Retro Gaming Reflections: Ghostbusters (NES)

Retro Gaming Reflections is a series of informal, first-person retrospective articles written by Eric from NintendoLegend.com in which he more lengthily expounds on his personal experiences concerning games, genres, themes, and other topics, especially as related to the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console.

Sometimes I cannot remember dates, years, and portions of my age with any notable clarity; but, with certain moments and reactions, I believe I may carry the recollection to my grave.

I had a happy childhood. My upbringing was not one of privilege or prestige, but definitely of fun. This, despite the fact that, for a portion of that period, I was raised by a single mother who had to work hard to make ends meet. This is actually a relevant fact, and not a needless sob-story detail.

The relevance would be found in my mother’s creativity. Despite a lack of funds, one cheap thing she could do for me was record episodes of The Real Ghostbusters cartoons onto VHS tapes.

I grew to adore the Ghostbusters.

Sure, I had a fleeting fascination with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and was known to occasionally play with a G.I. Joe or other action figure. But once I witnessed the Ghostbusters cartoons, I was hooked. Nothing else would. Everything else seemed, and still does to an extent, remarkably lame by comparison. Perhaps it was the science-fiction action, the steadiness of the characterizations, the genuine diversity in atmospheres and settings throughout the series, the biting humor, or other factors, but soon were there not only what seemed like a couple dozen tapes of the material, but they were watched over and over again.

Peter Venkman was my favorite character. This was likely because I could relate: Even as a kid, I was fairly smart, but this did not make me immune from poor decision-making and bouts of bumbling about, making appearances as that guy who is actually not the most helpful but nonetheless provides crucial comic relief.

I memorized portions, decided on favorite scenes and background tracks, came to recognize the tropes involved, and tried to decode the in-series ghost classification system that eventually revealed itself to be somewhat arbitrary, of course. Rather than fantasize about myself becoming a ghostbuster, I came up with an entirely new ‘buster, named Evan, complete with distinctive appearance and personality quirks. I was absorbed. I experienced immersion. Ghostbusters was my mythos of choice.

So imagine my excitement at the prospect of, the very idea of a Ghosbusters video game. Sure, I loved Ghostbusters, but watching the cartoons was not the only thing I ever did – I played some NES, too. Back before I knew what the gameplay looked like or had access to the magical Internet, the concept of a Ghostbusters Nintendo game was a drool-worthy dream.

Prowling through dank levels looking for ghosts? Intense battles with terrifying boss spirits? The distinct sound effect, or even at least an 8-bit digitized version, of the proton pack particle stream being fired? Gasping in horror at the appearance of a class five free-roaming full-torso vapor apparition? Dozens of different types of enemies? Would this be a fast-paced ghost-blasting run-‘n’-gun platformer, or a cool, brooding survival horror approach? Could I even be as optimistic as to hope for a character selection option, light role-playing level-up mechanics, slick cutscenes, or dynamic lighting?

My overactive imagination ran wild. Surely, Ghostbusters the Video Game would be the greatest cartridge of all time, and possibly just plain the best thing ever. It had to be, right? It combined my two loves into a single frothy fluffy lovechild of double-pop-culture child-friendly mind-racing high-flying awesomeness.

Or, at least, it was supposed to.

Inevitably, years after I had begun my Ghostbusters infatuation, I finally did obtain the NES cartridge for its licensed game. I had never rented it, read a review, seen any gameplay, or knew anyone who had played it. The thought of pushing it into the console and firing it up met with soulful trepidation; I believe my hands even shook, likely with my jaw agape, as I limply held the cart in enraptured anticipation.

The pay-off was profoundly disappointing.

Gone were any grand visions of proton-blasting, platforming, a fast pace, action orientation, or even basic ghostbusting. It took me a while before I could even comprehend what I was supposed to be doing on the depressingly dismal overworld cityscape map screen. Yet figuring out that Ecto-1 was supposed to go toward the flashing buildings only presented more puzzles: Why are we now performing an overhead auto-scrolling driving portion if we are already at the site? Once on scene, why are the actual ghostbusting controls so completely unintuitive? Where are the sound effects? Is the Ghostbusters theme, as beloved as it is, just going to constantly play in the background without ceasing? Okay, I somehow managed to capture a couple ghosts, now what? Am I really supposed manage time, money, gasoline, and inventory? What sort of game is this supposed to be, anyway?

Despite the blindingly obvious fact that this was nowhere near the quality of the Ghosbusters NES video game I had imagined in my head, something rather curious happened: I tried to like it. I really, truly tried to like it. Even later, when I found myself climbing the steps by pressing buttons, I would already be subconsciously crafting my defenses for the game, as though anything Ghostbusters-related was some sort of sacred artifact that could not be blasphemed. How ridiculous was I in my fandom.

Of course, Ghostbusters on the NES is an awful game. The graphics are dull (gray, mostly, rather), the soundtrack leaves much to be desired, the gameplay mechanics are dreadful, the design is foundationally questionable, the control scheme is baffling, the genre fit is busted, and it, in general, seems to be an intentional attempt at defacing the fond Ghostbusters franchise.

Although, in some vague sense, the Ghostbusters video game on the NES did fulfill one significant purpose for me. In my personal development, it was that Ghostbusters cartridge that taught me a lot about our fan-boy biases, our potential for rose-colored perceptions, the importance of objectivity, the rigors of the license/publisher/developer/programmer relationship, the rule that license games tend to be bad, and other subtle nuances of pop culture, gaming, merchandising, and even philosophy.

Ghostbusters taught me to let my biases dissolve without needing to sacrifice intangible enjoyment of a subject, and the joy that can sometimes be found when one prepares for the worst but expects the best. We all have attachments that may someday possibly break out heart, but the toughness forged from the scars of previous heartbreaks will only make our future love all the stronger and more able to love despite flaws.

Or some other cheesy sentimental crap like that.


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