Paper Boy - The Conversions

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

I'm a big fan of the Master System effort

[Havantgottaclue]

The only version I've played so far is the C64 version, and not very much. A quick trip to Lemon 64 reminds me that it looks horrible.

Must try the Master System version, it looks pretty good!

[Dam]

Yep definately the master system for me too, I find it's the easiest one to pick up and play, and therefore more enjoyable than the megadrive or arcade versions.

The NES conversion is so bad its almost funny.

[SirClive]

The spectrum version is brilliant. It's black background and grim graphics remind me of getting up at 6am and doing a round in the dark before schoo,l in a cold and rainy Manchester suberb!

[thevulture]

I`d go for Master system effort as well.Really good job of capturing the essence of the game.

[jdanddiet]

I thought the Lynx version was a pretty decent stab at it. Graphics were good too.

[sirclive1]

Apart from the arcade version the only other one i've spent anytime on is on the Spectrum , me and a mate went halves on it , flew back to his house and when we got over the shock of the tiny play area and monochrome graphics (we also played it on a b & w tv) , we found it to be just as much fun as the arcade , we actually wrote down everytime we started a game so that we could work out whether we would have spent more in the arcades than the £7.95 it had cost us , sounds silly now but that was part of the charm of buying a fresh arcade game back then.

[Timothy Lumsden]

The dodgy handheld thing I bought at the market has a version on it - but god knows which one - may NES?? (all the writing is in Chinese I think). OK - I'll vote for 'Dodgy Possible Chinese Nes knock-off 'as the best.

[MattyC64c]

Purely from a nostalgic perspective, I'll have to go with the C64. Simply because it was the only home version I had as a kid.

With emulation, I realy like the Master System version, its nice and colourful.

[Bub&Bob]

The C64 version isn't too bad and does capture the feel of the arcade - but none of the conversions are great IMO, but its down to the lack of handlebars for me

[clarance]

Commodore 16 version is the worst version... by a long way.

[Matt_B]

The CPC version is quite respectable; it's got decent graphics and plays quite nicely too. It's just a shame that they didn't manage to get any sound into it.

[Havantgottaclue]

I didn't even realise I had the CPC version. It's on a compilation tape, Best of Elite Vol. 2, which I got as part of a job lot a couple of years ago. It's been sat around in a plastic storage box until today.

First thing was that it took at least 10 minutes to load, which is unusual for an Amstrad game - obviously this isn't a turbo load. I was quite pleased about that because for a cassette that's over 20 years old it's probably more reliable if it doesn't use a turboload.

The graphics are nice and bright, and although it's not particularly smooth, it runs at a good speed and the controls are responsive. However, space is a little cramped; although I suppose that is part of the challenge, the Master System version does seem to have a bit more room.

Had a couple of goes; first time I didn't get to the end of the first level and scored 4,200. Second time around, I got to the second level and found that space was extremely tight and I lost my remaining 3 lives in no time at all. I was surprised to see that my score was 4,800, only 600 more than in my previous go - no bonus for reaching the end of the level, presumably because I didn't get through the obstacle course. How tight is that?!

Unfortunately that was my lot for CPC Paperboy. It's quite a good conversion but the screen area just feels a little too cramped. Besides, I have Bomb Jack 2 on the same compilation, so I'm going to give that a try now ...

[Havantgottaclue]

Just rolled back the years on the C64 version. It features drab grey streets and a blocky paperboy dressed in a blue coat and brown trousers. To be fair, you'd have brown trousers too if you were riding through streets full of ill-defined but fast-moving and lethal objects roughly resembling people, runaway wheels and buggies. It took until my third go to get as far as Tuesday, and even then I only had 3 customers remaining. When I got to Tuesday on the CPC version I still had most of my customers, which suggests that it gives you a little more margin for error with aiming the papers. I felt you had to be dead accurate with the C64 version, which is a real pain when there's so much else to concentrate on. My remaining two lives were quickly polished off on Tuesday by a chunky little black dog and something that trashed me before it even got onto the screen.

However, it could get worse - there's a Commodore 16 version, and I'm betting that it's not too hot ...

[Havantgottaclue]

Just got the Master System version through the post this morning, along with Marble Madness, Golden Axe and The Terminator - 9 quid for the four, which I thought was reasonable.

First thing that had to be done was dispense with the Master System Contol Pad in favour of a Megadrive one - I found it too easy to hit the diagonals by mistake with the standard MS controller. Having made the switch to the MD pad I got through to Wednesday before running out of lives. Still only scored 6250 though - strange really that there isn't some sort of level multiplier, to compensate for having fewer houses to deliver to (if you lose customers, like I do) and for the higher number of hazards.

Nevertheless, this one does have a bit more 'one more go' factor, which I felt was missing from the C64 and (to a lesser extent) CPC versions.