Ghostbusters, an oldie but goodie game from Activision for the Commodore 64, is, of course, based on the 1984 smash hit movie of the same name. Players control the three Ghostbusters (Winston drives the Ecto-1 and is not playable, apparently) as they catch New York City's ghosts. Trap ghosts by positioning two of the three busters beside the ghost, push the fire button to fire up the proton packs, and then push the beams into the ghost to force it over the trap. Then suck the ghost into its jail. For each ghost that is successfully trapped, you earn money to spend on better ghost equipment. There's all sorts of neat equipment, such as:
- Ghost traps (a must have - without these you cannot catch anything!) - Place one of these under the ghost and wait until it hovers over it. Then press the button and the demon's yours.
- Marshmallow Bait - useful for catching the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. Without this, Puffy can stomp the city to bits, causing you to be sued by the city.
- Ghost vacuum - allows you to suck up the ghosts on the road and earn more money.
- Ghost bait - attract the ghosts to the vacuum area.
- Vision Goggles – allows you to see invisible ghosts.
- PKE Meter – lets you see where ghosts will appear next.
- Portable containment unit - allows you to refill ghost traps.
The gameplay is great for a C64 game. Use the joystick to move the Ghostbusters from left to right in the street scenes or to drive the Ecto-1 in the driving scenes. The hardest part about the control is convincing the game that you're pushing the "ghost trap activate" button, but other than that it's quite smooth. The sound is faithful to the film. The movie's theme song plays nonstop through the game, and if you should fail to trap a ghost, you hear a electronic voice shout "He slimed me!" If you suck a ghost into the ghost vacuum, you get a sucking sound. Lose the game and you are electronically laughed at. This is the extent of the sounds.
This game is designed with replay in mind. After winning the game you are given a password that allows you to start a new game with your previous bank account, allowing you to buy advanced weaponry and faster cars at the beginning of the game. The downside of the game: once you buy your equipment you cannot buy more until the next game. Also, once you run out of ghost traps, you must drive back to headquarters to swap them out. This can be time consuming if you have only a few traps.
The game was also released for the Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, and Sega Game Gear years later with some enhancements (more weapons, easier gameplay, better graphics, and harder goals), but I find that the C64 version of the game is the best version of them all. It is not as buggy and is, to me, more fun with its simple premise and engaging challenge level. I sold my Commodore 64 years ago, and it's a shame that this game went with it – it’s a C64 classic.
This writeup is based on a review I wrote for http://www.GameFAQs.com several years ago.