Ghostbusters (Activision video game)
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| Ghostbusters | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Designer(s) | David Crane |
| Release date(s) | 1985 - 1988 |
| Genre(s) | Action adventure game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600, Commodore 64, MSX, NES, PC Booter, Sega Master System, ZX Spectrum |
| Media | Floppy disk, Cartridge |
| Input | Keyboard, Joystick |
Ghostbusters is a licensed game by Activision based on the movie of the same name. It was designed by David Crane, produced by Brad Fregger, and released for several home computer platforms in 1984, and later for video game console systems, including the Atari 2600, Sega Master System and NES. The programmer for the initial version of the game was Adam Bellin.
The player sets up a ghost busting franchise in a city with a rising Psychokinetic (PK) Energy level and has the ability to purchase equipment such as traps, or to upgrade their vehicle. The player then negotiates a grid representing the city. They need to stop the "roamers" from reaching the temple of Zuul (which causes the PK Energy level to jump). When the player moves to a city block that is flashing red, the game mode switches to an overhead view of the player's vehicle driving to the location. The player must move left and right to vacuum up the stray ghosts. The player then moves to a screen in which a Slimer ghost must be guided with two proton streams over a ghost trap.
If the ghost is successfully captured, the player's income increases. The aim is to have $10,000 by the time the city's PK level reaches 9999. In some versions (e.g. the Commodore 64 version), after the first successful game, the player is given an account number, which stores the amount of money the player had at the end of the game. This allowed for purchasing more expensive items for use (faster cars, more traps etc.). In order to win at these games the player was required to have earned more money than their initial account balance. This is one of the earliest uses of passwords being used as a 'save game' feature on home computers.
Some ports of the game (especially the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64 version) are significant for their attempt at playing back rudimentary speech samples ("Ghostbusters!", "He slimed me!"), a novelty at the time. The Commodore 64 version was noted for having the best synthesised speech and music, with a very good representation of the Ghostbusters theme song used as background music.
The game was also released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, (1986 in Japan) and the Sega Master System in 1987. These versions featured added gameplay after the Ghostbusters sneak by the Marshmallow Man. It played more like a conventional vertical scrolling platform game, where they were to actually climb the stairs to get to the roof. However, in the NES version, the Ghostbusters could not fire their weapons nor trap any of the Ghosts and had to instead sneak by all the floors. The Master System version had the Ghostbusters shooting the ghosts with their proton streams to temporarily make them go away. The NES version is much more difficult for this reason.
[edit] See also
| Ghostbusters | |
|---|---|
| Movies: | Ghostbusters | Ghostbusters II | Ghostbusters III |
| Television: | The Real Ghostbusters | Extreme Ghostbusters |
| Video Games: | Ghostbusters (Activision) | Ghostbusters II | Ghostbusters (Sega) | Ghostbusters (Xbox 360) |
| Technology: | Proton pack | Ectomobile | Ghostbusters equipment |
| Characters: | Peter Venkman | Egon Spengler | Ray Stantz | Winston Zeddemore | Janine Melnitz | Ivo Shandor |
| Ghosts: | Slimer | Stay Puft Marshmallow Man | Vigo the Carpathian | Scoleri Brothers | Samhain | Bogeyman |
| Misc: | Ghostbusters: Legion | Ghostbusters: The Return | Ghostbusters (role-playing game) | Filmation's Ghostbusters |
