Retro Review: Ghostbusters on the Sega Genesis

The Ghostbusters game that came out for the Sega Genesis in 1990 is the best Ghostbusters game to date (hopefully the new one will be awesome but we’ll have to wait until June to see) The game improved upon the previous Ghostbusters game by including a better use of the characters, an original storyline, and gameplay that was exactly what you would expect, blasting ghosts. Unfortunately my favorite Ghostbusters, Winston, is absent from the game which is probably my only real problem with the game. At the beginning you get to choose if you want to play as Ray, Peter, or Egon. Each has their own traits with Ray being the fastest but with the least stamina, Egon being the slowest with the most stamina, and Peter being moderate on both, so Peter is usually the best choice. The plot follows a surge of ghost activity in New York after an earthquake that took place just before the game begins. You get a call and can choose one of four locations to go to first to bust. There is a small house, an apartment building, a larger house, and a high rise. You can choose what order to do the busts in and you get more money for the harder cases.
When you enter a house you immediately have a proton pack but it works slightly differently than in the movie, instead of wrangling a ghost into a trap, you fire proton darts and the ghosts disintegrate. You get small amounts of money for each little ghost that you bust. There is a wide variety of ghosts so you won’t get bored with the same old enemies. There are safes scattered throughout the levels and if you shoot them open there will be either a bomb or a bag of cash. Obviously you want the cash but if it is a bomb you better get away. The controls are great “A” throws your bombs, “B” shoots your proton darts, and “C” jumps. The “start” button pulls up a menu where you can see a rudimentary map of the level and how much money you have. You can also equip your special equipment here.
As you make money you can spend it at one of two shops and items shop and a weapons shop. Both are useful and I have found that the peking duck in the item shop and the three way shot in the weapon shop are the best. There is a abundance of other weaponry but I usually don’t use much other than the standard beam, the three way shot, and the bombs. One more item that you should buy is the extra energy packs in the weapon shop, it will make your energy bar bigger, but the upgrades get more expensive as you buy them.

Depending on the size of the house here will be one or more “encounters” with mini-bosses. After you defeat these bosses you will get to attempt to capture the ghost like in the movie. You will try to pull it over a trap and it really isn’t too easy, plus you won’t have more than maybe two or three cracks at it because the ghost will eventually flee. If you catch the ghost you get a $1000 bonus. Then after all of the mini-bosses are defeated you move on to the final boss and once the final boss is defeated you get a piece of a stone tablet and the money for the case. You then return to headquarters and go to another assignment.
The game does a great job of incorporating Ghostbusters movie characters, Stay Puft is the final boss of the high rise and slimmer fly overhead every now and then. If you shoot him he will drop either a blue or red drop which will give you either health or energy for your equipment.
The graphics in the game are very good for a 16 bit cartridge, they are very colorful, include a wide variety of different environments (from a house on fire to an apartment building frozen in ice) The characters have large heads and small bodies but the heads are made to look like the actors and it gives a god cartoony feel, they seem to fit in well with the rest of the game. The sound is also impressive, the Ghostbusters theme plays at the beginning and in the headquarters but there is new music for each case and special boss music as well. It helps give some variety unlike the Ghostbusters NES game where the theme music constantly plays all the time.
There isn’t a whole lot to complain about in this game, the fact that Winston isn’t in it is the largest problem with it but the game also has too many weapons that seem to be completely useless, like the explosives or the bubble shooter. When you die you turn into a mummy which is kind of weird but doesn’t really bother me. One last thing I don’t get is the bombs, I know they wanted a proximity weapon but why would a ghost be susceptible to a bomb? If a bomb works then why not a gun? How about we just send in the army? Of course I’m kidding but the bomb doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and it looks like the classic bowling ball with a fuse bomb, not some high-tech “ghost bomb.” The game is a lot of fun to play because of its fluid control, enemy variety, and a pretty good storyline that isn’t a regurgitation of the movie plot. If you can find I would definitely recommend it.
Gameplay: 9.5
Story: 9
Replay Value: 10
Graphics: 10
Overall: 9.63