Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters is an action game based on the 1984 movie of the same name. It was initially released by Activision in 1984 for the Commodore 64 and Atari Home Computers, and was later ported to many other computers and game consoles. The goal of the game is to save New York City from numerous ghosts by reaching the top of the Temple of Zuul and defeating Gozer.

At the start of the game, players need to create a new Ghostbusters franchise (or, if successful in the game previously, continue an existing franchise). Whether setting up a new franchise (where the bank provides an initial loan of $10,000) or continuing (money available depends on the balance leftover from previous games), players first need to select one of four available cars and equip it with the desired gear. At a minimum, players must add at least one ghost trap to their equipment to get started; other options can be selected to help make catching ghosts and completing the game easier.

Once equipement has been selected the main portion of the game begins; players are presented with the city map with Zuul's temple located in the center of the screen while Ghostbusters Headquarters is at the bottom. The player in this screen is represented by the Ghostbusters logo. Periodically one of the buildings will begin flashing colors; this indicates a ghost is located there that needs to be caught. Ghostbusters HQ can be visited if all of the ghost traps that have been equipped are full or players need to pick up any Ghostbusters that have been slimed on a failed ghost catching attempt. Also on this screen our four ghosts that start at the corners of the screen and make their way towards Zuul's temple. If you run over the ghosts they will become frozen and appear when you drive to a destination. As the game progresses, the marshmallow man may appear on this screen as well and will attempt to destroy buildings; if players have the ghost bait, it can be used to stop the marshmallow catastrophe. If the marshmallow man isn't stopped and a building is destroyed, players lose money based on how much damage is caused.

Once a destination is selected, the game switches to a top down view of the car driving forward. If there were any ghosts frozen while on the map screen, they will appear here. If players have the ghost vacuum, ghosts can be sucked up to prevent them from reaching the Temple of Zuul while driving by. When finally arriving at the selected destination, the game switches to a side view of the building. If there's a ghost, it will be flying around the front of the building in random directions. Players can catch the ghost by placing a trap on the ground and using the proton packs to guide it close to the trap. Once the trap is activated, it will catch the ghost if it's directly above. Money is earned each time a ghost is successfully caught.

Throughout the game, the city's PK energy is displayed at the bottom of the screen and slowly increases (it will increase more rapidly if any ghosts make it to the Temple of Zuul on the map screen). As the PK energy increases, the ghosts on the map screen begin to move faster and more calls for ghost sightings occur. Once the PK energy reaches 5000, the marshmallow man will begin appearing as well. When the PK energy reaches 9999, the game proceeds to last part if players have earned more money than they started with (for a new franchise, this is $10,000). The game is over if players fail to earn enough money by this point.

The final part of the game first has players attempting to sneak past the marshmallow man. The marshmallow man is jump back and forth in front of the door to the Temple of Zuul; players need at least two of their Ghostbusters to make it past without getting squashed in order to reach the top of the temple where the temple can be destroyed.