'Retro is as retro was' seems to be the motto of Xbox Live Arcade titles as of late. The latest addition to the Arcade vault is Midway's straightforward port of the '80s classic, Paperboy. The newspaper-tossing gem remains the same as you remember it, for better or for worse. The minimalist Xbox Live integration is the lone upgrade; but together with some rather difficult achievement points, it will keep you coming back for more.
Like all great games of yesteryear, Paperboy is simple, addictive, and challenging. Players take the role of a nameless paper delivery boy, riding his bike through a neighborhood. The goal is to throw a paper in the mailbox (and
only the mailbox) of the customer houses on the street. Non-customer homes can gain players bonus points in the form of 'breakage bonus' points; earned by smashing lawn ornaments and windows. Along the way, a wide-variety of obstacles greets you, designed to knock you off the bike; thus losing a life.
Miss a customer house, or break their window, and you will most likely loose them as a customer; reducing the number of available points on the following day's route. The game adds a bit of strategy by limiting the number of papers you can carry at a time, requiring some thought as to whether you can really afford to bust-up non-customer homes before running into your next paper replenishment stack. At the end of each route, there is a training course to hone your paper throwing and bike riding skills for more bonus points.
Those who remember the original paperboy will note that the game's difficulty is as due to the awkward controls and odd camera angle as much as it is the onslaught of radio-controlled cars, dogs, and angry customers chasing you down. With no aiming scheme, the game predicates you hitting your mark on timing. The 'A' button handles the throwing, but the strange diagonal angle of the street is both nostalgic and frustrating. The angle creates tricky movement with the left-stick to avoid the obstacles, hitting your jumps in the training course, and takes a little skill in nailing your tosses.
The off-center camera angle is not the only bit of unwelcome nostalgia Midway brought to the game. The game features the same drab graphics and boring sound that was acceptable in the original, but is a bit odd to see run on a box as powerful as the 360. There is retro cool, and there is just plain lazy, with the lack of touch-ups being seen on Arcade's retro titles falling in the latter.
