1. Gameplay

2. Speech samples

3. Reception

4. Nintendo Entertainment System version

5. References

6. External links

Ghostbusters is a licensed game by Activision based on the movie of the same name. It was designed by David Crane, produced by Brad Fregger, and released for several home computer platforms in 1984, and later for video game console systems, including the Atari 2600, Master System and NES. The primary target platform was the Commodore 64 and the programmer for the initial version of the game was Adam Bellin.

In early 1984, while the Ghostbusters movie was nearing completion, Tom Lopez, vice president of Activision's Product Development, contacted Columbia Pictures to obtain a license for a Ghostbusters video game. Columbia gave Activision no specific rules or requests for the design or content of the game, only stipulating that it was to be finished as quickly as possible in order to be released while the movie was at peak popularity. Activision were forced to complete the programming work in only six weeks in contrast to their usual several months of development time for a game. Activision had at the time a rough concept for a driving/maze game to be called "Car Wars", and it was decided to build the Ghostbusters game from it. The effort paid off as both the movie and the game proved to be huge successes.^[1]

Gameplay

The player sets up a ghost busting franchise in a city with a rising Psychokinetic (PK) Energy level and has the ability to purchase equipment such as traps, or to upgrade their vehicle. The player then negotiates a grid representing the city. They need to stop the "roamers" from reaching the temple of Zuul (which causes the PK Energy level to jump). When the player moves to a city block that is flashing red, the game mode switches to an overhead view of the player's vehicle driving to the location. The player must move left and right to vacuum up the stray ghosts and avoid cars. The player then moves to a screen in which a Slimer ghost must be guided with two proton streams over a ghost trap.

If the ghost is successfully captured, the player's income increases. The aim is to have $10,000 by the time the city's PK level reaches 9999, where in the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man will appear and wreak havoc on the city, thereby ending the game. In some versions (e.g. the Commodore 64 version), after the first successful game, the player is given an account number, which stores the amount of money the player had at the end of the game. This allowed for purchasing more expensive items for use (faster cars, more traps etc.). In order to win at these games the player was required to have earned more money than their initial account balance. This is one of the earliest uses of passwords being used as a 'save game' feature on home computers.

Speech samples

Most versions of the game feature a sampled rendition of the "Ghostbusters!" cry at the start of the movie's theme song; on the C64 version, this was produced via a Currah Speech Cartridge. The PCjr/Tandy port does not have this feature.

Reception

The Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions of the game was included on the 1986 compilation They Sold a Million 3,^[15][16] along with Fighter Pilot, Rambo and Kung-Fu Master. The game was also released on The Story So Far Volume IV in December 1989, and Hollywood Collection in December 1990. It knocked Daley Thompson's Decathlon from the top of the UK Spectrum sales chart.^[17]

The NES version was created in association with Works (later changed their name to Bits Laboratory).^[19] This version was panned by critics, gamers and fans alike for its monotonous gameplay, sloppy controls, and lack of connection to the original film.{{cn|date=January 2019}}

Nintendo Entertainment System version

The game was also released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, (1986 in Japan) and the Master System in 1987. These versions featured added gameplay after the Ghostbusters sneak by the Marshmallow Man. It played more like a conventional vertical scrolling platform game, where they were to actually climb the stairs to get to the roof.

However, in the NES version, the Ghostbusters could not fire their weapons nor trap any of the ghosts and had to instead sneak by all the floors. In contrast, in the Master System version, the Ghostbusters are able to shoot the ghosts with their proton streams to temporarily make them go away. The NES version is considered more difficult for this reason.

At the end of the NES version, the final screen states: "Conglaturation!!! {{sic}} You have completed a great game. And prooved {{sic}} the justice of our culture. Now go and rest our heroes!".

This version has been extremely negatively received by critics for monotonous gameplay, poor graphics and sound, as well as unfair difficulty (particularly in the stairway).^[20]

References

External links

• {{moby game|id=/ghostbusters|name=Ghostbusters}}
• Legends of the C64 article on David Crane (with Ghostbusters info)
• Speech Box - dedicated area to Commodore 64 speech (inc. Ghostbusters)
• All versions of the Ghostbusters games from The Movie Game Database
• {{WoS game|id=0002025|name=Ghostbusters}}

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