Discover the best Ghostbusters games to play for an authentic paranormal experience. From classic favorites to modern remasters.This was 1993-1994. Thirty years have passed. But the Ghostbusters franchise itself, in 2024, celebrates the fortieth anniversary since the release of the first film in 1984 – and several other important dates.15 years ago, on June 16, 2009, Ghostbusters: The Video Game was released – one of the best games in the franchise.
10 years ago, on February 24, 2014, actor, director and screenwriter Harold Ramis, creator of “Ghostbusters” and performer of the role of Egon Spangler, died.5 years ago, in October 2019, a successful remaster of Ghostbusters: The Video Game went on sale.
And already in March 2024, the last film in the series to date, “Ghostbusters: Chilling Terror,” was released. And you can still see the actors of the original duology in it, albeit in minor roles.
It seems that we have enough reasons to remember the path of the franchise in video games, of which many have been released under the Ghostbusters brand over 40 years. We will talk about the most important of them – and briefly mention the less significant ones.
Ghostbusters
Released: 1984
Platforms: Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, MSX, Tandy 1000, Atari 2600, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, NES, SEGA Master System.
In 1983, the American gaming industry found itself in a deep crisis, which is often associated with the release of the platformer E.T. based on the blockbuster film of the same name by Steven Spielberg. And although the failure of the game, which aggravated the financial difficulties of the publishing house Atari, was only one of the symptoms of accumulated problems, the game is often called the worst in history.
Market problems and the damaged reputation of film adaptations did not stop David Crane, one of the founders of Activision. He turned out to be not only a businessman, but also a talented developer who knew how to make good games. After gaining experience at Atari, he founded his own company in 1979 and released the successful Pitfall! in 1982.
And already in 1984, Ghostbusters was released on the Commodore 64 console, based on the new film of the same name. Columbia itself approached Activision. The film company did not have any requirements for gameplay and overall design, but wanted the game to be created as quickly as possible and released in the same year. Very similar to the situation with E.T., which was also done in a hurry in the shortest possible time. But Hollywood bosses, like Crane, were not afraid of the sad experience of their predecessors.
Crane already had part of the game ready. An action game called Car Wars about car battles in a densely built city served as the basis for the Ghostbusters strategic map. On it, hunters moved by car between houses that were about to be attacked by ghosts. And on the “combat” screen all that remained was to catch these ghosts and drive them into traps.
By 1985, Ghostbusters had received many positive reviews, was ported to most current platforms at the time, including the NES and Master System, and took fourth place on the list of the UK’s best-selling games. And by 1989, it had sold 2 million copies worldwide.
In September 1986, the animated series “The Real Ghostbusters” mentioned at the beginning started on American television. A year later, a top-down shooter based on the cartoon appeared in arcades. Activision later ported Data East’s development to the ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and other consoles. The Real Ghostbusters turned out to be quite mediocre, especially its home versions.
In 1989, the second film was released. “Ghostbusters 2” grossed just over $215 million worldwide, behind the first part with its $282 million. But the numbers were good enough for Activision to release several games based on the sequel.
Ghostbusters 2 was released in the same 1989 on Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum. The 2D shooter-platformer from the Foursfield studio repeated several key scenes from the film and lacked stars from the sky, although it was received favorably. As does the DOS version created by Dynamix and given several additional levels.
The worst received version was for the NES from Imagineering, released in 1990. But we are interested in another game based on the same film for the same 8-bit console.
New Ghostbusters 2
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Год выхода: 1990
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Платформы: Game Boy, NES
You can sometimes still find original Japanese New Ghostbusters 2 cartridges on eBay
The Japanese company HAL Laboratory has been closely associated with Nintendo throughout its history. In the mid-80s, she created the fairly well-known Mach Rider and Balloon Fight, and later became famous for the Super Smash Bros. series, games about the adventures of Kirby, and the cult JRPG EarthBound (in Japan – Mother).
In 1990, HAL developed and independently released two versions of New Ghostbusters 2 in Japan. For Game Boy and NES. Moreover, the second one was never released in North America due to legal problems. But it was released in Europe and often appeared in various collections of “many games on one cartridge” for Dendy. So in Russia the Japanese game about ghost hunters is also known.
The Japanese developers drew heroes with huge heads, and the levels were divided into rooms and corridors, which is why the game is somewhat reminiscent of early releases of The Legend of Zelda and old JRPGs, although the genre of New Ghostbusters 2 is a top-down shooter. And with big bosses, the last of which is the ghost of Vigo of the Carpathians. Just like the movie, on the way to it, hunters will have to visit some not-so-pleasant places, like a sewer filled with pink sludge.
At the same time, Nintendo’s main competitor did not seem to notice the release of the second film and a decent number of similar games based on it.
Ghostbusters (Mega Drive)
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Год выхода: 1990
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Платформы: SEGA Mega Drive
SEGA did not take the most direct route. Inspired by the first part of the film dilogy, the publisher’s internal studio, with the support of Compile, which later became famous for the puzzle series Puyo Puyo, created its own story, not related to the film script.
In 1990, a side-view shooter was released on the Mega Drive console – simply Ghostbusters. Regardless of the camera angle, Japanese developers still drew the main characters in a chibi style – with big heads. But they all differed in terms of speed and damage.
By shooting ghosts on six levels, hunters receive money. Between missions, they can be spent on new weapons, shields, or food to replenish health. Each stage has an intermediate boss and a main one, and the first four episodes can be completed in any order. The main thing is to get parts of an ancient artifact, and then go to an equally ancient mansion for the final battle.
SEGA’s Ghostbusters received high praise, with some reviewers later even calling it one of the best movie-based games. For many years it became the last adaptation of the film franchise. The third part of the film, promised by actor and screenwriter Dan Aykroyd, never came out. Kemco and Activision have released another low-key game based on the animated series on the Game Boy. And until the beginning of the new century, the series fell into hibernation.
In 1997, the animated series “Extreme Ghostbusters” was released on American and later Russian television. The new show was set 11 years after the end of The Real Ghostbusters and centered on a group of students led by Egon Spangler.
Young heroes and a darker tone of the narrative (the series was sometimes called Ghostbusters Dark in the press) were supposed to attract new audiences, but the broadcast ratings did not suit ABC bosses. Extreme Ghostbusters closed in 1998. That did not stop the developers from releasing several games based on it in the period from 2001 to 2004.
These were mostly clones of casual arcade games for the Game Boy Color and slot machines. With the exception of Extreme Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Invasion for the first PlayStation, it was a clone of the Time Crisis shooting gallery. More seasoned gamers and fans of the original films had to wait until 2009.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Released: 2009/2019
Platforms: PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, Xbox 360, Xbox One Wii, Nintendo DS, Switch, PlayStation
In January 2007, the film company Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to “Ghostbusters” but is in no hurry to use them for their intended purpose, threatened to sue the Slovenian studio ZootFly, which by that time had only managed to create the tank action film Panzer Elite Action. The reason was a prototype of the game Ghostbusters for Xbox 360, created without a license. Gameplay videos were published on YouTube.
Now the videos have been deleted, but this incident triggered a chain of events, the result of which was the release of not just the first game about the original hunters in years, but a good game. Created with the participation of the actors and screenwriters of the original source.
The rights to develop a new game were transferred to the studios Terminal Reality and Red Fly. The first created the main version for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, and the second ported it to Wii, PS2 and DS. The films’ director Ivan Reitman wrote the script, and Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson voiced the hunters Egon, Ray, Peter and Winston, respectively.
Also returning to their roles were Annie Potts (secretary Janine), William Atherton (official Walter Peck) and Max von Sydow (the ghost of Vigo of the Carpathian). The events take place two years after the plot of the second film. Dan Aykroyd even called the game a “third film” – it included the developments of the script that the actor wrote together with Ramis for the never-made Ghostbusters 3.
Ghostbusters:
The Video Game went on sale on June 16, 2009. Initially, it was supposed to be published by Vivendi Games, but in 2008 the company became part of Activision Blizzard, and the new management was not interested in the project. Fortunately for fans, Infogrames bought the publishing rights. Atari, which belongs to it, released the game on time – on the 25th anniversary of the first film.
Despite the presence of all the key characters in the film series, gamers got the role of a newcomer. He is still getting used to the team, but he has already found himself in the center of terrible events – ghosts have broken free and filled New York. You’ll have to deal with them using a proton accelerator and traps. Which can be improved with money received for challenges. If they remain, at the end of each mission you must first compensate for the damage caused during the hunt.
Critics and players received Ghostbusters: The Video Game quite warmly. The average score on Metacritic is about 70 points out of 100, and the Xbox 360 version is considered the best with 79 points. Sony drew its own conclusions from the success of the game and decided that the world needed a restart of the franchise with new actors and characters.
And in 2016 she released that very film by Paul Feig with huntresses instead of hunters. The film was unable to recoup the production budget, and the rating from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes in the summer of 2024 is only 49% fresh. Perhaps, if Ghostbusters: The Video Game had not come out, Sony would never have remembered about the rights and would not have undertaken to exploit them.
In October 2019, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the first film, a high-quality remaster of Ghostbusters: The Video Game was released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. And, perhaps, right now this is the best Ghostbusters game that fans of the franchise should pay attention to. It is sold on consoles, EGS and Steam. Even in Russia, but not translated into Russian.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed
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Год выхода: 2022
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Платформы: PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
New characters instead of iconic ones do not always cause failure. If developers pay attention to the gameplay, gamers will appreciate the product. This is what happened with Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, released by IllFonic on all current platforms in 2022.
The developers specialize in asymmetric online action games, in which a team of players confronts a monster, also controlled by a gamer. The mediocre Predator: Hunting Grounds and Friday the 13th: The Game are their creations. And Spirits Unleashed is built according to the same scheme – a group of hunters either tries to catch a ghost, or escapes from it.
Critics rated the entertainment slightly higher than the studio’s previous games – about 7 out of 10. But the players were more favorable – after the release of several DLCs, the rating on Steam was fixed at “very positive”. This was largely due to the numerous references to films.
In addition to those mentioned, several games were released for smartphones – ratings ranged from 1/10 to 6/10. A couple of projects for pachinko slot machines. Expansion for Lego Dimensions. The coolly received online VR shooter Rise of the Ghost Lord. And the completely disastrous Ghostbusters 2016 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One – based on the same failed film by Paul Feig. If among all this wealth there is something that you consider worthy of attention and mention, write about it in the comments.
Let’s hope that the controversial last film will not ruin the franchise and that in the future we will still see good movies about Ghostbusters and video games about their adventures. For example, a full-fledged mystical horror would be interesting.