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There have been plenty of Ghostbusters games across all platforms in the years since Egon, Ray, Winston, and Peter first busted onto screens in 1984, and they run the gamut from classic licensed cash-in to carefully constructed homage.
The first Ghostbusters game Nintendo fans got their hands on was a NES port of the David Crane-designed 1984 home computer game, but in the decades since there has been a good selection of spooky emissions on Nintendo platforms, several of which rank among the very best Ghostbusters games anywhere.
Below you’ll find a full list of every Ghostbusters game that has come to Nintendo systems — including the recently released (on Switch) Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed — as ranked by you, Nintendo Life readers. We’re ready to believe you.
Remember: The order below is governed by each game’s User Rating in our games database and is subject to real-time change depending on its score, even as you read this! Something weird and it don’t look good? No need to call anyone — simply click the star rating and assign a score from 1-10 to exert your personal influence on the ranking. (You’ll have to refresh the page to see any changes take effect.)
Before we begin, it’s worth noting that while Nintendo platforms have arguably cleaned up the town when it comes to the best Ghostbusters games, we also have a lot of affection for the 1990 Genesis / Mega Drive Ghostbusters which, sadly, doesn’t appear below as it has never been released on a Nintendo platform. Feel free to let us know in the comments if there are other games in the series that you’ve enjoyed elsewhere.
So, let’s strap on a Proton Pack, heat ’em up, and make our way through the mass hysteria to take a look at the best (and worst) Ghostbusters games ever to grace Nintendo systems…
Publisher: Activision / Developer: Bits Laboratory
Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light. That would be more enjoyable than playing Ghostbusters on NES.
This was a deeply unattractive and unsatisfying NES port of David Crane’s Ghostbusters: The Computer Game. With a heavy emphasis on resource management (including equipment, fuel, and finances), it sees you driving around New York City cleaning up spook-infested buildings for cash to buy upgrades and, eventually, take on Gozer after an ultra-tedious stair-climbing section which apparently, hilariously, adapts the jump cut in the movie when they’re crawling to the top of Dana Barrett’s building — you know, the bit where the Ghostbusters are exhausted by the unending staircase. This game may not make you throw up, but it tries.
Publisher: Activision / Developer: Imagineering
Compared to the first film’s NES iteration, Activision’s Ghostbusters II isn’t total dump, but it is the very definition of a disappointing licensed game. Released many months after the film it was based on, Imagineering’s tie-in is a fairly basic side-scrolling platformer/shooter with visual echoes of David Crane’s original home computer Ghostbusters. You blast ghosts shooter-style in various settings; on foot, of course, but also while driving Ecto-1 (which can ‘jump’ over hurdles and holes) and piloting Lady Liberty herself just as in the film, although a NES Advantage stick isn’t a requirement this time.
Far from the worst 8-bit licensed game in the world, it’s just incredibly repetitive and exceptionally dull. Definitely the second-best Ghostbusters II game on NES.
Publisher: Light and Shadow Production / Developer: Magic Pockets
Only ever released in Europe, this GBC game was based on the 1997 follow-up series to The Real Ghostbusters. 2001’s Extreme Ghostbusters is a side-on platformer which has you switching between ‘busters and zapping ghosts as you complete missions assigned to you by Egon and Janine. It’s got some decent character animation, but repetition and turgid controls make this one for GB — be that Ghostbusters or Game Boy — completionists only.
Publisher: Atari / Developer: Zen Studios
A loose, cartoon-y adaptation of the game that appeared on home console platforms, Ghostbusters: The Video Game on DS has more of an action RPG flavour and is the only version where you actually play as one of the four original Ghostbusters and not the rookie recruit. Played from a top-down perspective, you command the other three ‘busters you’re not directly controlling and wander around NYC upgrading the team and generally doing what makes ‘busters feel good.
Driving sections have you negotiating the foggy streets of Manhattan and offer some variety, but the DS game starts to grate after a while. It’s passable paranormal fare, but certainly not a patch on its home console brethren.
Publisher: DreamCatcher Interactive / Developer: Magic Pockets
Unlike its GBC predecessor, Extreme Ghostbusters: Code Ecto-1 did get a US release, where it lost the subtitle. It added Ecto-1 driving sections and the GBA’s additional power meant this run-and-gun platformer looked a lot better, too. The animation of Eduardo and Kylie (Garrett and Roland have been kidnapped in this one) was pretty good, but it’s still an inessential entry in the Ghostbusters’ video game canon.
Publisher: Activision / Developer: Kotobuki Systems
A Ghostbusters game in name only, this entry in Kemco’s convoluted Crazy Castle series starred Mickey Mouse in Japan and Garfield in Europe, but US players got to control Peter Venkman as he negotiated its puzzle-platforming with yet another 8-bit rendition Ghostbusters theme blasting out of the handheld’s tinny speaker.
So, ironically, this Real Ghostbusters game isn’t a real Ghostbusters game at all. In fact, it’s a rip-off of P.P. Hammer and his Pneumatic Weapon for the Amiga and Commodore 64. You can check out our feature on the Crazy Castle series for more details, if you’re interested:
Publisher: Saber Interactive / Developer: Saber Interactive
Your enjoyment of Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered will depend almost entirely on your affection for the movies. For anyone who adored the first two, this is a wonderful form of time travel. It has no business calling itself a ‘remaster’ and is best approached as a straight port of a ten-year-old game, but it’s a fine one. Mechanically speaking, there’s little you haven’t seen elsewhere, but it’s a good-looking, fun third-person romp dripping in slimy nostalgia, and the chance to spend time in the company of these old friends – some of them dearly departed – is too good to pass up if you’ve ever strapped on your school backpack and gone out to bust ghosts in the garden.
Publisher: Atari
This cartoon-y stylised version of Ghostbusters: The Video Game was developed by Red Fly Studio for the Wii and PS2 and delivers its own unique take on the story. Putting aside a few jumps in difficulty and a rather disappointing multiplayer mode, it was without a doubt the best attempt at capturing the thrill of the movies in digital form on Nintendo platforms at the time of its release and a real service to fans who grew up watching the films and cartoons. The developers put a lot of work and effort into making this version a lot more than just a simple downgraded port with waggle thrown in, and the result was a game which Wii-owning Ghostbusters fans could be proud of.
Publisher: Activision / Developer: HAL Laboratory
A Game Boy port of the other Ghostbusters II game (AKA New Ghostbusters II, AKA ‘The Good One’), Activision held the licence for Ghostbusters games in the US and, when it came to the portable version, the US publisher wisely decided to distribute the HAL-developed game with the ‘New’ prefix lopped off because, well, there was no portable counterpart to Imagineering’s NES sequel in the US.
It’s a great facsimile of the home console version, with a cute, Pokémon-style top-down feeling that suits the handheld very well. We recommend checking out Jeremy Parish’s excellent Game Boy Works video for a little more history on this game and its relatives.
Publisher: HAL Laboratory / Developer: HAL Laboratory
Not to be confused with Activision’s tedious Ghostbusters II, licensing issues prevented this one from getting a Stateside release, but Japanese and European gamers got lucky. New Ghostbusters II was made by a little studio you might have heard of: HAL Laboratory. Yes, the house of Kirby is responsible for this quality series entry; ex-Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is credited as Technical Supervisor.
A top-down action affair which looks and controls a little like Pokémon Red & Blue, you pick two characters and go around levels based on locations from the films catching free-floating full torso apparitions. The secondary character automatically follows and deploys the trap to catch the blighters with an interesting tag mechanic. It’s a fun little game for an underappreciated film that actually allows you to play as your favourite ‘buster (although the NES’s colour palette apparently didn’t stretch to rendering Winston in a natural hue).
Publisher: Illfonic / Developer: Illfonic
Launching on Switch a year after its debut on other platforms, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed – Ecto Edition douses its thoroughly serviceable online 4v1 gameplay in positively charged psychomagnotheric nostalgia slime. From small touches in the visuals to snippets of dialogue, the detail and care that has gone into recreating the Ghostbusters’ world here makes you forgive the occasional visual glitch and basic, predictable plot. If ‘busting makes you feel good, you’ll have a great time with this one.
Spooked by that ranking? Who ya gonna call? Us for a multi-hour discussion about how Ghostbusters II (the film) is an underrated, more-than-worthy follow-up to the original?… Oh, not us. Ghostbusters. Figures.
Let us know below where your favourite falls, and don’t forget that, even now, you can influence the ranking above by clicking on the stars and rating any of the games. Happy bustin’!