The Game Gear version of Paperboy 2 (aka Paperboy II) was ported by Manley & Associates and published by Tengen in 1993. While it does at least try to emulate the superior Megadrive/Genesis version (and not the inferior Mindscape ports), it falls flat for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the small screen makes it difficult to actually see what you’re targeting, which means throwing newspapers at things that are off-screen, which isn’t ideal. At least a sound effect plays when you score a hit, otherwise you wouldn’t know.

Secondly, the music in the game is bizarre and is the kind of annoying tune that you’ll no doubt mute after a few goes.

Thirdly, Paperboy 2 on the Game Gear seems to do its own thing, compared to the Genesis version that it is closest to. There are hazards and events in this game that you don’t get in other versions, which should be a good thing, but when houses that you normally don’t deliver to (like haunted houses) have mailboxes, and you get bonus points for throwing newspapers into them, then you’d be forgiven for being confused.

There are also a number of features missing from this version, like cars on the roads, and the assault courses are shorter and more sparse, and don’t seem to change at all (and they have no start or finish lines).

On the plus side: it’s good that you can choose between the three different streets on the title screen (like you can in the Genesis version), and the graphics are pretty good.

Overall, though, Paperboy 2 on the Game Gear is a confusing mess. While’s it’s playable to some degree, its inconsistencies did leave me scratching my head. It’s also more repetitive than other ports, with the same houses passing by time and time again.

More: Paperboy 2 on Wikipedia