Please, sir, who are you going to call when you want a good Ghostbusters game? Here is the answer to that question: you are going to call these games.
GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) - Commodore 64/Various
The first - and for many, still the best - Ghostbusters game was released initially for the C64. Created by Activision's David "Pitfall" Crane, it began life as a top-down car game, entitled Car Wars.
When Activision acquired the movie licence, the in-development game was adapted to Ghostbusters - the majority of the work completed before Crane had even sat down to watch the movie. Which he did while - coincidentally - living in a spooky crane called David Ghostbuster.
It was a weird mix of styles, mind; resource management, the aforementioned top-down driving, and a side-on ghost-catching stage, where players had to corral ghosts into their haunted cranny. Seemingly everyone loved it at the time, though I never quite knew what I was supposed to be doing. At the time, I remember most being impressed by the faithful reproduction of the famous theme music.
In 1988 the game was ported to the NES, and featured this ending screen:
When Activision acquired the movie licence, the in-development game was adapted to Ghostbusters - the majority of the work completed before Crane had even sat down to watch the movie. Which he did while - coincidentally - living in a spooky crane called David Ghostbuster.
It was a weird mix of styles, mind; resource management, the aforementioned top-down driving, and a side-on ghost-catching stage, where players had to corral ghosts into their haunted cranny. Seemingly everyone loved it at the time, though I never quite knew what I was supposed to be doing. At the time, I remember most being impressed by the faithful reproduction of the famous theme music.
In 1988 the game was ported to the NES, and featured this ending screen:
THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS (1987) - Arcade
The Real Ghostbusters cartoon was so called following a dispute with He-Man production company Filmation - who had produced a mostly bad live-action 1975 TV series called The Ghost Busters (who featured among their number a gorilla called Tracy).
To avoid any litigation, The Real Ghostbusters became the official cartoon of the movie series (even having a dig at The Ghost Busters in one episode, which featured a team of rival ghost hunters).
This arcade version - later ported to home systems - was a basic top-down, three-player shooter. It was released subsequently in Japan without the licence, under the name Labyrinth Hunter G. What did the "G" stand for? "Gravy"!
To avoid any litigation, The Real Ghostbusters became the official cartoon of the movie series (even having a dig at The Ghost Busters in one episode, which featured a team of rival ghost hunters).
This arcade version - later ported to home systems - was a basic top-down, three-player shooter. It was released subsequently in Japan without the licence, under the name Labyrinth Hunter G. What did the "G" stand for? "Gravy"!
GHOSTBUSTERS II (1990) - Amiga/PC
There were a couple of games based upon slightly-less-loved-than-the-original Ghostbusters II - the PC version differed substantially from the home computer incarnations. Both, however, featured sequences inspired by the sequel, albeit rendered with different gameplay and graphics.
The home computer versions boasted a number of side-on proton 'em up stages, and an isometric 3D level. The PC release threw in some subtle business simulation elements. Because kids bloody love those. They love the business.
The home computer versions boasted a number of side-on proton 'em up stages, and an isometric 3D level. The PC release threw in some subtle business simulation elements. Because kids bloody love those. They love the business.
GHOSTBUSTERS II (1990) - NES
The most notable features of the NES Ghostbusters II game were its notoriously hard difficulty, and the lack of a standard pause feature. If you needed the lavatory mid-game, you were required to either accept your defeat, or perform a big dirty mess in your pants.
NEW GHOSTBUSTERS II (1990) - NES/Game Boy
One of the few NES/Game Boy games which - barring the obvious colour differences, and some tweaks to the levels - were essentially identical on both systems. New Ghostbusters II is the only Ghostbusters game to date to feature a playable Louis "R.Moranis" Tully (albeit only on the NES version).
That's pretty interesting, right? Frankly, it's getting harder to distinguish these games apart, so we're clutching at anything to hand.
That's pretty interesting, right? Frankly, it's getting harder to distinguish these games apart, so we're clutching at anything to hand.
GHOSTBUSTERS (1990) - Mega Drive
Unrelated to the original Activision game, and boasting an original storyline. the Mega Drive interpretation of Ghostbusters featured super-deformed caricatures of the three white Ghostbusters as they went about their bustin'.
For reasons that can only be put down to short-sightedness/institutionalised racism, Winston Zeddemore wasn't featured as a playable character.
For reasons that can only be put down to short-sightedness/institutionalised racism, Winston Zeddemore wasn't featured as a playable character.
THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS (1993) - Game Boy
A puzzle-based platformer, the Game Boy version of The Real Ghostbusters was a thinly-disguised reworking of Kemco's Crazy Castle series (which featured various Disney and Warner Bros. cartoon characters). It was also rebranded as Garfield Labyrinth in Europe, and as a Mickey Mouse game in Japan.
You know: because of the obvious parallels between those three properties...
You know: because of the obvious parallels between those three properties...
EXTREME GHOSTBUSTERS (2001) - Game Boy Color
Based upon the short-lived cartoon of the same name, Extreme Ghostbusters featured a team of younger, more diverse, ghost hunters: goth girl Kylie, wheelchair-bound Garett, African American genius Roland, and Latino slacker Eduardo. Gameplay was famously a bit on the wrong side of rubbish.
EXTEME GHOSTBUSTERS: CODE ECTO-1 (2002) - Game Boy Advance
Part platformer, part shoot 'em up, part driving game; by now these were the default ingredients of a Ghostbusters game, and Code Ecto-1 didn't disappoint in that regard.
Did they not consider that, at some indeterminate future point, somebody might want to write a list of all the Ghostbusters games, and need to find something different to say about all of them?
Did they not consider that, at some indeterminate future point, somebody might want to write a list of all the Ghostbusters games, and need to find something different to say about all of them?
EXTREME GHOSTBUSTERS: THE ULTIMATE INVASION (2004) - PlayStation
At last! A departure from all the other Ghostbusters games to date, The Ultimate Invasion was an on-rails first-person shoot 'em up, compatible with the Gun Con light gun.
The graphics made a fair stab at the cartoon's hand-drawn style, but overall it wasn't very good. It nevertheless held the distinction of being one of but a handful of games to work with that scarcely-justified peripheral.
The graphics made a fair stab at the cartoon's hand-drawn style, but overall it wasn't very good. It nevertheless held the distinction of being one of but a handful of games to work with that scarcely-justified peripheral.
GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME (2009) - Various
Released to generally decent reviews, Ghostbusters: The Video Game was co-written by Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis, who had written (and starred in) the original movies.
With the blessing of Ghostbusters' creators, it was able to gather vocal contributions from much of the main cast (the notable exceptions being Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis). Dan Ackroyd described it as "essentially the third movie".
With an original storyline, an original central character, and a mix of first and third-person gameplay, it expanded on the first movie's backstory, and included elements that Ackroyd and Ramis had intended for the never-completed Ghostbusters 3: Hellhound.
These included exploring the history of that movie's librarian ghost, and a return for Gozer, this time as a sharp-suited businessman.
With the blessing of Ghostbusters' creators, it was able to gather vocal contributions from much of the main cast (the notable exceptions being Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis). Dan Ackroyd described it as "essentially the third movie".
With an original storyline, an original central character, and a mix of first and third-person gameplay, it expanded on the first movie's backstory, and included elements that Ackroyd and Ramis had intended for the never-completed Ghostbusters 3: Hellhound.
These included exploring the history of that movie's librarian ghost, and a return for Gozer, this time as a sharp-suited businessman.
GHOSTBUSTERS: SANCTUM OF SLIME (2011) - Various
A return to the top-down multiplayer action of The Real Ghostbusters arcade game, Sanctum of Slime was, in short, rubbish. And that's it. Spent. Done. Let us hope that all this bustin' made you feel good.
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