Reviewing a game that combines two classics onto one cartridge can be tough.
See, people see names like Paperboy and Rampage, and they reflexively go into nostalgia mode.
They don't want to hear a single bad thing about games like these, and really, there's
nothing bad to say about Paperboy and Rampage.
They're like pizza and ice cream.
They're always great.
But mix them together?
Ice cream pizza?
Sounds...reprehensible.
And honestly, if you like these games, this cartridge is kind of reprehensible, too.
Paperboy and Rampage pairs together two of the most popular arcade games in history,
but it does so with little resemblance to the arcade games themselves.
This is, like, playing Paperboy on a funhouse mirror.
So this collection was released to the Game Boy Advance back in 2005.
It was kinda slammed by critics, and for good reason.
I mean, these games are classics, but these are not the classic versions.
These are really bad ports of the classics, stripped down for the Game Boy Advance and
with inexplicably bad gameplay.
Like...how do you screw up Paperboy?
How's that even possible?
Anyway, let's start with Rampage, since that's easily the better of the two games as they've
been replicated here.
Rampage was originally released back in 1986, and the game was a huge success.
Destructible environments was an exciting concept at the time, and also—unlike a lot
of arcade games—it was actually even more fun with multiplayer.
So Rampage really stood out in 1986, and it played great.
I guess it stands out here, since Paperboy's so bad, but...it doesn't play great.
The primary problem here is that...these games were really compressed for this collection.
Rampage loses a lot of graphical detail here, not to mention animation.
Movement is way choppier than it's supposed to be, which has an effect on the appearance
as well as the gameplay.
Another issue with Rampage is that there's no multiplayer, obviously.
So again, it's missing one of the game's best features, but...at least Rampage is playable.
Paperboy, on the other hand...ugh, man.
Like Rampage, Paperboy is an arcade classic...this time, from 1984.
The idea is to deliver newspapers to your subscribers and use them to vandalize the
homes of the people who don't subscribe.
Throw them through windows, whatever you got to do.
Now, Paperboy is notoriously challenging...but this one's tough for all the wrong reasons.
I mean, I'm bad at this game to begin with...but for some reason, your bike wants to pull to
the right in this version.
Like, by itself.
Kind of a problem.
Things like that would seem to point to sloppy development, and the evidence seems pretty
convincing.
The music is a mess, and the Paperboy's voice is notoriously out of sync here...often apologizing
even when you actually hit the mailbox.
Throw in the clunky mechanics, the stripped down graphics, the lack of high scores...
Ugh, man.
I'd like to cancel my subscription, please.
Paperboy and Rampage was released at a budget price, so...in that sense, the dip in quality
is kind of understandable.
Then again, it's not like these are new games.
I mean, they're decades old.
And as such, there are...literally dozens of other versions that are more worth your
money than these two.
Paperboy and Rampage are classics.
Paperboy slash Rampage is not.