Paperboy 2
Let it be known I already wasn’t a fan of the original Paperboy. I always felt like the game was full of cheap, stupid challenges, because it was also short.
I get the premise, which is a cool, and how some folks probably loved it – maybe still to this day.
I’m not one of those people.
I also get that it was an arcade game meant to eat your quarters, which I don’t believe translated well to home consoles. So, tack on my frustration and general dislike for the first game, and multiply it tenfold for the sequel, which is every bit of a money grab.
The developer, Tengen, made sure that Paperboy was available on every imaginable console available at the time. It’s sequel also shows up in places it shouldn’t be too. (I’m looking at you Game Boy!)
The reason is the simplicity of the game. In this NES version of Paperboy 2, nothing has really changed from the original!
Oh hey, the A and B buttons toss papers to either side of the road. Very innovative!
There’s also a “Papergirl” now too! Gee whiz! Golly! Take my money!
They also added an intersection in the road, which, I guess, mixes up the game play from the OG title.
I can’t say enough bad things about this intentional attempt to slap a new cover on an old book. Even looking at older reviews from when this game was launched, most of the gaming magazines panned it – some even worse than I did – stating the gameplay is repetitive, and the audiovisual content is dated compared to other games of its era.
Honestly, this is the type of game you only played as a kid because it was one of the four cartridges you owned, gifted to you for a birthday or holiday. You kept putting it in, trying something other than Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, only to be disappointed and frustrated time and again.
We did that in the 80’s and 90’s… there’s no reason to torture yourself today by even booting this up!
