Game Review: Ghostbusters (ZX Spectrum, Ricochet)

Gremlins, Star Trek III, The Terminator, Beverly Hills Cop, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom… it has to be said that 1984 was a pretty good year when it came to movies. But my personal favourite that year would have to be Ghostbusters and Activision were tasked with bringing the blockbuster to home systems. While the Commodore 64 original is the one most people remember, how did the ZX Spectrum port of David Crane’s classic fare in comparison?

Ghostbeepers!

The game opens up with a short sound sample crying out “Ghostbusters” followed by a haunting, cackling laugh. Before I go on I have a confession to make here and say that while the first game I played on the Spectrum was Jet Pac back in the 80s, the first Spectrum I owned was the original Vega, followed by a sadly faulty 16k and then eventually a +2 about 6-7 years ago. So this was the first game I loaded up on real Spectrum. Truthfully, I was blown away by the speech, especially considering the fact that it was created just using the beeper.

So speech out of the way, straight after that, you’re faced with the iconic theme song and the lyrics on screen karaoke-style with the words highlighted in time with the music. It’s a struggle to listed to if I’m completely honest on this Ricochet release as Mastertronic opted to use the original version of the game. Activison did produce an updated version of the game enhanced for 128k systems featuring AY music but sadly that’s not what we got here.

Getting Started

As much as the sing-a-long seems like a great idea on the other formats, it won’t be long before you’re desperate to get stuck into the game and stop the music from playing. Instead of taking on the role of the characters from the film or following the movie’s storyline directly, you’re starting up your own official Ghostbusters franchise on their behalf.

You can’t do it without help or equipment though, and you’re provided with a budget of $10,000 to get you started. Out of this you’ve got to kit out your operation with a vehicle and all the equipment you need from a wide selection on offer then it’s off to save New York hunting and capturing ghosts and – most importantly – making a profit! Sounds easy? It would be if Zuul wasn’t still around. PK energy is rising in the city and you’ve got to do everything in your power to keep it in check before the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper can get enough power to bring Zuul back to destroy the city.

Has Anybody Seen A Ghost?

So how do you do it exactly? There are three key elements and game modes in the game. Once you’ve chosen your vehicle and all the equipment you need, the bulk of the game is played out on the city map. This highlights buildings that are facing ghost infestation and are in need of help. At the same time, other ghosts roam the city making their way towards Zuul in the city centre. It’s your job to capture as many ghosts as possible earning more than your opening budget before the city’s PK energy level reaches 9,999 and Zuul is unleashed. Each time the roaming ghosts reach Zuul this level rises so you can intercept these en route to each job, scooping them up with your ghost vacuum (if you remembered to buy one).

Just move your cursor around the map (which conveniently looks like the Ghostbusters insignia) and position it underneath any flashing building and press fire to travel to it. Buildings with ghosts there waiting to be captured will flash reed and if you have a PK detector equipped some will flash purple indicating that ghosts will appear soon. As for the roaming ghosts… move over them and you’ll have a chance to catch them too once you start driving.

Hitting The Road

Driving along is simple enough and the time it takes to reach your destination depends on how long you were moving around the map (represented by the dots you left on the map) and the vehicle you selected as some are faster than others. If you didn’t drive over any roaming ghosts on the way, you can just sit back and watch the ride, but if you did then then pay attention as you’ll see these float past during your trip. Assuming you bought the ghost vaccuum, move your car towards them, press fire when they are near and the vaccuum will suck them up helping to keep the city’s PK levels down.

We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its…

When you arrive at each location, the game switches over to the capture mini game. This mode puts you outside one of the game’s locations with two of your crew and one of the offending ghosts. To capture the ghost, you simply position a trap, then once activating their proton packs moving your crew to guide a ghost over the trap before opening it, earning cash in the process. Miss and the ghost escapes after sliming one of your team, the city’s PK level rises and you’re off to the next job. It’s more a case of timing than anything else but still fun nevertheless.

The only frustrating part with this section is that if you activate your proton packs when the ghosts are behind you, then it’s very rare that they’ll move back into a spot where you can guide them over the trap. While your packs are in use, they are using valuable energy so you need to catch the ghosts as quickly as you can so you don’t need to rush back to Ghostbusters HQ to recharge your packs.

Running The Franchise

Throughout the game, there is a heavy element of strategy alongside the basic ghost capture gameplay. Right from the opening where you have to make very careful decisions about what to spend your initial $10,000 on. While the temptation is there to go for a bigger and better car, that leaves you with less funds for equipment and gadgets. The more ghost traps you have, the fewer times you need to jump back in the car return to Ghostbusters HQ to empty them. And if you don’t get the all important Ghost Bait or Marshmallow Detector, you won’t be able to stop the attacks on the city from the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

These can be devastating, not only to the city but to your cashflow as you’ll be held responsible to any damaged caused losing thousands from your virtual bank account and potentially ruining your chances of completing the game.

Completing The Game

Ghostbusters ends in one of three ways. Once the city’s PK level has reached 9,999 then Zuul is unleashed and assuming your franchise is in profit at that stage you have to make your way to the centre building in the city. Here you’ll find a new building guarded by the Marshmallow Man. Just sneak a couple of your team past him and if you manage to successful they’ll close the portal trapping Zuul forever… If you fail to do this, or if you don’t earn enough cash to get your franchise into profit then it’s game over!

One nice touch at this point for those of you who are successful is that you’re presented with a password at the end with details of a bank account number allowing you to play the game again with the amount of cash that you ended the game with. While this allows you to buy more next time around, it does add a fresh challenge meaning you need to earn more as well! This is an important element of the game though as it does add that extra layer of replayability even for those who manage to complete it.

Graphics and Sound

It’s understandable that this wasn’t going to be able to compete with the Commodore 64 original, especially as it makes extensive use of sprites and large characters, but the Spectrum handles it remarkably well. The driving sections are smooth and the car moves quickly and responsively and most importantly the map and ghost capture sections are fast and everything is clear and well defined. While there is some colour clash, for the most part this is kept down to a minium and the overall look works well.

Sound on the other hand is quite limited. The title tune grates quite quickly and there are no in game sound effects whatsoever. However, I have to give special mention to the speech. The opening speech is nothing short of remarkable, and there is more again in the game itself. When you catch a ghost, the game shouts out “Ghostbusters!” and if a ghost manages to escape and attacks one of your crew you’re rewarded with “He slimed me!”. Both really do sound great and it’s hard to believe that these are coming from a basic 48k Spectrum.

Playability

Despite the relatively simple nature of the three sections to the game, Ghostbusters is incredibly addictive. At the time when this was first released, I’m sure most of us just thought of this as a chance to run around New York catching ghosts, but it’s so much deeper than that. All of the elements to the game, especially the in-game resource management take it to an extra level. The added tension the ever-rising PK energy only helps, bringing more intensity to the gameplay.

Everything combined helps to make Ghostbusters an incredibly compelling game and for me I’d rate it as one of the best film tie-ins of all time. Over 40 years after the game was released and it’s still just as much fun today as it was when it was first released.

Overall

Is the ZX Spectrum version of Ghostbusters a perfect conversion of the original? No… but it’s pretty close. The gameplay, look and feel have all been retained as well as the great speech that helped bring the movie’s atmosphere into the living room. And with endless replayability thanks to the innovative bank account system, it’s one that you’ll come back to over and over again.

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