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The following information pertains primarily to the home computer versions of Ghostbusters, although various aspects of these details pertain to the console versions as well.

Cars[edit]

Different cars are distinguished by three features besides their appearance: Their cost, their maximum speed, and their cargo capacity.

  • Cost determines how much money you have remaining for essential equipment.
  • The maximum speed will affect how much time it takes to get from one location to another, which ultimately affects how much the Psycho-Kinetic Energy grows while you are driving.
  • Cargo capacity naturally affects how much equipment you can purchase for use throughout the game. Fewer items means you must be more selective about what equipment you purchase.

Compact[edit]

Ghostbusters Compact.png
  • Cost: $2000
  • Cargo Capacity: 5 items
  • Top Speed: 75 MPH

Although the Compact car is cheap, it is actually a very difficult car to play the game with, and should only be used by expert players. It's limited capacity and slowest speed present quite a challenge for players by forcing them to make careful decisions about what items to buy, and which routes to travel.

1963 Hearse[edit]

Ghostbusters Hearse.png
  • Cost: $4800
  • Cargo Capacity: 9 items
  • Top Speed: 90 MPH

This is not only the standard car for most beginner players, it resembles the car used by the Ghostbusters in the movie. This car is really the baseline car. 9 spaces for items is more than enough room to buy everything that you could possibly need. 90 MPH is a tad on the slow side, but it's quick enough for the price that you pay.

Station Wagon[edit]

Ghostbusters Station Wagon.png
  • Cost: $6000
  • Cargo Capacity: 11 items
  • Top Speed: 110 MPH

The Station Wagon is quite a step up from the Hearse, but the price may be too big for new players to swallow. Even though you can store 11 items, with $6000 taken out of your budget, you won't have much money left for anything. There are some items that you can do without, but this car is best saved for the second go around after you beat Gozer once.

High Performance[edit]

Ghostbusters High Performance.png
  • Cost: $15,000
  • Cargo Capacity: 7 items
  • Top Speed: 160 MPH

The High Performance car is a budget killer, and is clearly out of reach to new players starting with only $10,000. The only way to purchase it is to finish the game once or twice first, and return with your account number. While it is tremendously faster than any of the other cars, it's storage capacity is between the Compact and the Hearse. However, if you have that kind of money to throw around, you can probably afford that $8000 portable laser containment system to go with it so that you only need one trap.

Equipment[edit]

Item Name Cost Description
Ghostbusters PKE Detector.png P-K Energy Detector $400 This detector is a useful tool that lets you see blocks that are about to be attacked by a ghost before the ghost arrives. If you position your cursor next to a block that is about to be attacked, it will flash pink as long as you have this detector. This can help you prepare for the attack by arriving at the location before the ghost shows up so that you can trap him when the block turns red. Faster responses mean higher payouts, so it can pay for itself very easily.
Ghostbusters Image Intensifier.png Image Intensifier $800 When you are trying to capture ghosts in front of buildings with your proton packs and traps, it can be difficult to see precisely where the ghost is without these image intensifiers. The image intensifier dramatically improves your ability to see the position of the ghosts. If you're new to the game, purchasing one of these is recommended. Expert players can probably do without them.
Ghostbusters Marshmallow Sensor.png Marshmallow Sensor $800 A Marshmallow Sensor will give you a heads up before the ghosts swarm to a particular block to create the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man and destroy it. Shortly before this happens, the block in question will flash white if you are situated along side of it on the map. The closer you are to this block, the more effective the ghost bait will be, so this item is recommended to help you prevent substantial damage to the city... and your bank account.
Ghostbusters Ghost Bait.png Ghost Bait $400 If you intend to stop the Marshmallow Man from appearing and destroying a city block to the tune of $4000 out of your bank account, purchase one of these. When you notice the ghosts beginning to swarm to a city block other than the center block labeled ZUUL, you must quickly press the B key on the keyboard to utilize the bait and lure the ghosts to your location instead of the targeted block. If you do, you will earn a bonus of $2000 instead of losing twice that much. Bait can be used multiple times, but it does run out if you use it too often.
Ghostbusters Traps.png Traps $600 Without at least one trap, you will be unable to capture any of the ghosts seen roaming around certain blocks. Capturing ghosts is the primary source of income for the Ghostbusters, so you'll need at lease one of these. If you only have one trap, you'll find that you have to visit the Ghostbusters HQ continuously to empty the trap, so buying many traps is a wise idea. Between two and four is a good number. Five or above may be a bit excessive.
Ghostbusters Ghost Vacuum.png Ghost Vacuum $500 Every time a ghost travels from the far corners of the city to the ZUUL building, the P-K Energy jumps by 100. This can cause Gozer to arrive in the city far faster than you had anticipated. You can stall them on the map mode by moving the cursor over them, but to really prevent them from entering the building, you'll need to suck them up with the Ghost Vacuum after stalling them while you're driving to your next destination. This does not add to your money, but it does help you control the rate at which the PKE rises.
Ghostbusters Portable System.png Portable Laser Containment System $8000 Tired of taking all those trips back to Ghostbusters HQ? Buy this portable laser containment system. For the extremely high price of $8000, you can keep this on your car, buy one single trap, and drive around for days without the need to return to HQ. Before you buy it, you should really ask yourself if the convenience is worth such a hefty price. You'll have to make up that money in order to be granted access to Gozer, so that's that many more ghosts which you'll need to bust before Gozer appears. Most likely, you'll only buy this if you can afford the expensive High Performance car, as this can make up for the lack of storage, and this combined with the high speed are your best chances to make up the steep investment with faster responses and higher payouts.