Ghostbusters is a beloved franchise that has a legion of fans to this day. The fans have always wanted a third film in the series, and while that will happen next yet, it will not star some of the cast Including the late Harold Ramis. However, there was a project made while all the original actors were alive that is regarded as the third movie fans always wanted. That project was Ghostbusters The Video Game, a game that has recently reveived a re release on modern systems.
Ghostbusters is everything fans would want out of the franchise, as it has all the original 4 actors, plenty of mythology gags that reference the first two films, and a fun and enjoyable campaign. You play as the new cadet, who is on his first mission wit the Ghostbusters and must learn the ropes from the veterans. Its a nice touch to be an audience surrogate as the lead character and allows you to interact with each of the other protagonists. Everyone feels true to themselves as they were in the movies, even if they sound noticeably older, and the writing and humor is spot on here.
In terms of gameplay, you will of course use the proton packs and ghost traps as you hunt down ghosts, and I daresay the developers took a bit of inspiration from Nintendo’s Luigi’s Mansion series for some of the mechanics. You must stun the ghosts with the proton packs before trapping them, but here you must also slam the ghosts in various ways to weaken then, an idea Nintendo would later do themselves with Luigi’s Mansion. There is also the PKE meter, which you will use to detect things such as where ghosts are hiding, weaknesses of enemies, flushing out enemies, stats, and also collectibles to find. It can be a little overwhelming learning everything at first, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes fun.
Ghostbusters is a trip through nostalgia and the game has so many shoutouts to all parts of the franchise. There is even a neat little nod to the infamous NES game that can be found here as an easter egg. If there is anything I can hold against it, its that I would have like the Switch version to have retained some aspects of the Wii port of the original release. That was my favourite version and it sadly isn’t reflected here. Still, what is here is a great game and one that fans of Ghostbusters will love. I highly recommend it.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided