The Ghostbusters 1984 Video Game released by Activision was one of the first games that I can remember experiencing. The Commodore 64 port is one my favourite games of all time. Let’s go back in time.
Discovering Ghostbusters
I was born in 1978 so come 1984 I turned 6. Back in 1984 the original Star Wars trilogy had already concluded, 3 Superman movies had been released, Indiana Jones was visiting the Temple of Doom & we met Gizmo & the Gremlins for the first time. What a time to be a 6 year old boy & amongst all of this fun in 1984 another pop culture phenomenon would introduce itself. Ladies & Gentlemen – Ghostbusters!
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I didn’t see Ghostbusters until it came out on VHS but I did manage to experience Ghostbusters in another form back in 1984; on a Commodore 64 at a friends house. This experience along with playing Star Wars the arcade game by Atari kick started my love of gaming & Ghostbusters is still one of my favourite games of all time. Let’s take a bit more of a look at the classic Ghostbusters Video Game.
The Development of the Ghostbusters 1984 Video Game
Initially developed for the Commodore 64 & Atari 800 Ghostbusters was released in 1984, the same year as the movie was released. It was Activision’s vice president of product development Tom Lopez who managed to spot Ghostbusters as a potential movie hit before any of their competitors & would successfully acquire the licence at a reasonable price. To ensure the licence was financially viable though it was decided the game needed to be produced in 6 weeks.
This was seen as crucial to ensure the games release still caught the buzz of the movie. With such failures as ET still fresh in the memory & the North American Video Game crash still a very recent memory this game had to be developed to a good standard but released quickly.
Fortunately back in 1984 Film Studio’s didn’t get too involved with video game development which gave Activision & more importantly the legendary games developer David Crane the freedom to try & work within the set time constraints.
A Tight Deadline Leads to Car Wars
It was discussed that 6 weeks wasn’t enough time to develop a full game to a good standard from scratch but fortunately Crane had been working on a top down driving game called Car Wars. Car Wars would eventually become the vehicle customisation stage at the beginning of the game as well as the driving stage that links the map screen to the eventual slimer capture screen part of the game.
Being able to adapt an existing game in Car Wars made life a little easier for Activision but 6 weeks of hard work still lay ahead for the development team lead by David Crane.
Eventually the deadline would be reached & Crane also managed to squeeze in digital speech into the C64 version along with the brilliant opening screen with the famous theme tune & lyrics.
Crane has stated in previous interviews that he could have done more with the game but working within the time constraints he did all that he could with Ghostbusters.
Ghostbusters – A Blockbuster Movie and Video Game
The game along with the movie was a huge success for both Activision & Columbia. Let’s take a look at the gameplay.
Ghostbusters – Playing the 1984 Video Game
As the C64 version is my go to version of the Ghostbusters 1984 video game so we’ll stay with this version. At the beginning of the game you start a Ghostbusters franchise where you open a bank account & you are loaned $10,000 to start your Ghost Busting business. To do this you need to select a vehicle & equip it with cool stuff like a ghost vacuum, marshmallow sensor & PK energy detector.
Some of these items are essential but we’ll get into that later. As you play the game more and reach the end of the game you can use your account details again to restart your game with your balance from your previous game which enables you to buy more equipment. There are also cheat accounts to obtain loads of money even infinite money should you desire.
Once you have equipped your vehicle it’s off to the city map to start busting ghosts! On the city map which is set out as a grid you have your Ghostbusters HQ at the bottom with Zuul’s temple located in the central area of the screen.
Here you are looking for red flashing buildings. This indicates a slimer problem at this location & you must get your Ghostbusters icon to the location & select the building as quickly as possible.
As the games progresses and the city’s PK energy meter increases these red flashing buildings will rapidly increase with numerous buildings flashing at the same time. Also on this screen there are ghosts roaming the city if you pass over these you will freeze them.
Once you have selected your location it’s time to hit the road in your vehicle selected at the start of the game. This top down section taken from the previously mentioned unfinished Car Wars game allows you to vacuum the ghosts you had previously frozen by steering towards them and hitting the fire button. Of course if you didn’t select the vacuum at the beginning of the game you won’t be able to do this. Always get the ghost vacuum!
Once you arrive at the slimer scene it’s time to really start busting ghosts. So lets have a read of the C64 instructions on what we need to do….
When you arrive at the site of the disturbance, take the following steps with the Joystick:
Direct the first Ghostbuster toward the centre of the building and push the button to deposit the trap. Then move him to the far left of the screen, turn him towards the trap, and push the button again. The second Ghostbuster appears. Direct him to the far right of the screen, turn him towards the trap, and push the button. Both Ghostbusters will power on their negative ionizer backpacks.
Move your Ghostbusters inward to trap the Slimer between the streams.
But do not–repeat, DO NOT–cross the streams.
When you have the Slimer over the trap, push the button. The trap will pull him in. (Be precise. If you miss, you know what will happen.)
Every trapped Slimer increases your credit rating. The amount earned depends on how quickly you respond. Your accumulated credit is shown on the screen at all times.
If you fail then one of your guys will get slimed!
Success Leads to Zuul
If successful you will start earning money which is important as you need at least $10,000 in you bank account to face Zuul at the end of the game.
This pattern is now repeated but you will need to keep stopping by GHQ to empty your full traps, replace your slimed Ghostbusters or if you foolishly crossed the streams.
You can also hit the space bar on the map screen for a status report. As you play the games you will see the number of roaming ghosts increase & start moving faster along with more slimers appearing. All the while this is happening the city PK energy meter will increase & Rick Moranis & Sigourney Weaver will also make an appearance!! What I actually mean is they will appear as a key & lock symbol that will both roam the map symbolising the gatekeeper and key master roles they play in the film.
Meet the Marshmallow Man
As the game intensifies towards the end of the game a new danger appears in the form of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. And here is where you will need the marshmallow sensor & ghost bait that you can select for your vehicle at the start of the game. The roamers will very quickly try to form into a marshmallow man with the marshmallow sensor making the soon to be damaged building flash white if you are beside it & before they do so you need to hit B on your keyboard to drop your bait & draw him away from flattening a building & then awarding you $2000.
If they do form into a marshmallow man & flatten a building this will cost you $3000 in damages! My advice would be to have your finger close to that B button when you get to this point in the game to ensure you can get to Zuul. I say this because however well you play the game once the key master & the gate keeper go to Zuul the game will end in one of three ways:
- You don’t have enough money to go to Zuul – less money than what you started with so game over.
- You have enough money & get to Zuul but you fail to get 2 out of 3 ghostbusters past the Marshmallow man (yes him again) & into the entrance of Zuul.
- You do get 2 of your guys past Mr Staypuft which means you will get to the top of the building where you will fire up your proton packs cross the streams & close the portal defeating Zuul & beating the game.
If you do beat you will get a $5000 reward (in the game, don’t expect a cheque from Activision) & the bank will also increase your credit limit & give you a new account number for future games.
I personally always struggled to get past the Marshmallow Man but that would always push me to play the game more.
Other Ports of the Ghostbusters 1984 Video Game
The game was released across several home computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad & MSX. Home consoles weren’t ignored either with the game released on the Atari 2600, the Sega Master System later in 1987 & the NES version following in 1988.
The Sega & Nintendo versions differ slightly from the home computer ports with both having an on foot shooting level to reach the top of the Zuul building followed by a battle on the rooftop with Goza.
The NES version which was ported by a Japanese developer is considerably more difficult & generally quite rubbish with the Master System port being a colourful & fun update. The NES version has ghostbusters sprites that look like soldiers & no Marshmallow man blocking Zuul along with some questionable grammar & spelling but hey I’d be in the same boat if I was asked to write an end screen in Japanese
My advice would be to avoid the NES version & check out the Master System game.
The game would go on to be included in various compilations that were popular in the mid to late eighties in the UK & would get a budget release under Mastertronic’s Riccochet label. In fact the Riccochet budget version would be one of the first games I purchased for my C64C which I got in 1989.
The original release for the C64 was in a classic black clamshell case which I am happy to admit I have a copy of along with my original budget version that I think cost me all of £1.99 back in 1989 & still plays to this day.
Sequels and Cartoon Conversions
This game would be followed by many others with the sequel following in 1989, a Real Ghostbusters game based on the successful cartoon & the Genesis/Megadrive version just to name a few but it will always be the 1984 original that holds a special place in my heart just like the original movie.
This game caught the imagination of a six year old boy that would have to wait for 5 long years before he actually owned his own version of the game. But when he did wow what fun he had.
You can read more about My Top C64 Games here for more 8-bit fun.
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Thanks for stopping by. Who ya gonna call?
Daz
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