History VideoGame / Ghostbusters1984

* GuideDangIt: You would be tempted to purchase the cheaper regular capture trap instead of the more expensive super trap. This is a beginner's trap (no pun intended). You have to keep emptying the regular one at the Ghostbusters HQ, whereas the super trap you never need to empty.

* SyntheticVoiceActor: One that clearly screams ''Ghostbusters!'' followed by an EvilLaugh appears on most of the 8-bit computer versions' title screen. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw-XHU9l-hI Listen to it here.]]

''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 video game based on the [[Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}} 1984 film of the same name]], that was designed by David Crane and published by Creator/{{Activision}}. It was first released on the UsefulNotes/Commodore64 and later ported to various other home computers and video game systems, including the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}}, the UsefulNotes/{{NES}}, and the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem.

Not to be confused with ''VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame'' or the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis [[VideoGame/Ghostbusters1990 game]] based on the movie franchise.

->[[TheStinger CONGLATURATION!!!]] YOU HAVE COMPLETED A GREAT TROPE PAGE. AND PROOVED THE JUSTICE OF OUR CULTURE. NOW GO AND REST OUR HEROES!

* SyntheticVoiceActor: One that clearly screams ''Ghostbusters!'' followed by an EvilLaugh appears on most of the 8-bit computer versions' title screen.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw-XHU9l-hI Listen to it here.]]

* GuideDangIt: You would be tempted to purchase the cheaper regular capture trap instead of the more expensive super trap. This is a beginner's trap (no pun intended). You have to keep emptying the regular one at the Ghostbuster's HQ, whereas the super trap you never need to empty.

In the game, you operate the Ghostbusters ecto-extermination business, and your job is to amass $10,000 or more [[RaceAgainstTheClock before the city's PK Energy Meter reading reaches critical mass]]. To do that, you must buy your equipment, then you take on jobs to exterminate buildings of ghosts using your proton packs and ghost traps, being careful not to cross the streams or to miss capturing the ghost, because otherwise you'll be slimed and the ghost will get away. Occasionally the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man will appear and try to stomp down one of the buildings on the city map. To prevent this, you must use ghost bait to lure the Marshmallow Man away or else you could risk losing money having to pay for damages. Once you reach your goal, you must get two of your Ghostbusters past the Marshmallow Man and up to the top of the building (marked ZUUL, one of the demonic minions from the movie) to defeat Gozer the Gozerian. If you succeed, you'll get a cash bonus and a code which you can use to transfer your winnings to the next round of play.

* BoringButPractical: The humble Ghost Trap, at least until the player has access to the Super Trap and/or Portable Laser Confinment System. Traps are notable for being both the only outright required piece of gear and the only gear item the player can purchase more than one of. Each trap takes up an inventory slot that could be used for other equipment, but having multiple traps decreases the number of times the player must return to headquarters to empty them.

* CoolButInefficient: The "High Performance" car in the computer versions. The best looking and the fastest of the vehicle options, but carried less equipment than the hearse and station wagon, while costing 2-3 times as much.[[note]]In fact, at $15,000, the High Performance car can only be purchased in NewGamePlus mode.[[/note]]
* DrivingGame: The game has a driving game sequence where you steer the Ecto-1 through the busy streets, using your ghost vacuum to pick up stray roaming ghosts. The NES version complicates things further by having you collect gas cans to keep yourself from running out of fuel, and avoiding getting hit by other cars which costs you money.

* {{Engrish}}: In the NES version, the ending screen has several spelling, grammar and punctuation errors, including "CONGLATURATION!!!".

** NES and Master System versions: You can [[LimitedLoadout only hold four items at a time]], but you need every piece of kit to help you up the stairway level to confront Gozer. When the prompt does appears to enter the "Zuul building", you won't be ready, as you need to swap out your equipment for the equipment that can help out in the stairwell.. However, [[GuideDangIt the game does not indicate that the prompt is only active when you're have $15,000 or more]], so it's possible to spend too much and lose the chance to enter while trading the items out.

* NonStandardGameOver: In home computer versions, if the Keymaster and Gatekeeper meet and you don't have enough money to enter the building or you fail to get past Stay Puft. In the NES version, if you die on the stairway or in the final battle or Stay Puft makes it to the top of the building.

* PixelHunt: After the PK Energy Meter hits 9,999, you have to get past the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in order to confront Gozer. In most versions, Stay Puft jumps vertically, so you just have to time it to know when to run, but in the Atari 2600 version he jumps laterally, which means that you have to cross half of the screen, wait for Stay Puft to jump over you, then cross the rest of the distance. The spot where Stay Puft's arc is high enough to jump over the player instead of into him is one pixel wide.

* TooAwesomeToUse: Some of the equipment available for purchase, while being extremely powerful, cannot be afforded on the game's starting $10,000 budget. For example, in the computer versions the most expensive piece of equipment was the Portable Laser Confinement System; at $8000 it was more expensive than all but one of the cars, but it all but eliminated the need for the player to return to headquarters to empty their Ghost Traps.

* AWinnerIsYou: The NES version ends like this, cutting to a plain black screen with white text after the player defeats Gozer, complete with multiple spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.

* AnEntrepreneurIsYou: By busting ghosts, you get money for better equipment and cars.

* AWinnerIsYou: The NES version ends like this, cutting to a plain black screen with white text after the player defeats Gozer.

* NoEnding: The Japanese version ends with a blank screen due to a bug.

''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' reviewed the NES, Atari 2600, and Sega Master System versions of the game in Parts 1 and 2 of his "Ghostbusters Games" review.

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* SyntheticVoiceActor: One that clearly screams ''Ghostbusters!'' followed by an EvilLaugh appears on most of the 8-bit computer versions' title screen.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw-XHU9l-hI]]
** The NES version also has a ''Ghostbusters!'' voice sample... and it sounds absolutely awful.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBObJhcy8Wg]]

* TooAwesomeToUse: Some of the equipment available for purchase, while being extremely powerful, was unaffordable on the game's starting $10,000 budget. For example, in the computer versions the most expensive piece of equipment was the Portable Laser Confinement System; at $8000 it was more expensive than all but one of the cars, but it all but eliminated the need for the player to return to headquarters to empty their Ghost Traps.
* WeaponsThatSuck: The proton packs and ghost traps, as well as the ghost vacuum that you must equip the Ectomobile with for the driving sequence.
* AWinnerIsYou: The NES version ends like this, cutting to the infamous "CONGLATURATION!!!" screen after the player defeats Gozer.

-->[[{{Engrish}} CONGLATURATION!!!]] [[BlatantLies YOU HAVE COMPLETED A GREAT GAME]]. [[PatrioticFervor AND PROOVED THE JUSTICE OF OUR CULTURE]]. [[WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma NOW GO AND REST OUR HEROES!]]
** The Famicom version manages to have one more error on top of this (misspelling "great" as "grate"), though a bug in the programming keeps it from loading and you need a Game Genie code to fix the error. One has to wonder how they managed to catch that error, but absolutely none of the others.

* DrivingGame: The game has a driving game sequence where you steer the Ectomobile through the busy streets, using your ghost vacuum to pick up stray roaming ghosts. The NES version complicates things further by having you collect gas cans to keep yourself from running out of fuel, and avoiding getting hit by other cars which costs you money.

** NES and Master System versions: This is literally the game. You can ''[[LimitedLoadout only hold four items at a time]]''. But you need every piece of kit to help you up the [[ThatOneLevel awful stairway section]] to confront Gozer. Good luck ever trying to afford them all while grinding catching ghosts. When the prompt does appears to enter the "Zuul building", you're never ready, as you need the right equipment for that one section of the game. However, [[GuideDangIt many players don't realize the prompt is only active when you're have $15,000 or more]], so they end up spending too much and losing the offer in the process when trading items out.

* MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext: The baffling "[[AWinnerIsYou Conglaturation!!!]]" ending screen of the NES version also says that, by completing the game, you have "[[BlindIdiotTranslation prooved]] the justice of our culture". Given that the game has no cultural or patriotic themes, this claim makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

* NintendoHard: The NES version is notorious for being frustratingly difficult, even to the point of being a PortingDisaster.

* AWinnerIsYou: The infamous "Conglaturation!!!" ending screen of the NES version contains some of the most godawful grammar and spelling in video game history. It's even worse in the Famicom version; [[NoEnding not only does the text fail to display properly]] due to the developers [[DarthWiki/IdiotProgramming forgetting to program the CPU to switch to the right data bank]], but if you were to use a certain VideoGame/GameGenie code to bypass the programming error, the ending screen is revealed to be the exact same message as the NES version, but with one ''more'' typo ("grate" instead of "great"). How the NES developers managed to catch this error but none of the others is anybody's guess.

** The Sega Master System version's ending screens are marginally better, though they misspell Gozer's name as Gorza, and describe New York City as a "metoropolis".

* AWinnerIsYou: The infamous "Conglaturation!!!" ending screen of the NES version contains some of the most godawful grammar and spelling in video game history. It's even worse in the Famicom version; [[NoEnding not only does the text fail to display properly]] due to the developers [[DarthWiki/IdiotProgramming forgetting to program the CPU to switch to the right data bank]], but if you were to use a certain VideoGame/GameGenie code to bypass the programming error, the ending screen is revealed to be the exact same message as the NES version, but with one ''more'' typo ("grate" instead of "great"). How the NES developers managed to catch this error but none of the others is anybody's guess.

* AdaptedOut: Winston isn't in the game. All the Ghostbusters are white.

''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 video game based on the [[Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}} 1984 film of the same name]], that was designed by David Crane and published by Creator/{{Activision}}. It was ported to various home computers and video game systems, including the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}}, the UsefulNotes/{{NES}}, and the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem.

* AWinnerIsYou: The ending screen for the NES version is a black screen with four short paragraphs of text, complete with some of the most godawful grammar and spelling you'll ever see in a video game (see the BlindIdiotTranslation example below). At least one person on the development team had a [[SmallNameBigEgo big ego]] with "You have completed a great game", and the music for this ending screen is the exact same music that has droned over the entire game.
** Think the ending screen is better in Japanese? Wrong! It's actually ''worse'', as a programming glitch renders the screen completely blank with no text whatsoever for a few minutes until the gibberish "リリ" is displayed. The Japanese developers forgot to program the [[UsefulNotes/CentralProcessingUnit CPU]] to switch to the right data bank to display the ending message.

* AWinnerIsYou: The infamous "Conglaturation!!!" ending screen of the NES version. It's even worse in the Famicom version, [[NoEnding not only does the text fail to display properly]], if it were to be fixed, it actually has an extra typo compared to NES version.

* AWinnerIsYou: The ending screen for the NES version is a black screen with text saying "[[JapaneseRanguage CONGLATURATION!!!]]", and shows at least one person on the development team had a [[SmallNameBigEgo big ego]] with "YOU HAVE COMPLETED A GREAT GAME." The music for this victory screen is the exact same music that has droned over the entire game, and what is "[[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext AND PROOVED THE JUSTICE OF OUR CULTURE]]" supposed to mean?

* MythololgyGag: The hearse costs $4800, just as it did in the movie.