Ghostbusters

"A surprisingly good port for the 2600!"

The 1984 motion picture hit Ghostbusters broke tons and tons of Box Office records. Until 1997, it was still the highest grossing comedy of all time. It spun off two syndicated cartoon series, a sequel, toys, and, of course, video games. David Crane and his pals at Activision decided to put together a game about the film for all platforms.

It was an innovative idea. Have players take control of their own Ghostbusting business, and earn money to pay back your loan before Gozer arrived to try in your town what he failed in New York the first time around. The game was based solely on the 'Ghostbusting' aspect of the film. And was essentially an RPG.

And the game was as big a success as the film on which it was based. Until recently, I never truly believed that it reached all platforms. Until I came across the title for the Atari. And I sure am surprised that they could squeeze so much of the original, large game into a cartridge with such small space.

That's the most amazing thing about the 2600 port. That despite being weaker than the other consoles which this game was programmed for, they still managed to port the majority of the gameplay into this weaker system.

Story: 10/10

The interesting thing is one most people forget from the instruction manual. The game is meant to be an RPG. Thus, you aren't playing as the team seen in the film. You're opening your own Ghostbusters franchise. Another division. Unfortunately, Gozer the Gozerian has found a way to come back to Earth, and is headed for the town that you've set-up-shop in. And just like the film, you're the only group that can stop him.

Music: 10/10

The game simply must get a score of 10, because the Activision programmers once again managed to preserve the Ghostbusters theme and make it understandable. Programming looping background music into a 2600 game is quite a feat, so despite the fact that it's the only musical piece in the game, they still get 10 points for the miraculous feat they accomplished.

Gameplay: 9/10

Simply amazing. That the programmers could do so much with only one button and a joystick. But the gameplay is as solid as it's Commodore 64 cousin. However, it takes a dive because the 'shop' where you get your equipment is bare. Fancy devices like the PKE Meter and the other vehicle choices are nonexistant. So the game loses a point for losing so many cool weapons. Otherwise, it's all intact. The shop, the map screen, the driving and busting sequences are there. And I would assume the Marshmallow Man scene is too, but I haven't gotten that far.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics were pushed to the limit for a 2600. There's several colors, things are nicely detailed, and the Proton Streams in the busting scenes are nicely rendered and match their movie counterparts. However, the graphics take a dive because during the driving scenes, you can see the street's lane dividers through the windshield, as if the Ecto-1 was just an empty shell.

Overall: 10/10

Overall, this is a solid port of a classic game, and it's definitely one of the best programmed 2600 games out there. Pick it up. You won't regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/04