Well, while I’m still in Ghostbusters mood, let’s talk about an arcade game based on them! I’ve been slow making new Arcade Center posts, but what better way to bring a new edition than talking about the Ghostbusters?

Okay, there might be a better way, but hey, why not?

Read on!

So what’s up with this game?
Made by Data East in 1987, based on The Real Ghostbusters cartoon series, this is a birds-eye view Third-Person Shooter/shoot ‘em up (think the bird-eye view stages in Contra 3). It can be played by up to 3 players on the original machine. Should be 4, but whatever.

You play as a Ghostbuster. I have no idea which one(for player one), since the character you control looks like none of the ones from the cartoon. He’s wearing Egon’s costume, but has black hair… Might be Peter but with the wrong costume and hair color? I mean, look at the next screenshot, all the characters are the same, only with a different colored uniform. And some colors which aren’t used in The Real Ghostbusters.

So what do you do in the game? Well, you shoot enemies, and you capture ghosts. You have 2 weapons: bullets (probably some sort of energy bullet) and your proton beam. Destroying enemies reveals ghosts. Using your proton beam you can reel them in and capture them(straight in your proton pack, it seems, no trap required). You can destroy enemies with either weapon at your disposal. You also get various power ups. There’s some that power up either of your weapons, others that boost your energy meter for your proton beam(which uses up over time, though it seems to go down VERY slowly) and invincibility (Aura power up). The funnest upgrade is the Green Ghost. Why it’s called Green Ghost instead of Slimer, I have no idea, but it summons Slimer, who moves around you at random and kills any enemy he touches, until you die.

Speaking of dying, you die in 1 hit, no matter what touches you. And you’ll die a LOT. If you’re playing this at the actual arcade, bring lots of change because this game will kick your ass. Each credit gives you 3 lives, but even with 3 lives you won’t go very far, unless you’re a master at the game. The screen constantly fills up with enemies, especially in the later stages, and if just a pixels of an enemy or trap touches you, you’re dead.

Why would you want to capture ghosts though? You can finish stages without even capturing 1 ghost, just killing everything in sight. Well, for every 100 ghosts you capture you get a life. Though only at the end of a stage when they’re put in the Ghost Containment Unit. And you need all the extra lifes you can get… if you’re playing on the actual arcade, of course, since you have infinite credits on emulator.

Overall
Not a bad game, but not great. It doesn’t really feel like Ghostbusters, and the developers could have TRIED to make the characters look like the Ghostbusters(seriously, that’s just lazy). The enemy design is pretty much just random ghost-like enemies, with most not really feeling like they actually came from The Real Ghostbusters cartoon(I might be wrong, since I watched that LONG ago(early 90s), and just started watching it again last week, and I’m only at the beginning of the second season). Most just seem like generic enemies that could fit in whatever other game at the time which needed ghosts. Also, weapon-wise, there’s little reason NOT to use proton beam. Unless your normal shot is fully powered-up. But if you die you lose said power ups, so you might as well just use the proton beam.

Overall it’s not the worst Ghostbusters game, and there is some enjoyment to be found, and it’s quite challenging. If you find this game, give it a try.
(no Save Factor on this one, since it’s an arcade game)

Stay tuned for more arcade center posts, I plan on doing much more of those starting now.

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