Throw on your proton pack and get ready to bust some Ghosts because June 8^th is, officially, “Ghostbusters Day”! Ghostbusters (Reitman, 1984) was first released on this day back in 1984 and, since then, has become a major pop culture franchise that includes comic books, a popular cartoon and line of action figures, and videogames and it is, easily, one of my favourite films and franchises from that era.

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Released: 30 June 1990
Developer: SEGA / Compile

The Background:
Ever since Ghostbusters was released and became a big hit, the concept of four somewhat-bumbling New York parapsychologists snagging troublesome spirits has developed into a pretty significant franchise. We’ve had the under-rated sequel, a questionable reboot, and a decent enough modern follow-up, a couple of popular cartoons, a whole slew of action figures and comic books, and, naturally, videogames. The first Ghostbusters-branded videogame was a multi-platform release from Activision that was a huge success despite being wildly different across each home console and containing humourous grammatical errors. Although the much-loved cartoon spin-off failed to replicate its success at the arcades, Japanese developer Compile made up for this with a much-sought-after Mega Drive title in 1990. The game, which was oddly missing Winston Zeddemore from its roster, was largely praised for its graphics and addictive gameplay, but criticised for its music and sound design. Although ranked highly among Ghostbusters videogames, the Mega Drive title is also seen as one of the strangest titles in the franchise for its unique art style and gameplay mechanics.

The Plot:
After saving New York City (and the entire world) from Zuul, business is slow for the Ghostbusters. However, when ghosts and ghouls rise again, the three supernatural exterminators rush to help (and earn some cash in the process) and solve the mystery of an ancient stone tablet.

Gameplay:
Ghostbusters is a 2D, sidescrolling run-and-gun with light platforming elements and an emphasis on exploration, purchasing upgrades, and choosing which missions to undertake. Players can pick from one of the three Ghostbusters, and there are slight differences between each character: Doctor Peter Venkman is the allrounder, with normal speed and stamina; Doctor Ray Stanz (referred to as “Raymond”) compensates for his slow speed with a higher stamina; and Doctor Egon Spengler is fast on his feet but has less health than his fellow Ghostbusters. In this case, I guess it makes some sense to leave Winston out of the game as his stats would inevitably mirror one of the others, but it’s still a kick in the teeth that all four Ghostbusters aren’t playable. Despite the fact that Ghostbusters was very much an ensemble movie and focused on the camaraderie between the main characters, the videogame is a single player experience, and once you pick a Ghostbuster, you can’t switch to another one mid-way through the game.

Regardless of which Ghostbuster you pick, the game’s primary controls and mechanics remain the same; pressing A will see you toss one of your limited supply of bombs to deal damage to or defeat Enemies, B will fire your current weapon from your proton pack, and C allows you to jump. Oddly, you cannot change these controls, which is a bit of a shame as I’d much rather have A be fire, B jump, and C throw bombs but it’s not too difficult to adapt to the controls. Pressing Start brings up the game’s inventory screen, where you can select a different weapon, activate a shield, use items such as food or the infrared scope, and view the grid-like map. The map gets coloured in as you explore and will give you a vague idea of where the “middle ghosts” and bosses are in each level, but it’s a very barebones map screen not unlike those seen in the early Metroid videogames (Various, 1986 to present). The heads-up display (HUD) will show your stamina (basically your health bar), proton pack energy, remaining lives, the number of bombs you have left, and how many ghosts are left for you to catch in the stage you’re in. When you start the game, you can pick from one of four different locations in New York City; each building has a different number of spooks that you need to catch and will net you a different cash pay-out, and basically the amount of money you can earn determines how difficult the stage will be. Once in the location, you need to seek out the ghosts and try to catch them; along the way, you’ll encounter some basic enemies that’ll you need to blast and hazards to avoid or hop over. The Ghostbusters can fire while moving and shoot both upwards and diagonally, which is extremely helpful; they can also crouch through small gaps and vents and swim without worrying about drowning. Your goal is to “encounter” the stage’s resident ghosts, which act as sub-bosses; once the ghost has been defeated, its spirit will float around the immediate area and you’ll have to hold down fire button (or tap it, it’s not very clear) to snag the spook in your proton stream and try to drag it over the ghost trap to capture it. If you manage to do this (and it’s easier said than done sometimes), you’ll see some of your health and energy restored and get a cash bonus; if you fail, either due to running out of energy or taking too long, the ghost will run away and you’ll lose out on these bonuses.

However, you don’t actually need to capture these ghosts in order to progress; you just need to battle and defeat them and tick them off in the HUD in order for the boss ghost to appear on the map. You can freely navigate your way back to the start of the stage to exit back to the Ghostbuster’s headquarters and purchase additional health, items, and gear if you need to and you’ll have a limited number of continues at your disposal to carry on playing if you lose a life. The game can be played in either Easy, Normal, or Hard mode; I played on Easy and had nine continues, but I imagine the harder modes limit your continues (possibly your lives as well) and potentially make enemies more aggressive. Enemies will respawn when you leave the screen, or sometimes when you hang around too long, and you’ll encounter such hazards as spikes, lava, limited visibility due to lack of lighting, swinging axes, and projectile-spitting barriers that block your progress. Thankfully, there’s no time limit to worry about so you can take your time exploring each location, and you’ll need to search all over to track down the ghosts and figure out how to progress further. This can be confusing at times, thanks both to the map and how familiar some of the stages are laid out and appear, and the screen sometimes doesn’t scroll up fast enough for you to see temporary platforms or ladders that lead to a new area or the final boss. There are also no checkpoints in the levels so, if you exit or lose all your lives and have to continue, you’ll have to play through the entire stage from the start again but, on the plus side, you won’t have to capture the middle ghosts again.

Graphics and Sound:
I’ve played the 8-bit Ghostbusters videogames, and the arcade shooter, and I have to say that I have long been intrigued by screenshots and gameplay footage of this title. The game immediately stands out by utilising a charming chibi-style aesthetic than compresses the characters down to squat, cartoonish sprites with comically oversized heads! This gives the Ghostbusters a great deal of personality and expression, especially when hit, dying, or left idle; you’ll even see their breath in the frozen apartment stage, and you’ll be treated to a 16-bit rendition of the iconic Ghostbusters theme alongside some jaunty and catchy tunes to keep you invested in even the more uninspiring locations. While the bog standard enemies aren’t much to shout about, the sub-bosses and bosses are extremely creative and unique in terms of their appearance; the game even includes some fun homages, such as a giant man-eating plant not unlike Audrey II (Levi Stubbs, et al) from Little Shop of Horrors (Oz, 1986), alongside familiar enemies like Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Indeed, Mister Stay Puft will be a constant presence in the high-rise building stage, leering in through windows and punching through the background as you progress upwards. The game’s main four stages are all quite similar in terms of their basic layout, containing doors to pass through, ladders to climb, and spikes to avoid, but the more profitable stages are noticeably bigger and more maze-like. The “Home Sweet Home” stage is a haunted mansion that just about separates itself from the high-rise building with dining tables and falling (and candle-tossing) chandeliers; the apartment stage grows increasingly frozen as you progress, with falling icicles dropping from above (but, thankfully, you don’t have to worry about the ground being slippery); the woody house requires the infrared scope to cast some light in the darkness and is filled with lava and narrow (or temporary) wooden log platforms. Once you’ve beaten the main four stages, you’ll head to a mossy, dungeon-like castle and, finally, descend into a deep hole full of diamond-like glass and damaging globs. The story is told through text boxes and pixelated renditions of the characters and their clients as they discuss the mysterious tablet pieces they acquire and the dialogue captures that amusing Ghostbusters banter that made the film so memorable; some limited sprite animations also help progress the story, but the majority of the cutscenes take place in these small box windows that somewhat limit their appeal.

Enemies and Bosses:
Each stage is filled with some minor enemies who dog your progress and don’t offer any pick-ups or cash upon defeat; you’ll encounter leaping slime balls, possessed cutlery and tablecloths, ice-like golems, big jellyfish, bouncing orbs, flaming bat-like spooks, gaunt zombies, and demonic teddy bears. Each of these can be dispatched in just a few hits but, as enemies will respawn and have a tendency to follow you, it’s quite easy to get caught off-guard or swamped with enemies at times, and this can be frustrating as you’ll experience some knock-back upon taking damage with can cause you to drop to a lower area or fall onto some spikes or lava.

There are ten middle ghosts that need to be fought (and, ideally, captured) in order to refill some of your health and energy, snag a cash bonus, and unlock the stage’s boss battle. These “encounters” take place in an isolated area in each stage and, since you can take on the main four stages in any order, their difficulty can vary depending on which route you take. I played “Home Sweet Home” first, which sees you battling Silk Hatton, a headless gentleman ghost who resists your projectiles; you can only deal damage to this spirit when its demonic, dog-like “head” pops out of its top hat. You’ll need to avoid (or shoot) Silk Hatton’s projectiles and, once you deal enough damage, it’ll split into two disembodied parts that need to be blasted to reduce it to a catchable spirit. You’ll battle the ice giant Crystarobo in the apartment stage; this crystalline monster lumbers and hops about, blasting lightning that spawns small minions, swinging overhead, and even detaching its limbs to attack you and it can only be damaged by shooting its head. You’ll also need to battle the Siren, a witch-like entity that flies about at the top of the screen shooting a three-way projectile at you and splitting into three to fire large shots your way; it’s invulnerable when flying overhead and you’ll need to shoot the correct Siren in order to whittle her health down and snag her spirit. In the woody house, you’ll encounter the Fire Dragon and Fire Giant; while the “giant” is anything but and leaps all over the place spitting embers at you and is comparatively weak, the dragon is a pain in the ass as it randomly pops up through the floor to breathe a long plume of fire at you that is very difficult to dodge.

In the high-rise building, you’ll come across the 100-Eyed Centipede that worms around in mid-air and splits into separate, sweeping parts as you damage it; the 3-Way Shot upgrade is super useful here as the creature spreads itself across a large area and can be tricky to dodge as a result. You’ll also battle the Shell Beast, a green, glob-like ghost that shields itself from attacks with a pink shell and bounces around the arena; you must fire up at it when it cracks open, but can blast its projectiles to make this one of the easier encounters in the game. Finally, in the castle, you’ll battle the massively annoying Broccoli Worm that’s a bastard to jump over and splits into separate parts, the Grim Reaper himself (who flies about swinging his scythe at you and sending flaming blades spinning around the arena, and who can only be damaged by hitting his head), and even possessed versions of your kidnapped Ghostbuster pals! These two will mimic your currently-equipped weapon and match you shot for shot but, oddly, cannot damage you on physical contact; equally, the only way you can free them from their possession is to get around them to blast the spirit floating around near them, and I recommend equipping the Phaser Shell weapon as it’s slow and easier to dodge than other shots.

Once you’ve captured the middle ghosts in each stage, you’ll be able to fight the boss can acquire a piece of the tablet or other key item to progress the story. There are five main bosses, one for each of the main levels, and four of them will need to be battled again in the “Deep Hole” stage before you can tackle the game’s final boss. In the apartment stage, you’ll find Scalon, a reptilian creature that rolls and hops about and is protected by its scales. When it attacks, it sends its scales flying off its body, exposing its true form and leaving it vulnerable, but you’ll need to fend off these projectiles and try to hop over or run under it as it moves back and forth across the arena. The frozen apartments are home to a demonic Snowman; this frosty customer floats above your head and spawns smaller versions of itself that shoot their carrot noses at you, but is pretty simple to take out, especially if you have the 3-Way Shot equipped. One of the more laborious bosses for me was the Wall Man from the woody house; in the first encounter, this massive projectile-spitting face is fought over a gap that leads to a lava pit, but this obstacle is missing in the “Deep Hole” stage, making the battle a lot easier. Basically, you need to fire diagonally upwards or jump-shoot at the eye that appears on the Wall Man’s forehead or chin, avoiding the enemies and projectiles he spits out, but he appears (seemingly at random) on either side of the screen, making this an exercise in trial and error.

On the roof of the high-rise building, you’ll have a rematch with Mr. Stay Puft; this joyous kaijiu looms in the background firing lasers from its eyes, will-o’-the-wisp-like flames from its mouth, and trying to punch you from either side of the screen. However, it’s surprisingly simple to just blast away at Mr. Stay Puft’s grinning visage and put him down for the count. Easily the most difficult boss you’ll encounter before the finale is the Insect Trapper, a huge man-eating plant and fires a large laser from its gaping mouth and constantly spawns fines and snapping plant minions to attack you. I couldn’t quite tell if he creature was immune to my shots when its mouth was closed, so I simply poured on the firepower non-stop and kept low to the ground, switching to 3-Way Shot to dispatch the smaller minions. Once they’re all defeated, you’ll face off against Janna in a two-stage encounter; first, the massive, armoured monstrosity sits stationary and tosses an easily-avoidable bouncing heart at you and launches a spinning scythe that you need to race all the way to the left to avoid. Damage her head (her one weak spot) enough and she’ll detach from the background and float around, constantly hovering just out of reach of your attacks and tossing her scythe at you; however, if you stay on the move, duck and crawl when necessary, and take to the high ground when she exposes herself, you can take her down without too much trouble.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
In-game power-ups and pick-ups are few and far between, making this a tough experience at times; you’ll come across Slimer in every stage (sometimes more than once, and usually right before or after an encounter) and can blast him for a health or energy boost, but he won’t respawn unless you lose a life or use a continue. If you’re extremely lucky, you might stumble across a 1-Up in a stage, which is massively useful, but you’ll generally be dependent on capturing ghosts or defeating the boss to refill your health and energy meters outside of buying items. You’ll find safes in each level that can be destroyed to gift you bags of cash (or damaging bombs) and you can spam-collect these by entering and exiting stages over and over so you can buy everything you need.

There are two shops at Ghostbusters HQ; an item shop and a weapon shop. At the item shop, you can buy health-restoring items, bombs, and infrared scopes but these items will sell out pretty quickly so be sure to use them sparingly in stages. At the weapon shop, you can purchase new weapons and shields to make things easier on yourself; I found the most useful weapon to be the 3-Way Shot but you can also get the Phaser Shell (which fires a slow, but powerful, burst of energy), the Bubble Projectile (a slow, floaty bubble that I had little use for), and an explosive shot to damage multiple enemies at once. These additional weapons do drain your energy meter a lot faster, however, which can limit their use and your ability to capture ghosts. You can also upgrade and extend your energy meter and buy protective gear like the Special Suit that reduces the amount of damage you take for a limited time and the Barrier, which renders you temporarily invincible at the cost of draining your energy meter. Each of these items and weapons can be equipped from the inventory menu, carries a hefty price tag, and often can only be used once per life.

Additional Features:
Although Ghostbusters is a fairly lengthy game for its era, there’s not too much extra material to spice things up. As mentioned, there’s no two-player mode and there isn’t even a high score to try and beat. Instead, the replayability comes from the addictive gameplay, the option to play as a different Ghostbuster, and the freedom in picking which order you play the first four stages.

The Summary:
I have to admit that I was a little intimidated and concerned when I finally sat down the play Ghostbusters; the game is so expensive and so hard to come by that I was worried that it wouldn’t live up to the hype I’d built up for it or the promise of its graphics. Thankfully, the game definitely delivers a solid experience; the controls are tight and responsive and blasting ghosts and enemies is a lot of fun, despite how difficult I found it to be to actually capture the little buggers. The graphics are charming and amusing, especially the sprite work on the main characters and the enemies, which more than makes up for some lacklustre environments. I actually really enjoyed earning cash to purchase new items and weapons; while you will need to grind a bit if you want to buy everything on sale, you don’t necessarily need to have every item the game offers to you and can fare well enough with the default weapon and setup. While it’s a shame that the game doesn’t include some kind of two-player mechanic or the ability to play as Winston or drive Ecto-1, Ghostbusters is easily the best videogame adaptation of the film I’ve played from this era of gaming; it’s tough but fair, presented wonderfully, and kept me engaged from start to finish. The only real drawback is how hard it can be to get your hands on a physical copy; I got lucky with mine, but it’s probably best you emulate it to save your money and also take advantage of save states to make things even easier on yourself.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Have you ever played Ghostbusters on Mega Drive? If so, what did you think to it and how does it compare to other Ghostbusters videogames from that era? Which of the Ghostbusters did you play as, and were you disappointed by Winston’s absence? Which of the bosses was your favourite and did you also struggle with capturing spooks for cash? What memories do you have of Ghostbuster merchandise like cartoon and action figures? How are you celebrating Ghostbusters Day today? Whatever your thoughts and memories of Ghostbusters, go ahead and share them below or drop a comment on my social media.