Play Ghostbusters Online

Summary

Ghostbusters (the Master System version) was born out of a frantic six‑week sprint. Activision’s David Crane took his unfinished racing‑maze prototype "Car Wars" and, after Columbia Pictures handed over the film’s script and storyboards with almost no direction, rewired it into a ghost‑hunting arcade‑sim. The pressure was intense, but the result was a surprisingly deep game that still feels like a product of its era.

From the Ghostbusters HQ you watch a Manhattan grid for flashing red "ghost alarms". Plot a route, hop into the Ghostmobile and weave through traffic, vacuuming stray spirits if your vehicle is equipped. When you reach the hotspot the view flips to a side‑scroll where two Busters fire proton beams and drop a trap, coaxing a Slimer‑type ghost onto it. Each capture nets cash for upgrades, while failures raise the PK energy meter and can knock a team member out. An account number at the end unlocks a New Game Plus with your final cash balance.

The title sold over two million copies by ’89, topped the UK software charts for three months in early 1985 and even knocked Daley Thompson’s Decathlon from the top spot. Retrospectives praise its blend of action and strategic resource‑management, calling it a "polished, intelligently‑paced" licensed game that still holds up for fans of retro challenges.

Storyline

Based on the 1984 film, the Sega Master System game Ghostbusters lets you run a fledgling Ghostbusters franchise in a suddenly haunted New York City. Using nuclear‑accelerated proton packs and ghost traps, you capture wayward spirits and ferry them to a secure storage facility at the headquarters. Your primary goal is to lower the city’s psychokinetic (PK) energy level before the Temple of Zuul awakens and resurrects the evil goddess Gozer.

As the PK level climbs, free‑roaming ghosts try to reach the Temple of Zuul, each arrival adding more energy to the meter. Occasionally the specters merge into the iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, who will trample an entire city block. To stop the ritual you must guide at least two Ghostbusters past Mr. Stay Puft and destroy the temple, keeping the paranormal threat at bay.