VGXPO Day 2: The Secret Game of the Show
The most entertaining games shown at VGXPO were...not games that you'd expect Angela and I to pick. Let's put aside how potentially worthwhile an experience The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks could be, and how incredibly fun it is to play New Super Mario Bros. Wii with three other partners (or hindrances, if your itinerary is to thwart your accomplices techniques). No, our favorite games were the classics that were on hand to play, of which there were plenty. But we found ourselves constantly coming back to Paperboy for NES, and, uh, intrigued by an arcade game called Shuuz.
As someone who really likes classic gaming, I have a confession to make: I've never played Paperboy before. Despite how it's regarded as a venerable classic among people who remember the game fondly in their youth, I somehow managed to avoid it at every opportunity. That's pretty embarrassing, actually! This time, though, I couldn't dodge it after watching Angela play it quite a few times. The game itself hasn't aged terribly well, and therein lies its present appeal; when we were younger, we didn't find it abnormal for a video game to take a few liberties with reality, but looking at a game like this now, the liberties it takes are completely hilarious.
When Paperboy begins, it tells you who you should make it your itinerary to deliver papers, as some of the people in the neighborhood are non-subscribers. Honestly, I haven't a clue as to why it's there, since there's no way you could remember who you should be delivering them to during the course of the game. That's because the layout isn't something you could remember in your head unless you have an extremely photographic memory. That's also because you'll be too busy dodging the utter chaos that awaits you while trying to perform the ostensibly simple task of delivering papers. Any kid who aspired to become an actual paper boy would have definitely been put off by this game.
Well, we certainly never saw this screen! The left one, I mean.
And it gets worse depending on how far you go; if you could make it that far at all. With gaming being easier these days, our reflexes had to become readjusted to a reflex-intensive game like this. You need to be able to adjust your speed on a whim to dodge some guy coming out of a sewer (a Ninja Turtle?), some guy who just happened to park in the middle of the street, and a typhoon that will only harm a paper boy at the same time. Tough? Yes. Unfair? Incredibly. Fun? Absolutely. And don't even get me started on the training course that just happens to be within
I'm sure neither Angela nor I could've predicted that we'd walk out impressed with Paperboy, of all games. Please note that this isn't intended to make the show feel that it was a non-event, but I think one of the intents of VGXPO was to help people rediscover how fun the classics they might have forgotten were. I think we're feeling the after effect of that, and I have to say that it feels great. I'm sure Angela would agree. I'll have to talk about more of them tomorrow, because I didn't think it was possible to talk about Paperboy at this length.
P.S. While we were playing, we did notice that the NES console itself had a gaping hole in it. Perhaps the result of too many frustrating, prolonged sessions of Paperboy? Or, perhaps, something even more insidious.
Game images courtesy of VGMuseum.
As someone who really likes classic gaming, I have a confession to make: I've never played Paperboy before. Despite how it's regarded as a venerable classic among people who remember the game fondly in their youth, I somehow managed to avoid it at every opportunity. That's pretty embarrassing, actually! This time, though, I couldn't dodge it after watching Angela play it quite a few times. The game itself hasn't aged terribly well, and therein lies its present appeal; when we were younger, we didn't find it abnormal for a video game to take a few liberties with reality, but looking at a game like this now, the liberties it takes are completely hilarious.When Paperboy begins, it tells you who you should make it your itinerary to deliver papers, as some of the people in the neighborhood are non-subscribers. Honestly, I haven't a clue as to why it's there, since there's no way you could remember who you should be delivering them to during the course of the game. That's because the layout isn't something you could remember in your head unless you have an extremely photographic memory. That's also because you'll be too busy dodging the utter chaos that awaits you while trying to perform the ostensibly simple task of delivering papers. Any kid who aspired to become an actual paper boy would have definitely been put off by this game.
Who knew paper boys would have to dodge such hazards during their route? Break dancers doing their routine in the middle of their sidewalk? A knife-wielding man who sets you in his sights after getting his paper? (And here you thought today's humans were crazy!) Cars that just happen to come down the road while you're in it? Toy cars that happen to be riding around on a Monday morning? Skater dudes that happen to be coming in the opposite direction? (This game was made in the 80s, right when the "dude" phenomenon was beginning.) And that's not even all of it! If you think you could conjure a more fun experience, then you'd be incredibly wrong.
Well, we certainly never saw this screen! The left one, I mean.And it gets worse depending on how far you go; if you could make it that far at all. With gaming being easier these days, our reflexes had to become readjusted to a reflex-intensive game like this. You need to be able to adjust your speed on a whim to dodge some guy coming out of a sewer (a Ninja Turtle?), some guy who just happened to park in the middle of the street, and a typhoon that will only harm a paper boy at the same time. Tough? Yes. Unfair? Incredibly. Fun? Absolutely. And don't even get me started on the training course that just happens to be within
I'm sure neither Angela nor I could've predicted that we'd walk out impressed with Paperboy, of all games. Please note that this isn't intended to make the show feel that it was a non-event, but I think one of the intents of VGXPO was to help people rediscover how fun the classics they might have forgotten were. I think we're feeling the after effect of that, and I have to say that it feels great. I'm sure Angela would agree. I'll have to talk about more of them tomorrow, because I didn't think it was possible to talk about Paperboy at this length.
P.S. While we were playing, we did notice that the NES console itself had a gaping hole in it. Perhaps the result of too many frustrating, prolonged sessions of Paperboy? Or, perhaps, something even more insidious.
Game images courtesy of VGMuseum.
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