The game was much like the original: the player controls a paperboy (or papergirl) who must navigate a bizarre series of obstacles, such as tires rolling down a driveway while a car is being repaired, or strange houses like a haunted house, while trying to deliver the morning paper to various customers on a street (though unlike its predecessor, papers had to be delivered to houses on both sides of the street). Like the original, the game is renowned for its difficulty.

There are two specific actions that can be taken somewhere in the middle of each stage that reward the player with a front page photo on the newspaper afterwards:

Hero paperboy stops thief - at the end of the stage, two gas stations are visible. One of them will have a robber (a man in a black suit holding a gun). Throw a newspaper at him, and he will fall to the ground.

Paperboy saves runaway baby - when riding down the road in the middle of the stage, a carriage with a baby in it rolls down the left sidewalk. If hit it with a newspaper, it will stop.

Grafitti guy a goner! - when riding down the road in the middle of the stage, after the baby, there is a criminal vandalizing a wall. Throw a newspaper at him, and he will fall to the ground.