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Developed by David Crane and published by Activision in 1984

Surely this is another game that needs no introduction. Based on the 1982 box office smash film, you get to take control of your own Ghostbusters franchise and save the city from getting into a slimey, ghoulie mess.

The game starts with you choosing your car and a selection of spook-zapping equipment (take the ghost bait!!), all of which costs money, before hitting the streets to catch some ghosts. New York city is represented as a grid of roads and buildings and you plot a course to one of the destinations using the Ghostbuster logo.

If a building starts flashing, it means that there is a ghost there to be caught. Upon arrival, you must select a location to put the trap down and deploy your 2 ghostbusters. When ready, pressing the fire button will activate your proton packs, which can be used to push and pull the slimer across the screen towards the trap. Press the fire button again at the right moment to activate the trap and catch the ghost; if you miss, prepare to be slimed! You earn money for each slimer caught and you need to earn a certain amount of money before the Gatekeeper and Key Master finally meet at the Zuul building.

All this time, the city's PKE energy is ticking up, which increases the frequency of ghost activity and also affects the speed at which the yellow phantoms roam around the city. If any of these manage to get to the Zuul building at the centre of the map, the city's PKE will drastically increase (missing any slimers will also cause this to happen).

Once the PKE level reaches a certain level, there is a good chance that the dreaded Marshmallow Man will appear and try to stomp all over one of the city buildings. If he succeeds, you'll lose a substantial amount of cash whereas you'll be rewarded if you remembered to buy ghost bait and hit "B" on the keyboard in time.

Eventually, the Gatekeeper and Key Master will arrive at the Zuul building and the final game screen loads. All this involves is managing to get 2 of your Ghostbusters past the Marshmallow Man by running through his legs into the building. If you manage this, you'll be treated to a little ending sequence where your men cross the streams on their proton packs and close the inter-dimensional portal threatening the city. You'll receive a cash bonus for completing the game and will receive a bank account number (basically a password) allowing you to play a new game with your bank balance carried over.

For 1984, a game this well considered and fun to play was an impressive feat. There is a simple yet instantly recognisable version of Ray Parker Jr.'s famous theme song playing throughout. There are even a couple of digitised speech samples for when you catch a ghost/getting slimed.

One of the best games for the C64, period.

#retrogaming
#c64
#ghostbusters

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