A classic platformer that licences the Ghostbusters IP for a pretty difficult and drawn out experience with a handful of bells and whistles that don't really make up for the dull and unimaginative level design.
You can play as any one of the three core ghostbuster characters, and while they vary by speed and health the speed difference isn't very noticeable and the health difference is so Ray is the obvious choice. You can then pick one of the four levels to start in but this freedom is also undercut because the difficulty curve and firepower needed to tackle the harder levels means there is a 'best' order to go in if you don't want to get slimed.
Each level is pretty unimaginatively themed with two kinds of house, a fire level, an ice level, and a spooky castle. While the graphics are decent for the time and some of the effects are iconic, the level designs themselves don't have much rhyme or reason - though the free roaming aspect and being able to leave the level to visit the shop does have a proto-metroidvania feel to it.
Unfortunately the controls are stiff and when combined with strict 5-way shooting (no down or down diagonals) leaves you relatively vulnerable against tanky small foes with high mobility. The same few enemies are also reused so it feels like you're getting hit by cheap shots from start to finish. The bosses meanwhile have an interesting variety of designs but very simple repetitive attack patterns and the strategy to defeat them is not intuitive so don't expect to beat this in a single run unless you're using save states.
Defeated and captured bosses / mini-bosses will net you extra cash for upgrades and while the alternative weapons offer some variety, the limited energy means you only really want to pull them out against the bosses they're effective against. The shields also deplete energy so I would just always avoid using them, which is a shame because they are fun and ease the burden of the annoying pest enemies in the halls that slow down gameplay.
Overall much of the game is phoned in, clearly a decent bit of the budget went to the IP, music, and artwork which left the levels, enemy, and boss designs limited. There's maybe one level too many as the game drags on towards the end, and the bosses tend to be a bit slow and tedious. Enjoyable with save states but the original recipe is only fun for the dedicated fan.
You can play as any one of the three core ghostbuster characters, and while they vary by speed and health the speed difference isn't very noticeable and the health difference is so Ray is the obvious choice. You can then pick one of the four levels to start in but this freedom is also undercut because the difficulty curve and firepower needed to tackle the harder levels means there is a 'best' order to go in if you don't want to get slimed.
Each level is pretty unimaginatively themed with two kinds of house, a fire level, an ice level, and a spooky castle. While the graphics are decent for the time and some of the effects are iconic, the level designs themselves don't have much rhyme or reason - though the free roaming aspect and being able to leave the level to visit the shop does have a proto-metroidvania feel to it.
Unfortunately the controls are stiff and when combined with strict 5-way shooting (no down or down diagonals) leaves you relatively vulnerable against tanky small foes with high mobility. The same few enemies are also reused so it feels like you're getting hit by cheap shots from start to finish. The bosses meanwhile have an interesting variety of designs but very simple repetitive attack patterns and the strategy to defeat them is not intuitive so don't expect to beat this in a single run unless you're using save states.
Defeated and captured bosses / mini-bosses will net you extra cash for upgrades and while the alternative weapons offer some variety, the limited energy means you only really want to pull them out against the bosses they're effective against. The shields also deplete energy so I would just always avoid using them, which is a shame because they are fun and ease the burden of the annoying pest enemies in the halls that slow down gameplay.
Overall much of the game is phoned in, clearly a decent bit of the budget went to the IP, music, and artwork which left the levels, enemy, and boss designs limited. There's maybe one level too many as the game drags on towards the end, and the bosses tend to be a bit slow and tedious. Enjoyable with save states but the original recipe is only fun for the dedicated fan.