The Real Ghostbusters/Gameplay

The Real Ghostbusters | Table of Contents | Gameplay | Walkthrough

Table of Contents

Controls[edit]

Joystick: Use the 8-way joystick to direct your chosen Ghostbuster (Venkman for 1P, Stantz for 2P, and Spengler for 3P), in the respective pseudo-3D direction it is pushed; in the original Japanese version, Meikyuu Hunter G, only the hunters who later became Venkman and Stantz are present.
Firing Button: Use this button to make your chosen Ghostbuster fire shots at the enemies; this has the same function in both versions of this game.
Beam Button: Use this button to make your chosen Ghostbuster fire his ecto-containment beam, at the ghosts that the enemies leave behind when killed; in Meikyuu Hunter G, this button is the Super Button, and makes the hunters rotate 360 degrees clockwise while firing a short burst of shots. However, in both versions of this game, pressing this button when your Ghostbuster (or hunter) does not have any beam energy will have no effect.
1 or 2 Player Buttons (MHG only): In the Japanese version, push these buttons (after inserting one or more coins!) to begin a 1 or 2-player game.

Ghostbusters[edit]

The protagonists for this game; Player 1 controls Dr. Peter Venkman (blue), while Player 2 controls Dr. Raymond Stantz (red) and Player 3 controls Dr. Egon Spengler (yellow). Oddly enough, fourth Ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore is not present in this game - and after pulling up in front of the "Ghost House" where the game takes place in their car (Ecto-1), and going inside it, they must defeat the various enemies that inhabit its ten stages, capture the ghosts that they leave behind when killed, defeat the bosses (some of which are large enemies, but others are only regular ones) at the end of each stage, and collect the keys they leave behind when killed to save New York City from total destruction. The Ghostbusters shall lose one life whenever they are hit by an enemy, or anything that is fired at them by one; between each stage, they'll also deposit their captured ghosts in "Ghost Storage" and shall receive an extra life for every 100 ghosts they deposit in there (it is also possible to insert additional coins for extra lives at any time). They also only have six minutes in which to clear each stage - and if the timer runs out, all three of them will lose a life and have to start the stage over.

Note: In Meikyuu Hunter G, only the hunters who later became Venkman and Stantz are present, and there are no ghosts to beam up (which is why the Beam Button was originally the "Super Button"); there are also only eight stages (which repeat after the eighth one is cleared), and the only way to earn an extra life is to collect a "1UP Bonus" powerup, if a small gray or cyan ghost which certain enemies leave behind when killed leaves one behind itself.

Powerups[edit]

There are five different types of powerups in the game (but the last one is not one you should collect if you see it); Shot Power Up (which resembles the Ghostbusters' logo) will increase the power of your Ghostbuster's shots (however, when he is killed, it will revert to normal again), while Aura Power will cause a protective barrier to appear around him for a short period of time (but he can still lose a life with the other two if the 6-minute time limit runs out). However, Beam Energy Up (which resembles an ecto-containment trap) shall increase your Ghostbuster's beam energy (and it's also possible to insert additional coins for extra beam energy at any time), while Green Ghost shall cause "Slimer", the green apparition from the original Ghostbusters film, to appear, and circle around him in an anticlockwise direction, killing any enemy and blocking any shot he touches (but when he is killed, he will disappear again) - and finally, Energy Down will immediately drain all of your Ghostbuster's beam energy if you collect it, which is why it is not advisable to do so.

Shot Power Up
Aura Power
Beam Energy Up
Green Ghost
Energy Down

With the exception of Shot Power Up, the powerups also exist in Meikyuu Hunter G, but the second to fourth ones were originally Barrier (resembling a blue crystal ball), Energy Up (resembling the Blue Crystal Rod from Namco's The Tower of Druaga), and Guard Ball (resembling a red ring), because it was not originally a Ghostbusters game and the ecto-containment beam and Slimer were later additions; Energy Down also originally resembled a gold skull and there were eight extra powerups in this version (six of which, "FIR", "LON", "SPE", "TWI", "PUN" and "BIG", would only bestow their effects on the hunters for a short period of time and this would be indicated by their respective initial letters at the top of the screen lighting up during that time). However, All Power Up (which resembled a star) was the equivalent of collecting all six of those powerups at once (but it was, again, only temporary) - and 1UP Bonus (which resembled an oil lamp, and had "1UP" flashing above it when it appeared!) would grant the hunter who collected it an extra life.