Paperboy

Paperboy is Atari's 1984 suburban gauntlet: you ride a bike down a scrolling street, delivering newspapers to subscribers' front doors (or mailboxes) while everything else on the block - cars, dogs, skateboarders, construction equipment, the neighbors' junk - tries to end your run. It is one of the most original control schemes the arcade ever shipped: a bicycle-style handlebar you steer by twisting.

The design brilliance is the difficulty dial disguised as a newspaper route. Subscribers buy accuracy - hit their doormat, skip their mailbox and you break their window and lose them. Non-subscribers are fair game: smash their windows, steal their minutes, and the game scores you for it. Difficulty is chosen by street: Easy Street, Middle Street and Hard Way are different routes with different obstacle density. The isometric-scrolling view was technically striking in 1984, and the game's success spawned home versions everywhere plus a proper sequel. Note the slug on this page: the arcade original, kept distinct from the Famicom version already on the site.

• ▸The bicycle handlebar controller - steer by twisting, brake by pulling
• ▸Subscribers vs non-subscribers scoring: accuracy here, mayhem there
• ▸Three selectable routes (Easy/Middle/Hard) as built-in difficulty
• ▸Isometric scrolling streets years before it was common