Paperboy on the Genesis: A Great Version

PaperBoy was ported to just about everything, and when Tengen moved to the Sega Genesis, it was released on that console. There wasn’t much difference between this game and the NES version. It did look much better, though.

This is one of the games that I didn’t know existed. When I started collecting retro games again in the 2010s, this was one I stumbled across. When I played it, I thought it was fine.

This is one of the many Atari franchises that didn’t evolve under that company. It seems odd that Atari kept its series static in terms of gameplay. The graphics improved, but when the gameplay changed, it was normally turned into a different game or given a different name. Like other series that were picked up by Midway, PaperBoy did try something different.

TLDR: A good looking version of a classic arcade game.

Narrative

There’s no story in Paperboy. You just move from street to street if you do well for a week. You also get to go through a little obstacle course at the end of each stage.

This is one of the games that didn’t need a story in the arcades. Even when it was moved to the home console, a story wasn’t needed. By the time it was ported to the Genesis and SNES, more games were starting to have a story, even if it wasn’t all that elaborate.

This could’ve made for a fun adventure game, and it eventually did on the N64. On the Genesis, it is a good looking game that doesn’t even try to give the player a story. Even the manual (Link) doesn’t try to explain all the crazy characters you see in the game.

Gameplay

The gameplay in the Genesis version of PaperBoy is largely unchanged. That doesn’t mean that it is bad or anything like that. It is actually a little better in this version because the graphics are better and the controls feel more responsive.

The controls aren’t all that different when it comes to the basics. You throw papers at houses. If they’re a subscriber, then you try to hit their door or get it in the mailbox. If they aren’t a subscriber, then you break their windows!

What is different is how responsive the controls are. It just feels easier to maneuver your bike down the street, and aiming is a little easier. This might be due to me playing the game a lot recently, so your experience might be different.

Because this is still an arcade game, points are the most important thing. While there are two ways to lose the game, by losing all your lives or losing subscribers, what really matters is the high score. I don’t mind this, even if I prefer a game with a narrative conclusion.

The gameplay is fine. I like this version of the game more than the NES game, but not by much. Tengen did a good job with this game. If I had to choose a console version of the game to play, this would be it.

Visuals

The Genesis version of PaperBoy looks very good! It is a big improvement over the NES version. It looks brighter and more colorful, which is what you should expect from a game on either the Genesis or the SNES.

The enemies look good. I didn’t notice anything different, aside from them looking a little better. The playfield also feels a little bigger than what you see from the NES version.

The houses don’t always look as goofy as the NES version. While they’re bigger and more colorful, they don’t always have the same odd charm that the NES version has. This game’s streets felt like more of a regular neighborhood to me.

The obstacle course looks good. This part is mostly for getting points, but I think it looks great. It is easy to see your power-ups and newspaper bundles. This version also feels like the graphics aren’t working against you as much as they were in the NES version.

Overall, I like the graphics a lot more in this game. They aren’t perfect, but I like them a little more. You would expect this to be a graphical upgrade over what is on the NES, and that is exactly what it is.

7.5/10. This is a good looking game. The gameplay is fine, but there isn’t too much to it. It has good controls and plenty of stages to play through. For an arcade port, this is a good one, but there isn’t too much to it.

Pros

• Easy to play
• Good graphics
• Can be fun for a while

Cons

• Little to do
• Can be hard to line up throws

Conclusion

There are sequels to PaperBoy. Not all of them do something different, and the ones that do are either obscure or have other issues. I really think that if Atari/Tengen had kept the series, then it wouldn’t have really evolved. That’s usually how their games went.

Tengen is an interesting company. They tried to take on Nintendo in terms of releasing their own games, which didn’t work out well for Tengen. They ended up moving on to the Genesis and eventually just went away. At some point, I’ll have to take a closer look at them.

I only have one other PaperBoy game to cover. I’m probably going to cover the SNES version just so I can cover a different console. This is one of those games that feels like it should’ve been a bigger deal. There are many Atari arcade games that feel like they should be bigger.

Whenever I look at games like this, I feel like I’m beating up on them a bit. There are several arcade games that I enjoy, but they aren’t things I normally play. As I’ve gotten older, they’ve grown on me a bit more. I still like games that have a narrative and characters in them more than arcade games.

If you liked this post, check out some of my other PaperBoy posts. Such as PaperBoy 64 and PaperBoy on the NES.