GRAPHICS SOUND CONTROL FRUSTRATION FUN FACTOR OVERALL

NES 1 Player Action This was a game made by Activision in 1990. Activision wasn't doing to well at the time and they probably wanted to cash in the movie. As far as I know this game sold pretty well, even though Activision didn't spend that much time on it. When I was a kid my brothers had a Nes and they usually wouldn't let me play it. So in 1991 my parents got me a Nes and this game for Christmas. It was the only game I owned for a while so I used to play it a lot, which is probably why I'm writing this from a mental institution. The plot is the same as the movies, you pretty much have to find this guy, Vigo, and stop him from taking over New York. There are seven stages in this game, each divided into three categories, running, driving, and controlling the Statue of Liberty. Graphics: The graphics in this game can be frowned upon. It's made by Activision, who pretty much has bad graphics in all their Nes games. None of the sprites or backgrounds are smooth, they're all blocky and grainy. The cut scenes are all right, but even in comparison to the cutscenes of other Nes games they're not that good. The backgrounds are pretty good, for the most part, and the driving parts are well done. What gets me is why Activision doesn't seem to be able to update their game's graphics from the Atari days. Sound: The music in this game is slightly above average. There are only three tunes throughout the whole game; the main Ghostbusters theme (which is in the running parts), the upbeat theme in the driving levels (which is a digitized version of the main theme from the Ghostbusters 2 movie), and the lousy country-esque tune in the Statue of Liberty levels. The ghostbusters theme and the tune in the driving levels don't really get annoying, but the theme in the Statue of Liberty level gets really annoying FAST. The sound effects are nothing big, they're what you would expect from a Nes game. I might recommend popping in a Cd for this game. Gameplay: Like I already mentioned, there are three different gameplay modes in this game, so here's a synopsis of all of them: Running levels - This is where you actually play as the Ghostbusters themselves. Strangely enough the developers made the level go from right to left instead of the usual left to right. These levels are more avoiding obstacles than actually shooting the guys. Objects will fly at from all directions and you must do your best to dodge. You can aim your slimebuster in any direction, but there is really no need to since all the ghosts are right above your head the majority of the time. You also have a ghost trap, which releases a beam straight up and catches any ghosts who enter it.. People say the ghost trap doesn't really make much of a difference, but if you can drop it at just the right time you will be virtually unstoppable. Driving levels - This is probably the most fun you'll have playing the game. You drive around avoiding barricades, jumping holes, and killing ghosts. Yes, your car can jump. Sadly there are only two driving levels in the game. This part of the game is also the most nicely executed, with good graphics and good sound. Statue of Liberty - This part of the game is sort of like a bad shooter. You are at the bottom of the screen and you must shoot at the ghosts that fly in odd patterns. The ghosts actually become very difficult to hit if you don't nail them exactly the right time, which eventually leads up to your death. You can move your torch, but again there is really no need to. You can get books that will blow up everything on the screen. You have to play two levels of this in the game. Replay: Ghostbusters 2 has an almost perfect challenge. You have to play through everything just enough so that you can beat it without losing to many lives. The only thing that stops it from having a perfect challenge is the last level. You have to get all four Ghostbusters to this picture at the end of the level. Each one has there own extremely difficult level to make it through (with objects bouncing everywhere). This game doesn't involve strategy and skill, but involves timing and memorization, which can be really frustrating. Once it's beaten you probably won't come back to it. ......BOTTOM LINE: Not a good game, but not really a bad game either. Sadly it was doomed to the status of obscurity from the start. It had some well-executed ideas, but most of the ideas it tried to succeed in just plain out failed due to the graphics and weird controls. Most movie based games on the Nes aren't all that great and this one is no exception to the masses. Even though it was my break of freedom when I was younger, it just doesn't capture what it looks like it had hoped to. -lynx561