Ghostbusters

Rating
Graphics: 4
Sound: 5
Control: 4
Depth: 4
Overall: 4

Ghostbusters

By: David Crane
Published By: Activision
Released: 1984

Let's face it. Most movie games stink! Either the game is rushed to coincide with the release of the film, or half the budget is spend on securing the license in the first place. But there are always exceptions, and Ghostbusters is one.

The game begins with a bank loan of all things, as you start your own 'Ghostbusting' franchise, buy ghost traps and a vehicle, and start catching ghosts. Most of the game is spent catching 'Slimer' type creatures as the city's supernatural energy rises. Later in the game, you'll want to watch for ghost movement during the overhead map sections and have your finger on the 'Bait' hotkey, to prevent damage to the city. Then, if you've made enough money, you'll confront Mister Stay Puft and finally Gozer the Gozerian. Fair warning, the Mister Stay Puft sequence can result in cheap deaths and the need to start over.

As a bonus, there's a fun bouncing ball sing-along to the movie theme once the game loads, and the C64 version makes great use of sampled speech.

- Ben Langberg

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