Ghostbusters
Reviewed by Dan
Who ya gonna call? Well, not this game. At least not this port of the game. Read on to
find out more.
Anyone who was alive in 1984 remembers what a huge success this movie was,
spawning 4 cartoons, 3 toy lines, a sequel, and another sequel is in the works. Well
like all great licences it also spawned a video/computer game on many systems all
the way back to the dying Atari 2600. This port of the game, well, lacks.
Graphics 3 out of 10
The graphics in this game are horrid. They seem to belong on Colecovision, or the
5200 rather than the NES. Even the famed "No-ghosts" logo on the map is drawn
backwards. The worst graphical offense has to be the beams of the Ghostbusters
weapons. They are drawn as stacks of diamonds, rather than "beams." People, the Atari
2600 beams were drawn much better. And the boys in grey themselves look like the
fighters from Urban Champion.
Music and Sound 2.7 out of 10
This game tries hard to play the famous Ghostbusters theme song by Ray Parker Jr,
and fails horribly. It amounts to a bunch of bleeps and bloops, which vaguely resemble
the melody to the song. And the transcription is wrong in a few places. The sound
effects are equally bad, obviously generic samples thrown in to complete the game.
And the staticy sound fx which do come thru are right out of any Atari 2600 game.
Turn your TV down and put in the Ghostbusters soundtrack CD instead.
Game Challenge 7 out of 10
This assessment of the game's challenge isn't fair, because the game is made
unnecessarily hard by the game's poor quality. This game is hard to begin with, and
is made even harder by bad graphics and control.
After you've trapped the same green ghost (Slimer) a few times, which in itself is
a hit or miss prospect, you are told to "Enter the Zuul Building" after what seems
like a random amount of times. This is where the difficulty just shines. As soon as
you start to climb, the ghosts get you. Period. You NEED a game genie to pass this
stage. And if you do manage to defeat Gozer, the ending says "Congratulations, you
saved New York." What a rip!
Game Play-Fun 1 out of 10
The concept of the game is very original. You are starting your own Ghostbusters
franchise, you buy equipment, use different tools, and travel to sites on a map. The
idea is there, but not much else.
This game is not fun. It is a chore to play, even for a diehard Ghostbusters freak like
myself. Non-fans of the franchise have used this cart to hold up the bum leg of the couch.
Frustration
Very high. This game will have you choking the nearest organism with the controller cord.
Replayability 1 out of 10
Why would you want to play it again, after all I've said?
Game Value 3 out of 10
Only because I payed $3 for it. If I payed full price for it back in the day, I'd roast
whoever sold it to me.
Overall 3 out of 10
I would like to reiterate that the game's concept is very original and good, but that
this PORT of the game stinks. The Commodore 64 version was the best. Infinitely
better than this game.