Games that Time Forgot: Ghostbusters (Megadrive)

Author: Vince | Date: September 1, 2008

In 1984 Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore (a.k.a. The Ghostbusters) burst on to the big screen and took the world by storm. 6 years later the franchise was still going strong and Sega developed and released a game based on Ghostbusters for its 16-bit Megadrive (or Genesis for the yanks) system. The game is modeled on the 1987 Activision game released for the Atari 2600 and the Apple II, with a major graphical overhaul and improved sound.

The first thing you notice about Ghostbusters is, that for a game of it’s era, the graphics are stunning! especially when you consider that the console itself was only released in 1989, so this game was released very early in the systems life cycle. The game plays out as a relatively standard side scrolling shooter, with the small exception that instead of just running to the right constantly, you actually have to navigate your way up and down the floors of the buildings to reach the bosses. You have a mini-map in the pause menu to help guide you on your way, but you still seem to find yourself totally lost on some of the larger levels.

You can play as either Ray, Peter or Egon (sadly no Winston) each with their own characteristics, Egon is fast but has less health, Peter is the all rounder and Ray is the slowest but has more health. The characters are portrayed as ‘bobble headed’ caricatures of the actors from the films giving the game a light hearted, cartoony feel overall. The only letdown on the visuals front in the somewhat sub-par backgrounds, compared to the rest of the game they seem dull and boring.

There are 7 levels in the game, accessed via the city map. The first 4 you can do in any order, with the rest being done in a fixed order. Each level will contain at least one ‘midway’ boss as well as the tougher boss at the end of each level (including the mighty Staypuff Marshmallow Man!)., with the final level doing that age old trick of making you fight all of the other bosses again before you get to the final boss and save the city from certain destruction. When the midway bosses are killed they release a small ghost that you have to trap in your photon beam and pull into the trap to capture.

At the end of each level you are given a sum of cash based on the number of enemies you have killed and a bonus for each boss you have defeated, you can also gain cash by busting open the safes dotted around the levels. Cash can be spent buying new weapons, upgrades and assorted other items like food and bombs at the shops between levels, and is essential to survival as the game is incredibly difficult. Only the true hardcore players ever beat this game on a difficulty above easy, as to do so meant learning the weaknesses of every boss in the game and where you needed to go on every level.

Has Ghostbusters stood the test of time? Yes, the game is still fiendishly difficult and the gameplay now feels dated, which is perhaps to be expected from a game that is almost 20 years old! The graphics however, still look as good as they did back in the day and the gameplay is still fun and addictive! So if you still have your old Megadrive kicking about and never got the opportunity to play this, then I seriously recommend you get hold of a copy of Ghostbusters and give it a whirl, you still won’t be disappointed!

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