Ghostbusters (history and reception)

In September 1984 Computer Entertainer reported that Activision had an exclusive licensing agreement with Columbia Pictures for the videogame rights to the film Ghostbusters, and that David Crane was designing the game, due for the Commodore 64 on diskette in time for Christmas. Activision told the newsletter that Crane was "crazy about the movie" and that versions for other systems were being explored. ghostbusters-history/announcement

The same issue's availability list files Ghostbusters (ACTV) under October in what the OCR places in the Commodore 64 column (PDF p. 16); the column was not checked on the page image.

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The Commodore 64 version was out by December 1984, when Computer Entertainer's list of the ten best-selling computer entertainment programs included it. Crash said the C64 release was timed to be on sale before the film opened in December. ghostbusters-history/release-c64

Crash is a British magazine, and Computer Entertainer's December 1984 issue says the film was then opening in Europe (ghostbusters-history/europe), so the December opening Crash means is presumably Britain's; neither source says so in as many words.

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Activision's UK booklet for the Commodore 64 version, printed in several languages, carries a reply card dated 10/84. ghostbusters-history/c64-booklet-uk

Activision moved the Atari 8-bit and Apple II versions up to early January 1985 because of demand. By February 1985 Computer Entertainer had reviewed the Atari version, noting that it was also available for the Apple II and the C64. ghostbusters-history/release-atari-apple

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The ZX Spectrum version was out by February 1985: Crash reviewed it in its February 1985 issue, for the 48K Spectrum at £9.99. An Activision advertisement in Sinclair User that month had the game running on Commodore 64 cassette and disk and on the Spectrum, with other systems to come, and a retailer's list in the same issue had it in stock at £10.00. ghostbusters-history/release-spectrum

Sinclair User's February 1985 issue also remarks that Personal Computer News's Spectrum chart had placed Ghostbusters fourth more than a fortnight before the game was launched (ghostbusters-history/charts).

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In December 1984 Computer Entertainer reported that Ghostbusters was doing well in the United States but "going crazy" in Europe, where the film was then opening. ghostbusters-history/europe

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David Crane designed Ghostbusters for Activision, originally for the Commodore 64; Crash credits the Spectrum version to Activision as producer and to Crane as author. ghostbusters-history/makers

No source read names the programmers of the Spectrum, Atari, Apple, Famicom, Master System, or NES versions. Computer Entertainer's January 1989 issue (computer-entertainer-7-10) is said to name Crane its Designer of the Year for Ghostbusters, but the pinned copy has no text, so that is not used here.

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The Famicom booklet names Columbia Pictures as the owner of the Ghostbusters trademark and carries 1984 copyrights of Columbia Pictures and of Golden Torch Music and Raydiola Music. ghostbusters-history/license

The license itself is in ghostbusters-history/announcement. The music companies are presumably the theme song's publishers; the booklet doesn't say.

The Famicom version is a Tokuma Soft game. Its booklet names Tokuma Shoten as producer and publisher and Tokuma Communications as seller, and credits the Famicom code to Tokuma Shoten, © 1986, and the original program and concept to Activision, © 1984. No source read dates its release; 1986 is the code's copyright year. ghostbusters-history/release-famicom

No source read gives the month or day. The Internet Archive item's date, 1986-09-22, is the scanner's, not the booklet's. Bandai, named in some leads, appears nowhere on the booklet.

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In June 1986 Computer Entertainer named Ghostbusters among the American games available, or soon to be, for the Famicom in Japan. ghostbusters-history/famicom-coming

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The Sega Master System version, licensed from Activision to Sega, was out by June 1987, when Computer Entertainer reviewed it at a suggested price of $35.00. ghostbusters-history/release-sega

The same issue's availability list marks "x-Ghostbusters (SEG)" (PDF p. 14), but the OCR runs its columns together, so the month it sits under is not read. This issue is also recorded as computer-entertainer-1987-06.

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At the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, 4-7 June 1988, Activision showed a new NES version of Ghostbusters in place of Predator and possibly Zombie Master, which the chip shortage had pushed back to 1989. Computer Entertainer reported that, like the Sega version, it had faster action and harder travel between sites than the computer original, and was told that the ending, the meeting with Gozer at the Temple of Zuul, had been expanded. ghostbusters-history/ces-1988

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Ghostbusters came out for the NES in North America in October 1988, published by Activision. ghostbusters-history/release-nes

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In February 1989 Computer Entertainer counted three Ghostbusters games: one Activision made for the Atari 2600, one it licensed to Sega for the Master System, and one it made for the NES under license from Nintendo. The Atari 2600 and Sega versions came before the NES one. ghostbusters-history/three-versions

The editorial is about Atari Corp.'s charges against Nintendo's licensing; no source read dates the Atari 2600 version.

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In the Commodore 64 booklet, ghosts are flying to "spook central", and the player saves the city by reaching the top of the Temple of Zuul, which takes catching many ghosts, earning more money than the player started with, and avoiding constant danger. ghostbusters-history/premise

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The player starts a Ghostbusters franchise, entering a name and, if they have one, an account number from an earlier game, which brings its balance; without one, the computer gives $10,000 to start. The first purchase is one of four cars: a compact ($2,000, 5 items of cargo, 75 mph), a 1963 hearse ($4,800, 9 items, 90 mph), a station wagon ($6,000, 11 items, 110 mph), or a high-performance car ($15,000, 7 items, 160 mph). ghostbusters-history/franchise

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Three screens sell the equipment, loaded into the car with a forklift. Monitoring equipment is a PK energy detector, which warns of an approaching Slimer by turning a building pink as the car passes it; an image intensifier, which makes Slimers easier to see; and a marshmallow sensor, which warns of the Marshmallow Man by turning a building white as the car passes. Capture equipment is ghost bait, traps, and a ghost vacuum; at least one trap is required, each trap holds one Slimer, and without traps the player earns no money. Storage is a portable laser confinement system at $8,000, which holds ten Slimers in the car and saves trips back to GHQ for more traps. ghostbusters-history/equipment

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On the city map, with Zuul's temple in the center and GHQ at the bottom, red flashing buildings hold Slimers. The player guides the car to them and freezes Roamers heading for Zuul by touching them. On the street, the player steers at the frozen Roamers and vacuums them up; each Roamer that reaches Zuul raises the city's PK energy by 100. ghostbusters-history/map-and-streets

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At a building, the first Ghostbuster sets a trap and moves to the far left, the second to the far right, and both switch on their negative ionizer backpacks. The player closes them in to hold the Slimer between the streams, which must not cross, and springs the trap when the Slimer is over it. Each Slimer caught raises the player's credit, by more the faster the player was; each one that escapes adds 300 to the city's PK energy. ghostbusters-history/busting

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When a Marshmallow Alert flashes, the Roamers run together to form the Marshmallow Man, and the player must press B on the keyboard at once to drop bait before he stomps a building. ghostbusters-history/marshmallow

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The manual lists three ways the game ends: the Gatekeeper and Keymaster join forces at the Temple of Zuul when the player hasn't earned more money than the starting sum; the player can't sneak two of the three Ghostbusters into Zuul's entrance; or the player sneaks two in and reaches the top of the temple. ghostbusters-history/ending

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The Commodore 64 version plays with a joystick in port one. The space bar gives a status report, and RUN/STOP pauses. During the title screen's sing-along, the space bar makes the computer shout "Ghostbusters!". ghostbusters-history/c64-controls

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The Famicom booklet's story: in New York, a trio of failures start an odd business, ghost-busting. When an official shuts down the tank holding the captured ghosts, they all escape and gather at the Zuul temple in the middle of the city to wake the legendary demon god Gozer and wreck the city. ghostbusters-history/famicom-story

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The Famicom booklet calls the game an adventure in five scenes: the city map, the road, a building, the stairs, and the confrontation with Gozer. The aim is to defeat Gozer at the Zuul temple. The Ghostbusters start with $10,000 and no equipment, so the first stop is the shop. ghostbusters-history/famicom-structure

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The Famicom game is for one player, on controller I. On the road, A works the ghost vacuum and B switches the display between the fuel gauge and the money; in a building, B switches between the two Ghostbusters. SELECT pauses. ghostbusters-history/famicom-controls

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The Famicom shop sells nine items: ghost vacuum, capture beam, hyper beam, capture trap, super trap, ghost alarm, sound generator, ghost food, and anti-ghost suit. The car carries only four kinds, and an item sold back returns half its price. Without the capture beam the Ghostbusters can't go into a building. ghostbusters-history/famicom-shop

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On the Famicom road, the car drives to the place chosen on the map. Hitting another car costs a penalty, and picking up drums refuels the car; a car that runs out of fuel must be pushed to a gas station, where the player pays for more. ghostbusters-history/famicom-road

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In a Famicom building, A sets where the trap goes and fires the beam; the player catches the ghost in the beam and brings it over the trap. The two Ghostbusters move left and right in turn, the control pad aims the beams up and down, and a Ghostbuster whose beam crosses the other's is hurt and falls. A ghost leaves after a set time. Without the super trap, the Ghostbusters must go back to headquarters after each catch. ghostbusters-history/famicom-building

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On the Famicom, PK energy rises as time passes and faster when ghosts get into the Zuul temple, so the booklet advises catching them on the road. At 9,000 or more the Marshmallow Man appears, wrecks buildings, and takes much of the player's money. ghostbusters-history/famicom-pk

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On the Famicom, the Zuul temple opens when the screen says so. The Ghostbusters climb its stairs to the 22nd floor and face Gozer; there, the Marshmallow Man climbs the building as time passes, and when he reaches the top, time is up and the game is over. ghostbusters-history/famicom-zuul

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Crash gave the Spectrum version 60% overall, with 78% for use of computer, 72% for graphics, 60% for playability, 69% for getting started, 48% for addictive qualities, and 31% for value for money. ghostbusters-history/crash-score

{
 "review": "Crash",
 "of": 100,
 "scores": {
  "use of computer": 78,
  "graphics": 72,
  "playability": 60,
  "getting started": 69,
  "addictive qualities": 48,
  "value for money": 31,
  "overall": 60
 }
}

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Crash's general rating called the Spectrum game "average quality but boring and poor value for money", and the review called it more of a strategy game than an arcade game. Two of its reviewers missed the C64 version's soundtrack, and the comments call the game "a disappointment" and, at the price, "a total rip-off". Two reviewers could not go on after catching a Slimer, and one wondered whether the review copy was bugged. ghostbusters-history/crash-verdict

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Computer Entertainer's February 1985 review gave the Atari 8-bit version four stars for graphics and four for play action, out of four, and recommended it, at a suggested price of $31.95. ghostbusters-history/ce-atari-score

{
 "review": "Computer Entertainer",
 "of": 4,
 "scores": {
  "graphics": 4,
  "play action": 4
 }
}

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The review called the Atari version a lively adaptation of Crane's C64 design, with voice synthesis, and a faithful portrayal of the film's theme: "Graphics are terrific, music is outstanding, and the game will make you laugh while it challenges your joystick reflexes." ghostbusters-history/ce-atari-verdict

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Computer Entertainer's June 1987 review gave the Master System version four stars for graphics and three and a half for game play, out of four, and recommended it. ghostbusters-history/ce-sega-score

{
 "review": "Computer Entertainer",
 "of": 4,
 "scores": {
  "graphics": 4,
  "game play": 3.5
 }
}

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The review found the Master System version beautifully detailed, more so than the computer original, with more equipment to buy and traffic on the road, both additions to the original. It has the player climb the temple's stairs to confront Gozer, and a win pays a fee that raises the next game's starting money. The reviewers called it a slightly silly but fun-filled game. ghostbusters-history/ce-sega-verdict

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The Commodore 64 version was second on Computer Entertainer's top ten computer programs in March 1985, and the Apple II version tenth; both the C64 and Atari versions were on the February 1985 list. In Britain, Sinclair User remarked in February 1985 that Personal Computer News's Spectrum chart had placed it fourth more than a fortnight before it was launched. ghostbusters-history/charts

The December 1984 list is in ghostbusters-history/release-c64.

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