Playing Ghostbusters on the Atari 2600 – after having played the original – is one of those “What The F**k?!” gaming moments that will probably stay with you forever…

The vehicle select screen is not even there… The equipment select screen is so beyond basic that it’s pointless. The city map screen is empty – apart from the odd ghost sprite and flashing building…

As I said earlier: WTAF?!

Even worse: catching a ghost in the ‘beam’ section is so random as to be almost impossible (I tried many times but I never managed to catch a single ghost), and I’ve been playing Ghostbusters all week…

Are there any saving graces?

The car driving sections are okay, and you can at least vacuum up a ghost that’s passed behind your car (which isn’t possible in all versions of Ghostbusters). And the Stay Puft monster at least makes an appearance (although in the form of a barely-recognisable white blob).

But otherwise: this is a turgid conversion that is best left well alone. No good can come of playing Ghostbusters on the Atari 2600… Play the original C64 version instead.

Ghostbusters on The King of Grabs:
Commodore 64, Apple II, ZX Spectrum, Atari 800, Atari 2600, MSX, Amstrad CPC, PC Booter, NES, Sega Master System.

More: Ghostbusters on Wikipedia