Ghost Busters

Ghost Busters for the MSX1 is the 1984 adaptation of the blockbuster film, published by Activision. It's an action game that mixes top-down driving with side-view ghost catching, a novel blend for its time. The game was released across multiple home computer platforms, and the MSX version faithfully captures the film's spirit with simple but effective graphics and sound.

You start by booting up the Ectomobile and driving around a bird's-eye view city map, hunting for ghost hotspots. When you find one, you park and enter a building where the view shifts to a side-scrolling corridor. There you use a beam to capture ghosts while avoiding hazards. Success earns cash to buy upgrades like better traps or a more powerful beam, leading up to a final confrontation in a high-rise building.

Today, Ghost Busters holds up as a charming piece of gaming history. It's short but replayable, and the mix of driving and action was inventive for 1984. If you enjoy classic film tie-ins and want to see how developers tackled multiple genres in one cartridge, this is a solid pick. It's not the deepest game, but it's a fun snapshot of early licensed games on MSX.