Tag Archives: movie license

Activision, Celebration

Ghostbusters Special

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The classic comedy horror film, Ghostbusters, was made into a video game by David Crane and published by Activision in 1984. The Commodore 64 version being the first – and arguably the best – version of this simple yet involving game. Many different conversions of Ghostbusters followed, and we’ve covered all of them on this website.

Here’s a list of all the different versions of Ghostbusters on thekingofgrabs.com. Listed in chronological order of release…

Ghostbusters, Apple II (1984)
Ghostbusters, Atari 8-bit (1984)
Ghostbusters, Commodore 64 (1984)
Ghostbusters, ZX Spectrum (1984)
Ghostbusters, Amstrad CPC (1985)
Ghostbusters, Atari 2600 (1985)
Ghostbusters, MSX (1985)
Ghostbusters, NES/Famicom (1986)
Ghostbusters, PC (1986)
Ghostbusters, Sega Master System (1987)

Enjoy,
The King of Grabs

More: Ghostbusters on Wikipedia

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Activision, Sega, Sega Master System

Ghostbusters, Sega Master System

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The 1987 Sega Master System conversion of David Crane‘s classic Ghostbusters is… Okay. It’s actually got a few enhancements over other versions that make it a bit more of a challenge, although it does have its down sides.

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Activision, Bits Laboratory, NES/Famicom

Ghostbusters, NES/Famicom

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The Nintendo Entertainment System version of David Crane‘s Ghostbusters is known for being a bit of a mess, compared to all the other versions.

It was initially released in Japan in 1986 and later in North America in 1988. Why the two year delay? Probably something to do with the fact that the game is terrible…

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Activision, PC

Ghostbusters, PC

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This 1986 PC Booter version of Ghostbusters won’t run in MS-DOS, but it is easy enough to get working in DOSBox, by simply adding a “BOOT” line to the config file.

To get the game running in colour (ie. not horrible CGA) I had to use the “pcjr” graphics option and set CPU cycles to 240. Otherwise the game would run too fast.

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Activision, Amstrad CPC, James Software Ltd.

Ghostbusters, Amstrad CPC

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The Amstrad CPC version of Ghostbusters was only ever released in Europe. Alongside the MSX version it was one of only two Ghostbusters conversions that were never released in North America.

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Activision, MSX

Ghostbusters, MSX

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The MSX version of Activision‘s Ghostbusters is the same as all the others… Simple; archaic; and a very early example of a movie-licensed video game.

There’s no digitised speech in this version, although the rendition of Ray Parker Jr.‘s hit single isn’t bad.

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Activision, Atari 2600, Bad Video Games

Ghostbusters, Atari 2600

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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…

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Activision, Atari 8-bit

Ghostbusters, Atari 8-bit

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The Atari 800 version of David Crane‘s Ghostbusters is almost as good as the C64 original. It has excellent digitised speech; the obligatory chiptunes rendition of Ray Parker Jr.‘s hit single, and the game is nice, smooth, and non-flickery to play.

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Activision, James Software Ltd., ZX Spectrum

Ghostbusters, ZX Spectrum

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The ZX Spectrum version of David Crane‘s classic Ghostbusters is just as dull/entertaining (delete as applicable) as the original Commodore 64 version. But with some extra colour clash thrown in for good measure… 🙂

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