Quick.. what do you get when you match the most profitable comedy movie ever (over $200 million) with the programming genius of David Crane (PITFALL, KABOOM! and more)?
Times up…”who ‘ya gonna call?… GHOSTBUSTERS! ”
Yes, those people at ACTIVISION have freed the “slimers”, and its your job to rid Gotham City of the spooks, and accumulate as much money as possible. All while you attempt to keep the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper from meeting at the Temple of Zuul. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
I had seen, and played, GHOSTBUSTERS In its Commodore version before receiving the Spectrum tape. This made me very anxious to see if the game had lost anything in translation.
I was not disapointed. The graphics are excellent…almost identical to the Commodore version. The voice synthesis was there too. From “He slimmed me!” to the ghostly laugh the conversion had lost nothing.
The only shortcoming was the music. But remember, this is a Spectrum program, and the Spectrum has only one sound channel. Had this program been written for the 2068, I know the music would have matched or exceeded the Commodore version.
To synopsize, the object of GHOSTBUSTERS is this: You are given a $10,000 loan from the bank to open a Ghostbusters franchise. You select the vehicle and other various equipment you need to patrol the streets of the city, and clean up the spectres (Spectrum spectres?!?).
Now for some great news…GHOSTBUSTERS will run on the 2068 without a Spectrum ROM! Once loaded, GHOSTBUSTERS displays a menu from which the proper joystick interface/keyboard input is selected. If you select the keyboard, the game will run perfectly on the 2068. Of course, lf you do have a ROM, and a Russell Gamesmate interface, the game is even more exciting!
I give GHOSTBUSTERS high marks on all criteria: Concept, Design, Content, and Execution (sounds like the Olympics, doesn’t It?).
GHOSTBUSTERS is great! If you liked the movie, you’ll LOVE the game! Available from E. Arthur Brown Company, 3404 Pawnee Dr., Alexandria, MN 56308 and The English Micro Connection, 15 Kilburn Ct., Newport, RI 02840(401) 849-3805.