Ghostbusters
System: SMS
Release Date: May 1987
Developer: Compile
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
Ghostbusters on Sega Master System is up next. I was a fan of Ghostbusters when I was a kid, so had this on NES. So I had a base understanding of the game coming in, but this had enough differences present to be a quite different game, albeit similar. The object is to defeat Gozer at the top of the Shandor Building.
Ghostbusters was marketed as four games in one. Quantity doesn’t necessarily equate to quality, however. The main game is the Zap & Trap portion. You start out with $10,000 and have to buy a car and outfit it to be able to go out on the streets and bust some ghosts. Buying the cheapest car doesn’t leave a ton of money left for traps and such. I suggest a PKE Meter, and at least three regular traps. Then you leave the shop and are on your way.
You have to find a flashing building, which indicates that a ghost infestation is there or one is coming. Once you click the building, you have to drive there, avoiding other cars and construction on the way. The more you drive around the main map, the longer you have to drive on the approach to the building. Your two Ghostbusters bring a trap onto the sidewalk and a number of ghosts will be floating around. Get your guys in position, switching them with Button 1 and press Button 2 to turn on the streams. Once you get them positioned over the trap, hit Button 2 and swallow them up. Each ghost you catch adds to your bank account.
To begin with, you only have the traps that you bought from the shop and after you fill them up, you have to head to Ghostbusters HQ to empty them in the containment field. You also fill up the power of your proton beams here and replenish your lives if slimed by ghosts on the street. Always counting up is the city’s PK Level. The meter starts blue, then turns yellow after filling, and finally red. Once the red meter fills up, The Gatekeeper and Key Master make their way to the Shandor Building and the first part of the game comes to an end. If you have $10,000 or more, you can move to the next stage, otherwise, start over again.
Stage two has you trying to get into the Shandor building past a large, angry, jumping Marshmallow Man. You have to get two of your three Busters past the Marshmallow Man to get to the next level. This is the climb up the Shandor Building. Ghosts appear at every floor and you can shoot them with your proton beam to defeat them. You have three chances to climb up ten floors to challenge the final boss.
On the roof of the building is Gozer himself, with his two guard dogs on each side. The dogs shoot fireballs and Gozer shoots an array of bolts. Again, you have three chances to shoot Gozer ten times. If you finish him off before getting hit, you win the game!
Graphics: 2.0
This is a great example of average graphics in a game. They aren’t bad, but they aren’t good.
Sound: 1.5
The Ghostbusters theme is done very poorly here. I don’t know if it was just bad composing or programming limits.
Gameplay: 1.5
There may be four different types of play, but they aren’t really any good. I mean, they aren’t terrible, but not good.
Difficulty: 2.0
You can beat this thing pretty easily. If you die in the Shandor Building, you get a password to start again with the amount of money you amassed.
Fun Factor: 2.0
It’s fun enough for me. Your mileage may vary.
Overall Grade: 1.8
Ghostbusters on Sega Master System gets a C. A lot of people dump on this game, but I don’t think it’s bad. We’ll see how the NES version stacks up in Juneish.