Slimer is playing with Winston's toy train, to the latter's annoyance. The guys then get called to Penn Station, taking Slimer with them, which has replaced the Madison Square Garden and seems to be haunted. They enter and find it very spooky, and Egon is especially worried since he heard the spirit was a Class 5, but Class 5's aren't powerful enough to manifest whole buildings. A steam train appears, and an eerie-looking conductor tells them there's a ghost in the caboose, and when they enter, he speeds off with them.
It turns out he's an unclassifiable ghost named the Player. When the Ghostbusters try to fire at him, the proton packs shoot out pop gun flags instead of their usual streams, and the Player reveals that this whole scenario is just a game to him. He also reveals that the train will be in the Netherworld in thirty minutes, but if the Ghostbusters can stop the train before they arrive, they win the "game", but if they lose, they're banished to the Netherworld forever.
They enter Door Number One and find a swamp, where there lives a monster. However, the monster doesn't want to harm the Ghostbusters or Slimer and Egon realises that they must win a game of tag with him to get out of the swamp. They do so by tagging one another and tricking the monster into letting himself be tagged.
They enter Door Number Two, with only nine minutes or so to spare, and arrive on a giant pinball machine. They need to beat the high score of a million points, when they only have a hundred, but luckily Slimer wins by making a trail of slime that sends the pinball bumping against two bumpers over and over.
They enter Door Number Three once the score is beaten, and find themselves in the engine room. Winston pulls the brake, but this makes a slot machine appear instead of stopping the train. The Player reveals that a jackpot will stop the train, but they only stand a "ghost" of a chance. Ray tries, then Peter, but both fail, then Egon gets the idea to have Slimer do it, and it works. The Player vows to come back one day, but leaves, and Penn Station turns back into Madison Square Garden. Back at the firehouse, Egon explains that he got the idea because he realised that the Player's line about having a ghost of a chance meant only a ghost could get a jackpot. Slimer, meanwhile, is playing with the train set.
This episode provides examples of
- Alliterative Title: Slimer Streak.
- Bait-and-Switch: The episode opens on Slimer driving a train... then we pan out to see that he's shrunk himself and is riding on a toy train.
- Big "NO!": The green monster yells, "NO!" when the guys beat him at tag.
- Blowing a Raspberry: Slimer blows a raspberry at the Player.
- Book Ends: The episode begins and ends with Slimer playing with the train set.
- Covered in Gunge: Slimer once gets slime all over Winston's face.
- Crying Wolf: Played with in that no one deliberately lied — Slimer thought he saw a monster, but it was just a frog, so Winston doesn't believe him when he says there's a monster the second time and there is.
- Dead All Along: Downplayed — it takes only a few scenes for the Player to be revealed as a ghost.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: The Player is more powerful than a Class 10, yet Peter still insults him to his face several times.
- Ectoplasm:
- Played for laughs when Slimer gets scolded for leaving slime on Winston's train set.
- Exploited when he makes a slime trail in order to rig the pinball machine.
- Played for laughs again when he gets slime on the guys' faces.
- "Eureka!" Moment: When Peter offers to try the slot machine, he says, "Let a man do it". This makes Egon realise that the Player's "ghost of a chance" line means that a man shouldn't be the one to do it; Slimer should.
- Evil All Along: The Player isn't revealed to be evil until after the guys board the plane.
- Evil Laugh: The Player has a loud, sinister chuckle.
- Forgot About His Powers: Slimer has the power to go intangible, yet he gets squashed by the pinball.
- Green and Mean: Downplayed for the green tag monster — he's an obstacle, and losing against him would be dire, but he doesn't actively attack anyone.
- The Hyena: The Player is prone to evil laughs.
- It Amused Me: The Player sees forcing the Ghostbusters and Slimer to be on this train, play tag with a monster, be in a giant pinball machine, and possibly get banished to the Netherworld, as a mere game.
- Laughably Evil: The Player is a legitimate threat, as he's capable of banishing the Ghostbusters and Slimer to the Netherworld, but he still has a comical obsession with games.
- Meaningful Name: The Player's main shtick is playing deadly games.
- Mocking Singsong: The tag monster babbles in a mocking singsong voice to the guys.
- Mythology Gag: Slimer, several times, gets called a "spud" like in the movie.
- Oh, Crap!:
- When the train leaves, Slimer says, "Uh-oh! I know that sound!".
- When the tag monster shows up, Slimer looks scared.
- Psychopathic Manchild: The Player has no qualms about sending four men and one Friendly Ghost to the Netherworld forever, but he's also obsessed with games, including tag.
- Railroad Enthusiast: Winston, Slimer, and the Player all enjoy playing with toy trains.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted — there appears to be a red-eyed monster, but it turns out to be just a large, but normal, frog.
- Say My Name: When the tag monster shows up and Ray trips, Slimer yells, "Ray! RAY!".
- Series Continuity Error: "The Last Train to Oblivion" previously established that Peter liked trains, but the rest were bemused by this interest. In this episode, Winston and Slimer like trains, and Peter doesn't mention liking trains.
- Shout-Out: At one point, a demon pops up and says, "That's all, ghosts!", referencing Porky Pig's "That's all, folks!" from Loony Tunes.
- Sore Loser: The tag monster does a Big "NO!" upon losing the game of tag. Lampshaded when Peter says he hates sore losers.
- Speak in Unison: The guys all say, "You're it!" when tagging the monster.
- Spell My Name with a "The": The villain is the Player.
- Steam Never Dies: Justified — there's a steam train because the Player made one.
- Tempting Fate: Peter asks, "How hard could playing tag be?", only to have a lot of trouble tagging the monster. Lampshaded when Winston says, "You had to say it!".
- We Will Meet Again: The Player swears to someday return as he leaves.
