Paperboy

Paperboy is an arcade game about a paper round. You ride a bicycle down a suburban street, throwing newspapers at subscriber houses while dodging skateboarders, dogs, cars, lawnmowers and the occasional tornado. Miss too many houses and you are fired.

It looks simple and it is genuinely difficult. The bicycle steers with momentum, so a wrong lean sends you into a hedge and costs a paper; the throw has to lead the target because you are always moving. The NES conversion keeps the weekday structure - a week of rounds, each with more obstacles and faster traffic, ending with a bonus Training Course - and it keeps the day's newspaper headlines changing as you progress. Its black-humoured detail and the way the level fills with hazards as the week advances are what make it stick.

• ▸Momentum-based bicycle handling - steering is a lean, not a turn
• ▸Throwing that must be led ahead of the target while moving
• ▸Week-long structure with escalating obstacles and a bonus training course
• ▸Subscriber and non-subscriber houses that respond differently to a hit