Paperboy, PC

The MS-DOS version of Paperboy is surprisingly almost identical to the Amstrad CPC version, even down to the dodgy font used on the information panel at the bottom of the screen.

This should probably come as no surprise as this PC port is part of the Elite Systems Paperboy licenses that were released in 1988. And there were quite a few of them so Elite probably did what it could to save time with ports. And therefore this port is not a bespoke production.

The MS-DOS version of Paperboy plays pretty badly to be honest, with sluggish controls, jerky scrolling, prolonged levels, and many occasions where newspapers seem to hit their targets but don’t seem to register as a hit. Which is extremely frustrating.

Overall, this is a very difficult and borderline unplayable conversion of Paperboy and is not a version that I would recommend to anyone. Excepting maybe die-hard MS-DOS fans or the terminally curious.

While it’s not an absolutely terrible conversion it hasn’t had the deserved care and attention given to it by the programmers and artists who made it, so remains a disappointing footnote in the history of Paperboy conversions.