. When you on the Ghost Town level, you will have to avoid vampires, bats, witches, werewolves, and many more B-movie menaces. On the Construction Junction level you have to avoid bulldozers, construction workers, piles of lumber, cement trucks, and other items you can find at construction sites. I did like how the hazards were appropriate to the setting. This is a nice and very appropriate touch. They do get carried away in the number of hazards at times, and some of them are a little cheap to me. Some hazards will be right next to a house so that as you approach the house, a moose will suddenly come charging out and run you over, giving you no time to react. The hazards of each level are constant though, so next time you go past that house you can have a paper ready to stop that moose in her tracks.

Not only does delivering papers give you more time to finish your route, but it also lets you gain more subscribers if you deliver to enough of your current subscribers' houses. You can’t, however, lose any subscribers. If you take out every window in their house and even knock them over with a paper, never leaving one for them to read, they still keep their subscription. This was kind of a disappointment. In the original game, if you took out a window of a current subscriber you lost them but now that doesn’t matter. The only good part of this is that you can take a level to just take off and look around, never being penalized for not delivering a paper.

As you ride around you have to look for bundles of papers to pick up so that you have enough for deliveries and enough to knock over hazards with. On the later levels you might have to search a bit to find the bundles of fresh papers. There is one other way to gain subscribers yet. If you can find the three hidden coins on each level, hidden in various hazards you have to hit with papers, you open up bonus levels. If you can make it through the bonus level for a route and earn a medal, you will gain bonus subscribers to that route.

To open up the new routes in the game you need to get so many subscribers to open the next level. These subscribers can come from any previous level you have played through, so you don’t have to struggle through those levels that you find difficult, you can just go to other levels you are better at and get subscribers there.

This game also sets high standards for those of you who wish to become as talented as the paper boy and girl featured in the game. Not only do they manage to deliver papers, they also save communities and the world from evil. There are 3 boss levels mixed in with the routes. In one you fight against a Frankenstein like monster, another you fight a giant gorilla, and the last one you save the world from alien invasion. Pretty good for a paper boy don’t you think?

Longevity:

I don’t feel this game has the best longevity. There are a total of 12 routes, each of which also has a bonus stage. There are also 3 boss levels and a training level. You don’t have to get every subscriber on every route to open up all the levels either. The boss levels weren’t very challenging, and it was fairly simple to figure out what you had to do to defeat the enemy. Once I had finished the game I didn’t have a compelling desire to go back and play again or get those subscribers I hadn’t already gotten. The game takes about 3 or 4 hours to play through. Those hours are quite enjoyable though.

Controls:

The controls of the game are fairly well done. It uses the simple A for accelerate and B for Brake. Z throws the papers left and R to the right, while holding either down longer performs a more powerful throw. Pushing down C allows you to perform a jump and the left C uses items. You can also look around and change the camera view with the other C keys. The only real complaint I have with the controls has to do with performing tricks. I found it fairly difficult to easily perform the pose tricks. You really have to be fast in letting go and then reholding the jump button to perform the poses. I did like the separate throw buttons. It made it nice to be able to approach a house from whatever direction you want to. You can even aim your shot since when you hold the throw button an arrow appears and shows where the paper will go, letting you know where you are about to throw it.

Graphics:

The graphics for the game aren’t anything special. They are very simple. The characters are made up of very distinct shapes, and not even all the joints on their bodies connect. Most things are very basic looking. You can tell that the thing coming down the street is a car, how that car drives on those fairly square tires is beyond me though. There is much detail to things and the N64 is capable of much better graphics. The designers must have wanted to go with a simple, very straightforward look. The graphics are very smooth however. I didn’t see any real problems beyond the typical occasional object blocking your view.

Sound:

The sound is not anything incredible either. There is the constant background music as you play the game. The menus all have the same music, which does grow annoying after awhile. Each level does have its own music however, so you won’t have to hear the same music constantly. The music is nothing special though and sounds like music from older games. The voices of the people you pass are done well. You can easily hear what they are saying to you. The voice of the paper boy and girl are both very clear as well. The sound of the paper being thrown is good too. The hazards you encounter have their pluses and minuses for sound though. They usually make a noise, so you can learn to recognize what to look out for by the sound. However, when you hit objects with papers they don’t make sounds you would expect. I thought the sound of a paper hitting a person sounded more like hitting a garbage can and the sound of hitting a garbage can sounded more like hitting a wall. They are basic, simple sounds though and work to let you know you hit something. The sound in general is nothing special and seems more like the sound of an older style game, probably because this is a remake of an older game.

Overall:

In the end I enjoyed playing the game more than I expected I would. I still don’t think it is a game that will find a permanent home on the shelves of many people. Only those who really enjoy challenges ( the hard setting gives you very little time ) or who like to get everything in a game like all the subscribers need to buy this one. The younger crowd, who it is probably aimed more towards, will love it though and find it much more challenging and much more enjoyable than I do. At the least, give this game a rent to see just how well it was done.