Activision's Ghostbusters Thread - All Versions Reviewed, Ranked, Screenshots

[+wongojack]

Hey there, I created this thread to bring together all of the comments, reviews and screenshots I've posted in 2024 about Activision's Ghostbusters.  This started when I purchased the recent Intellivision Ultimate Edition and continued as I played through a handful of other versions in my backlog.  On a trip to Japan, I acquired the Famicom version and decided to keep going through all the commercially released editions as well as a few others that I encountered along the way.  I'll start by posting my general thoughts about all the editions and then will post the reviews I wrote as I posted them in 2024.  Since it took months to play all the versions there could be some inconsistencies in my comments when they are posted all together.

 

In the coming days/weeks, I'll be re-playing some of the versions and working toward an ultimate ranking.  That will give me the chance to re-evaluate and correct anything I may have re-thought since my original posts/reviews.

 

I first played Ghostbusters on a copied/shared/pirated disk on my family's Commodore 64 in what must have been 1985 or 1986.  That would have made me 9 or 10, and I'm sure I had already seen the movie.  The presentation was amazing at the time when just the opening speech and rendition of the song were enough to get my younger self immediately interested.  The game was initially very complex to me.  I'd boot it up and catch some ghosts, but how to get the advanced equipment and earn enough money to win wasn't something my child-brain could handle.  As an adult, the game seems quite easy to understand and to play. 

 

The foundational premise picks up on the financial aspect of the Ghostbusters movie - the team is taking a risk on starting a new business.  So, you have to manage your money by buying your initial equipment and travelling around NYC catching ghosts to pay back what you spent.  While AVGN didn't like it, I think this is a perfectly fine thing to borrow from the movie and adds a very natural scoring system to the gameplay.  There's also quite a bit of creativity in the various items that you can purchase, and these items continue to get more varied and advanced in the NES and SMS versions.  In this way the game expands on the Ghostbusters lore and gets you excited about some of the things that could possibly exist in this fantasy world of ghost extermination.

 

The gameplay consists of strategizing how to travel around the city in the most efficient way and perfecting your ghost trapping technique to be the fastest possible (faster catch = higher $$ & score).  Each version seems to bring something different to the ghost catching screen (which I think is the core of the game).  Some seem unfair, some more straightforward.  I don't think any of them are particularly easy, but if you think outside the box a bit then you can predict where the ghosts will go a bit better.  The segments where you control the car can be nice interludes that make you think about the car in the movie and the various upgrades you've applied, but even at their best, they feel like filler most of the time.  Older versions all include some screen where you have to "sneak" your ghostbusters past a bouncing marshmallow man.  Similar to the car, this serves mostly as a chance to put something from the movie in the game, but it provides a suitable end-game accomplishment before you can start over with whatever money you've made and try again with new equipment.  The SMS and NES versions add two additional segments, one where the ghostbusters climb the stairs of the building and another where they shoot at Gozer.  I think those extra segments do a nice job of integrating more of the movie with the game and giving the player a better sense of completion/accomplishment.

 

As a showcase of the movie, Ghostbusters is a success.  As a player, I get to interact with the characters and activity in the movie, and I can reminisce about my favorite parts while seeing symbols and icons from the film on my computer/tv.  The equipment even deepens the content a bit and lets me imagine what other things the ghostbusters might use or encounter in their day-to-day life as ghost exterminators.  If we take the experience away from the context of the movie and only consider its value as a game then I think it suffers quite a bit.  If the designers had embraced the "high score" element of the game a bit more and tested ways to further challenge the player with higher difficulty, then it could have been really great.  As it is, I think this is an acceptable way to expand the experience of seeing the movie and have a little fun role playing running your own Ghostbusters business.  There is a little bit of challenge and re-play ability thanks to the inclusion of some extra vehicles and equipment, but most people will be done with the game once they sneak past Stay Puft.

[+wongojack]

Originally posted April 22, 2024

 

Ghostbusters UE for the Intellivision is a masterwork of taking a truly classic property, putting (almost) everything that could have been in it back then into a new game and releasing it as a homebrew.  The game will use Intellivoice and the ECS (if you have them) to play voice overs and enhanced music.  It has more scenes from the movie, more music from the movie and adds more challenge than the classic versions did by making a few smart updates to the item selection and the debt system.  They did stick to the early release endgame and omitted the stair climbing and vertical shooting level found in the NES and the SMS version, but the game is more streamlined and possibly better for it.  I appreciated that it ended up actually being kind of hard to catch the ghosts in this version.  Even with multiple strategies, I still miss a few here and there which adds to the replayability and challenge of what was such an impressive gaming sequence when the title released on the C64 all those years ago. 

 

On the other hand, what this version really does is show you the shortcomings of the original game.  Once you've gotten used to the ups and downs of ghost extermination (and know how to use bait to stop a Marshmallow attack) you'll find a game on default settings remarkably easy.  I mention that bit about the bait because when I played this game as a kid, I never knew I could reach over and press 'B' to stop the marshmallow man.  It wasn't until years later that I finally read the manual and finished the C64 version of the game.

 

As a huge Ghostbusters fan who has massive nostalgia for the original game, I am very happy with this.  I'm working to win with all of the cars which is proving to be a satisfying challenge because when you continue from a previous game, you must always finish with more money than you started.  So, if you buy the sports car, you've got to catch enough ghosts to pay it back before the city's PKE level reaches the critical state.  I give Ghostbusters UE a 4 out 5.  Without nostalgia, I might drop it down to a 3 due to the somewhat simple game loop and lack of true difficulty options, but I am still excited to keep playing it, and the little touches added make me smile whenever I catch a few ghosts.

 

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Ghostbusters for the SMS is a game that I've been meaning to really sit down and play for years.  I got my vintage hardware out and even discovered that I'd acquired 2 physical copies of the game - overprepared.  The game makes some interesting choices in the beginning section, giving you more options to purchase equipment some of which I believe is unique to this version.  You are also given the chance to upgrade your equipment by stopping at a store on the map during gameplay.  This is really cool and opens up some differences in the game, but as I played with this equipment, I discovered that it just made the game easier.  It is an easy game to begin with and there are no difficulty options or post game difficulty increases, so carrying over money from a previous game makes me feel like the Monopoly man who just buys his way to victory. 

 

In the actual ghost catching sequences, the "streams" of the ghostbusters' proton packs are now pointed straight up, which means there's no way to cross the streams.  It also means that it is pretty hard for the ghosts to actually escape you once you've gotten them between your laser throwing ghost cowboys. Conservative shootin Tex.  Catching them in a trap rarely fails and the $$ just piles up faster than you can say I feel so funky.  Which reminds me that while the music is excellent there is no speech in this version.  That doesn't seem like a big deal, but as a fan of the old C64 version, I really missed the occasional computer voice encouraging me onward.  The 2 sections added to the game see you climbing a staircase while shooting at/avoiding ghosts and then shooting vertically towards Gozer (misspelled in the manual and the game as Gorza).  The staircase is remarkably difficult and the shooting sequence after it a little easier than expected.  Since the ghostbusters didn't actually shoot lasers at Gozer  to defeat him/her to end the movie, this definitely feels like an add-on.  However, it does give the player a nice variety of gameplay and makes ending the game feel like more of an accomplishment than the versions released for less powerful platforms.

 

I was pleased with this version of Ghostbusters and appreciated the extra levels at the end to give me some variety and a challenging ending to overcome.  However, I spent most of my time playing as a hyper-efficient ghost catching team who could essentially upgrade my abilities at will.  Extra money just made the longest section of the game borderline boring.  I still enjoyed my time with the game, but I give it a somewhat disappointed 3 out of 5.  In a direct comparison of both of these games, the SMS certainly has more variety and all the advantages of its hardware, but if I'm going back in for more, I'd rather play the Intellivision version.

 

 

 

[+wongojack]

Originally Posted August 4, 2024

 

I picked up a copy of the Famicom version while I was in Japan and ended up playing that cart when I brought it back home.  The Famicom/NES version gets criticized often with AVGN giving it a lot of flak almost 20 years ago.  I was surprised to discover that while some of the criticism is true, the NES version offers some unique gameplay that deepens the experience and lets you enjoy the actual ghostbusting section of the game in a refreshing way.  It has the distinction of having the most compelling ghost catching gameplay loop and while the addition of a stairway section that requires button tapping might have been unforgiveable at one point, the prevalence of turbo controllers make it a minor complaint in 2024.  It might be the worst looking version of the game, but despite its flaws, I found a lot of compelling gameplay in this version, and I give it a 4 out of 5.

 

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The 2600 version of Ghostbusters is one of those games that probably shouldn't exist.  I'm sure that if David Crane didn't have personal knowledge of the 2600 that this version would have never been made.  Did it really make sense for Activision to release it?  Well, it does exist, and it does a nice job of including all the basic elements of the original game.  There's no stair climbing or final battle with Gozer, but the ghost catching, driving, and bouncing Marshmallow Man are in here.  You can even continue with your earnings like the other versions, but there is no password this time.  The problem with the 2600 version is that once you get your strategy down for catching ghosts, the game offers no challenge at all, and the continue system lets you play and play and play until you max out the score.  Unlike other versions, there are no new cars to buy or advanced equipment to try.  The only challenge might come from severely limiting your equipment which is definitely less fun.  While this game is nice to have around for a few smiles, it is probably the least fun version of the game.  I give it a 2 out of 5.

 

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[+wongojack]

Originally posted August 8, 2024

 

The ZX Spectrum - boy is this computer a strange animal.  Sometimes when I play games on this thing, I wind up wondering "how'd they do that" and other times, I want to turn it off almost immediately.  Unfortunately, the version of Ghostbusters for the machine fits into the "when can I turn this off?" category.  The basics are all here and, in terms of game options, it manages to offer even more than the 2600 version, but they somehow killed all of the charm in the game.  The 48k version has almost no sound at all except for the intro screen - it is almost completely silent, almost.  The ghostbusters do have vocalizations when they catch a ghost or get slimed, and it is horrid to listen to.  I'll give them some credit in that I knew what the characters were saying, but it sounds awful.  In fact, everything about this version feels like it is about to break and make the spectrum burst into flames.  The driving segment is so painfully slow that it feels like a slideshow.  I tried in two different emulators, and the movement of the car was extremely choppy.  The ghost catching sequence is functional, and you can actually trap the ghosts in this version under your streams for a satisfying capture, but then you have to listen to the Spectrum blurt out a vocalized Ghostbusters which sounds like a nails on the chalkboard category punishment after about the 2nd time.  The 128k version adds music to the NYC map and driving which does help, but the slow-down (which is both constant and ebbs to even slower at times) is unbearable.  That reminds me that I skipped over the fact that as the game starts it writes the menus and instructions on screen like a typewriter.  This was kinda neat on the C64, but here it is so slow that you are just wondering if you'll catch cold and die before it finishes.  To deal with this, I had to speed up the emulation to even get through a play session.  While this game manages to retain almost all of the features of the C64 original, it begs you to quit from the first moments.  Even the start-up vocalization of Ghostbusters sucks.  1 out of 5.

 

 

The Apple ][ version is, well it's ok.  After playing the Spectrum or 2600 versions, you get back to an understanding of what this game was supposed to be in the first place.  The original intent of the game designer is back and easily identifiable.  There are no vocalizations, and the game is mostly silent (probably thankful for that). The sound we do hear is that pitifully basic Apple ][ sound.  The graphics are serviceable, and all of the game elements work and feel like they are worthwhile.  I know there were a ton of expansions and add-on cards for the Apple ][, but the version I played looked and was animated like a very basic Apple ][ game complete with ugly pallet and color clash in certain places.  That makes the graphics average for the time and pretty bad from a "looking back" perspective.  Thankfully the gameplay here is reasonably fast and the ghostbusting loop is satisfying to play.  If you wanted to play Activision's Ghostbusters in 1984 then this would probably have scratched your itch just fine.  However, knowing all the alternatives, I consider this game to still be a bit below average.  I give it a 2 out of 5.

 

[+wongojack]

Originally posted August 17, 2024

 

Amstrad CPC - This was my first time seriously playing the Amstrad version (or any Amstrad game), and I wasn't impressed.  Some basic gameplay elements are different or just not here.  For example, missing a ghost does not raise the PKE level 300pts in this version which contributes to long stretches where the player is just sitting and waiting for something to happen.  It is a really slow pace.  On the positive side, the graphics and sound on this version are nicely presented with plenty of color and full soundtrack and sounds (except the ghost vacuum sound).  Despite the nice colors and perfectly decent artwork, they seem to have only created two building facades.  Even the end sequence to sneak your ghostbusters past the Marshmallow Man uses a recycled building.  That seems like a signal that this version just didn't get very much attention.  Gameplay suffers too.  There are jumps and jerks in the vehicle stage, and there is considerable flicker on the ghost catching screen.  This is also the only version where the ghost seemed to be able to "flicker" his way through your proton beam and escape capture - grrr. 

 

Marshmallow Alert - once I got the PKE level up to 5000, the Marshmallow Man did appear.  The animation for stopping him was sooo slow that I almost thought the game had crashed or something.  Well, he never appeared again.  I waited in one spot, went to various buildings.  I tried to milk the clock, but he never came back.  This may seem like a small issue, but it fundamentally changes the flow of the game and removes a lot of the excitement of the final moments before the Keymaster and Gatekeeper make their way to Zuul.  I played around with this version for about 100 minutes to try and see everything it had to offer.  At first, I was pleased with the presentation, but as I dug in, it seemed worse and worse.  I went back to start a new game and the slow pace just killed it.  I couldn't even get through another game with one of the other cars and just had to quit.  I haven't decided yet if this is the worst version of Activision's Ghostbusters, but I am definitely giving it a 1 out of 5.

 

 

 

The MSX version, felt like a nice cool breeze after playing the Amstrad version.  The game plays nice and fast.  There's not too much waiting for buildings to turn red, and the actual ghost catching is pretty challenging.  I tried a new strategy here where I basically just parked in one spot and waited to see how many times I could stop the Marshmallow Attack and get the big points bonus.  This strategy didn't coax the Marshmallow Man to appear, instead the Keymaster and Gatekeeper went to Zuul and ended the game around 7,700 PKE.  I guess there's some logic in the game to make this happen if the player isn't moving around and catching ghosts?  If I mixed in a few trips to buildings, I could still catch the Marshmallow Man 4 times, but Keymaster and Gatekeeper still entered Zuul a little before 10k in this version.  I went back and tested a similar strategy in other versions and the PKE energy seemed to always reach 9999.  In general, I like the variation and plan to test other versions to see how unique it is to the MSX.

 

Gameplay here is the star as the ghosts move quickly and often avoid capture when using techniques I've developed on other versions.  This was a positive for me but could make the game feel unfair to newer players.  The presentation is above average but not the best.  There seem to be some sprite limitations with the car that prevent showing your equipment.  This changes the initial loadout screen and the ghost vacuuming animation.  Those are noticeable but don't detract much.  I did find the lack of detail on the actual ghostbusters to be underwhelming, and a heavy reliance on gray in general makes the game seem a little "drab" when compared directly to others.  It tends to contrast a bit too much with the green used quite often as well.  Something of note for this version is that Colecovision homebrewers and frequent internet forum site visitors Team Pixelboy have adapted it for the Coleco. 

 

As a final verdict, I'm giving the MSX version a 3 out of 5.

 

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[+wongojack]

Originally posted August 24, 2024

 

These are two versions which I won't rate out of 5 because they are in different stages of development or neglect.

 

The new TI99 homebrew version is shaping up to be quite impressive.  It is based on the MSX version but features lots of music, voice and graphical enhancements.  The voices are sampled from the iconic song and often use the "chorus" to shout out "Ghostbusters."  Slimer appears on the map in this game (the only version where he does) and the ghostbusters are nicely drawn in correctly colored uniforms.  The city looks a bit different, but I like it, and there are many different building facades to visit.  Even the end game screens of the bouncing marshmallow man and the ghostbusters closing the gate get an upgrade.  The game is truly shaping up to be a genuine treasure for the TI99

 

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The PC version wasn't a DOS game.  Instead, it contained files on the disk to load without an OS.  PC Booter is what this type of game seems to be referred to, and I have no memory of loading any software of the type in my life.  This makes the game a little difficult to run in DOSBox, but it does work.  Shout out to The King of Grabs for helping me get it running. Playing in PCJr mode gives the best experience with full color graphics and a great rendition of the theme song.  There are no vocalizations, but the game plays nice and fast with all the elements in place compared to other examples.  The biggest drawback here is that you have to slow DOSBox down so much that there are some graphical glitches, and the game still runs a bit too fast to be played accurately.  Even so, I had fun with this version, but it would have been really nice to see it running natively on the PCJr bitd.

 

[+wongojack]

Originally posted September 3, 2024

 

All right, I've been saving these two for the end as they are probably the best versions of this old classic.  First up we have the Atari 8bit version.  This version stays away from mistakes and offers a complete package of graphics, music, gameplay and charm.  Some of the sprites and other art is redone with a distinctive Atari slant and the sounds and music also exude Atari sensibilities.  I love the sound of the ghosts being vacuumed up in this one and the sound when a ghost is being trapped definitely sounds like the POKEY.  The gameplay doesn't disappoint although catching ghosts seemed to be a little too easy, and I racked up quite a high score with minimal attempts.  The bouncing Marshmallow Man looks absolutely huge in the last segment, and you can even continue your game with your existing balance with just a simple keypress.  The only thing notably missing are in-game vocalizations.  In versions where your Ghostbusters talk, it really makes a difference.  Some other nitpicks include the depiction of the ghosbtusters themselves who are noticeably out of uniform and maybe the look of the trap and slimer.  He looks a little off somehow.  This version delivers a great experience but doesn't quite do enough to differentiate itself from the middle of the pack.  The Atari 8bit version gets a lot of praise from me, it but doesn't quite force its way among the best with a 3 out of 5.

 

 

 

And now, we get to the Commodore 64 version.  This was my very first version of the game so many years ago, and as soon as I started playing it this weekend, the nostalgia came flooding back.  It kicks off calling to the player with an opening squawk of a voice announcing Ghostbusters Ah Ha Ha Ha.  The vocalizations might sound strange today, but in the 80's they were quite impressive.  In fact, I bet plenty of people who were around back then could recall Ghostbusters as one of the first memories they have of any computer talking.  While the few simple words the game says definitely sound like computerizations, they are quite clear and used very well throughout the game.  The music is just absolutely oozing with SID charm.  Having heard so many versions of the song at this point, I thought the C64 would just blend in with the rest, but the distinctive sound from Commodore's Sound Interface Device really sets this version apart.  The arrangement is slightly different on some other versions (MSX for example), but this one is absolutely great.  The graphics on the C64 are also quite excellent.  While other versions make mistakes like the Ghostbusters in the wrong colors or a lack of detail on Ecto 1, the C64 version seems to get everything right.  I even like the renditions of the roamers on the street and slimer when you catch him at the various buildings.  There also seems to be just a few more touches on the short animations we see.  Vacuuming a ghost is nice and smooth, catching a ghost in a trap shows a clear image of our friend slimer in a futuristic proton bubble, and the little dance the Ghostbusters do when you catch him fits perfectly into the scene.  There are even a few times when you've caught a ghost when the timing of the music, the little dance/shuffle, and the subsequent vocalized Ghostbusters match up as if it was just part of a little music video.  It usually happens once or twice a game and always makes me smile.

 

Negative things about this version might be that after a while, it seems like a lot of the buildings are not very colorful.  Many are mostly gray or white while a small number mix in blue, red, and green.  It makes me think that perhaps there was a choice to use neutrals to seem more like an ugly city (or something).  Perhaps the most negative thing about this version is how it highlights just how simple a game that Ghostbusters really is.  After all these years, I wish there were more challenges to master and more details to discover, but once you've figured out how to win, there's not much stopping you from winning every time.  Maybe a Marshmallow Attack sneaks past you, or you can't quite earn all your money back with an especially expensive loadout, but you won't lose very often.  I even managed to win with the compact car and the laser confinement system this time which is typically the hardest starting scenario (slow car with lots of debt). 

 

After having played more than 14 versions of this game, I've saved giving this version a score until the very end.  My general reaction is that this version was made with the most love and care.  The details are spot on, and it does the best job of making you feel like you are part of the movie.  My own nostalgia pushes me to rate this game very highly, but I can't deny that some additional features and gameplay elements would have helped to give the player more of a sense of accomplishment and more of a challenge.  Taking everything into consideration, I'm giving C64 Ghostbusters a very loving and heartfelt 4 out of 5.

 

Some will be interested to know that there was a 40th Anniversary hack created for C64 Ghostbusters.  It comes with a new theme song, unique opening menu, instructions and a password generator.  Strangely it also seems to change a simple game mechanic.  In this version, the city's PKE Energy did not passively increase as the game was running.  I'm not sure if this is intentional, an oversite, or a bug, but the slower pace is definitely not welcome.  If I'm playing C64 Ghostbusters, I'll avoid this edition.

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[carlsson]

I got the impression that the C64 version was the master version that Activision developed for and all the others would have been ports of that one, with things added or removed as required? There is this story that they had a bunch of sub games including the driving scene, and stitched those together to form a complete game. If so, those game stubs must've come from some system unless they had several projects underway on different systems and cross-ported those when Ghostbusters was about to be developed.

[+wongojack]

5 minutes ago, carlsson said:

I got the impression that the C64 version was the master version that Activision developed for and all the others would have been ports of that one, with things added or removed as required? There is this story that they had a bunch of sub games including the driving scene, and stitched those together to form a complete game. If so, those game stubs must've come from some system unless they had several projects underway on different systems and cross-ported those when Ghostbusters was about to be developed.

I've heard the same, and the Wikipedia article supports that theory as well.  I often wonder what development was like in this window where it would be routine to port a game to double digit platforms.  Did they start development in such a way to make porting easier?  How did they approach the need for different skillsets on their teams etc.?  Very interesting to think about.

[carlsson]

Double digit? I believe you exaggerate slightly but regardless, there ought to be a set of core routines that could be reused (as long as the CPU is the same) and then everything around rewritten. I thought something similar lately regarding the Atari 2600 version of Tarzan, compared to the ColecoVision version and the leaked Atari 8-bit version, developed by partly different teams but game play and visuals much alike. Also though the 2600 and 8-bit have the same CPU, the way you would have to develop the engine for it almost makes me consider those as different CPUs.

 

Back to Ghostbusters, I learned there are at least two or more different account systems. Many of the computer versions share the same algorithm, while the SMS and NES don't. While Carlos was developing GUE for the Intellivision, there was a website that let you generate accounts per different system, and he made an account verification tool at first, before rest of the game. I wonder why that changed, if the development was contracted out to teams not having access to Activision's documentation or finished game, or if the change was intentional so that a computer player should not be able to use their account on the consoles.

[+wongojack]

2 minutes ago, carlsson said:

Double digit? I believe you exaggerate slightly but regardless, there ought to be a set of core routines that could be reused (as long as the CPU is the same) and then everything around rewritten. I thought something similar lately regarding the Atari 2600 version of Tarzan, compared to the ColecoVision version and the leaked Atari 8-bit version, developed by partly different teams but game play and visuals much alike. Also though the 2600 and 8-bit have the same CPU, the way you would have to develop the engine for it almost makes me consider those as different CPUs.

 

Back to Ghostbusters, I learned there are at least two or more different account systems. Many of the computer versions share the same algorithm, while the SMS and NES don't. While Carlos was developing GUE for the Intellivision, there was a website that let you generate accounts per different system, and he made an account verification tool at first, before rest of the game. I wonder why that changed, if the development was contracted out to teams not having access to Activision's documentation or finished game, or if the change was intentional so that a computer player should not be able to use their account on the consoles.

I have 10 versions from the era reviewed above.  There could have been additional versions abandoned as well - who knows.

 

 

Regarding the bank account system, that 40th anniversary edition on the 64 allows you to generate account numbers with various amounts of $$.  An interesting thing to add to the game for sure.  As far as the SMS and NES versions, the NES version doesn't really use the same account system at all, there is no account entry screen, and you don't have the option to continue with the money you've earned.  The SMS does, but they changed quite a bit of the items, and I don't believe entering your name is required which was part of the account code on the computers.

[carlsson]

Sorry, I didn't do a double count on how many systems you were up to.

 

As for versions not known to exist, the ones I can think about would've been the 5200, 7800, ST and Amiga. Activision did release some games for the CoCo and BBC Micro, though a lot of that seem to have been outsourced to third party.

 

I saw there is a WIP on Ghostbusters for the Beeb if you want to try it out.

[+wongojack]

On 9/7/2024 at 5:56 PM, carlsson said:

Sorry, I didn't do a double count on how many systems you were up to.

 

As for versions not known to exist, the ones I can think about would've been the 5200, 7800, ST and Amiga. Activision did release some games for the CoCo and BBC Micro, though a lot of that seem to have been outsourced to third party.

 

I saw there is a WIP on Ghostbusters for the Beeb if you want to try it out.

I played it!  I won't rate it since it doesn't seem to be quite done yet.

 

According to that site, the BBC Micro version is based on the C64 version.  That means the buildings, Ghostbusters, and Marshmallow Man look and behave almost exactly the same way.  The music and vocalizations are very nice, and while the graphics are as detailed as any of the early versions, the color palette takes some getting used to.  I'm not experienced with how color is used on the Beeb, but the heavy use of blue as a base looks a bit odd.  It still worked perfectly well of course, and I assume fans of that system will feel right at home with it.

 

While the presentation is up to par, the gameplay is not.  The driving sequences didn't give the impression of speed at all, and the ghosts were waaay too easy to catch.  I actually had to try and miss a ghost just to hear the fallen Ghostbuster say "he slimed me."  I piled up enough money to pay back my debt before the PKE energy even reached 3000, so a little work is needed to give the player more of a challenge.  Sneaking past the Marshmallow Man was also very easy.  He moves MUCH slower than any other version I've played making getting past him trivial.

 

One little bonus idea they put in the game was to let you actually control the Ghostbusters on the normally passive final screen.  You are instructed to "Cross the Streams" and given control of your Ghostbusters to do so.  This was a nice touch that I really appreciated.

 

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[newtmonkey]

Awesome work @wongojack!

It's nice to have your thoughts collected all in one place on these games.  This is the kind of content AA needs, instead of all the YouTube garbage polluting the forum.

[+wongojack]

9 minutes ago, newtmonkey said:

Awesome work @wongojack!

It's nice to have your thoughts collected all in one place on these games.  This is the kind of content AA needs, instead of all the YouTube garbage polluting the forum.

Remember to like and subscribe!

[carlsson]

Today I realized that one of the views I've created at work looks very much alike Ghostbusters. Black background, lots of green boxes in a 4x4 matrix and some that suddenly flash red. I should implement streets, ghosts that move across the screen and that the middle box is the Zuul where the endgame of the web page happens. I even posted a screenshot of the C64 version in the internal Teams chat. Surprisingly many of the other colleagues recognized it. Admittedly, half of us are 45-50 but the other half are 25-30 and still had some recognition of this game which says something.

[+OLD CS1]

53 minutes ago, carlsson said:

the other half are 25-30 and still had some recognition of this game which says something.

Says they have awesome parents.

[carlsson]

Someone had seen AVGN do a feature on Ghostbusters, but I didn't really pick up what James Rolfe (or rather his character) thought about it. While many YouTubers reviewing 30++ year old games tend to be embarrassing and unnecessary unless they can find some new angle on an older game, I suppose it may have an added value to make the older games recognized for a younger audience.

[+wongojack]

I played another version on C64.  This one is called Ghose Busters or Ghost Busters Basic.  I couldn't find much written about it, and I think I must have learned about it from one of RGN's videos.  Not really sure, but it was in my homebrews folder, so I played it.

 

The game is a "demake" of the original, and it is supposedly written in BASIC.   It uses ASCII for the artwork and graphics and comes complete with a suitably anemic (but recognizable) few bars of the famous song.  I won't rate this version as it was obviously done as a challenge to the programmer, but I will say that I considered the simplified gameplay fun for a few rounds and was impressed with what could be done in BASIC to recreate some of the movie's magic here.  It feels like a Ghostbusters game even if it is a little hard to look at.

 

[+OLD CS1]

37 minutes ago, wongojack said:

I will say that I considered the simplified gameplay fun for a few rounds and was impressed with what could be done in BASIC

I always found Commodore's BASIC to be quite functional, and especially spectacular when compiled.

[zzip]

On 9/7/2024 at 4:56 PM, wongojack said:

kicks off calling to the player with an opening squawk of a voice announcing Ghostbusters Ah Ha Ha Ha.  The vocalizations might sound strange today, but in the 80's they were quite impressive.  In fact, I bet plenty of people who were around back then could recall Ghostbusters as one of the first memories they have of any computer talking.

Yeah back then they had us all believing that you needed a speech synthesizer to make your game talk,   but then suddenly around this time we started seeing games pop up with speech that didn't require additional hardware.   And Ghostbusters was one of the first games that showed us that computer speech didn't have to sound like the "robot voice" we were used to hearing from speech synthesizers (thanks so sampling)   Seemed like a work of magic at the time.

[+wongojack]

I've been playing all the completed/released versions again and am ready to start posting some additional thoughts and rankings.  With so many versions to consider, I decided to rate them in tiers.  This helped me think about the differences between the individual versions as some were quite different in terms of quality and features.  I'll post a final ranking of all the games at the end.

 

The tiers are organized with tier 1 containing the games with the highest ratings from my initial playthroughs.  Tier 3 has the games with the lowest ratings.  Games are listed alphabetically within the tiers below.  As I replayed the games, I discovered that the 2 different releases for the ZX Spectrum were more different than I originally thought.  The 128k version was released a few years after the original and includes enough changes that I decided to include both games individually.

[+wongojack]

<More coming soon>

[carlsson]

@cmadruga Look, your game is in the top tier!