Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
General FAQ/Walkthrough
Written by Reverend Eric “Vegita” Johnson ([email protected])
Version 3.1459
Sections:
- Introduction
- Game Story
- Controls
- The City Map
- Driving
- The Shop
- Ghostbusting
- Climbing Zuul’s Stairway
- Battling Gozer
- How to Play
- How to Win
- How to Lose
- Various
- Revision History
- Thanks
Introduction
Welcome! I am Reverend Eric “Vegita” Johnson, and I see you want help for the Nintendo game “Ghostbusters.” Well sir, I’d say I’m fairly qualified to write the guide for this game. I’ve owned the game for years, and I believe I’ve actually survived it a few times. This is not to say that it’s a BAD game, I’m just saying that when you’re somewhere around the age of 12 and really aren’t THAT good at things like coordination or rational thought, games that require both tend to kill you. However, since my earlier gaming days, I HAVE acquired both, so I think I can handle not only the game but the FAQ as well!
First off, let’s get one thing straight: Even though I am Vegita, I will try to write from an unbiased point of view (although I still think I’m the best at everything). Second of all, if I catch anyone copying all or part of this FAQ, ANY part of this FAQ (not counting little, inconsequential sentences like “First off, let’s get one thing straight), I will destroy you. I will rip you limb from limb like the excessively weak individual you are, and then I will sue you for copyright infringement. Well, ok, maybe I’ll just sue you, but if I got the chance I’d certainly go for the ripping of limbs from other limbs.
Third of all, I do not own the rights to this game, the names of the characters in this game or FAQ, or have any ownership whatsoever of this game (except for the cartridge sitting in my room, that is). Those are the property of their respective owners. If I find a website with this FAQ on it, and it has been changed in any way, does not give me proper credit, or is selling it without my knowledge and consent, then I WILL have my lawyers contact that site. Are we clear (this means YOU, Vertsk8!)?
Hey folks, if you’re going to write me about this game, I must insist that you put, in the subject header of the e-mail, the name of game that you are writing about. I am tired of having people write me, asking about games that I’ve written for, but they never tell me WHAT game they need help with. This will help me in identifying what game you are talking about, and will also help me weed your e-mails out from the Spam I constantly receive. If you do not put the name of the game in the Subject header, then I may not read your e-mail at all; I get a lot of spam, and people like trying to send me viruses, so if you don’t do something that will actually help me in determining whether or not your e-mail is legitimate, you can only blame yourself.
Game Story
In 1984, the movie “Ghostbusters” premiered. The premise was simple – 3 rather oafish scientists, who study paranormal events, have their funding cut by the local university. Thus left to fend for themselves, the 3 Scientists decide to persue a career in the very field they were studying – by catching Ghosts! The movie was an impressive hit, followed by a sequel, a couple cartoon series (and a couple knock-offs), and a few video games. This is one of those games.
Controls
The controls for the game are actually really simple, no matter where you are in the game. I should mention, though, that the premise of the game is so simple that you really only need the control guides to find your way through the game.
The City Map Screen
| Buttons | Effects |
| A BUTTON | Press this to enter a Building (in conjunction with the Directional Pad). |
| B BUTTON | Try as hard as you like, pressing the B BUTTON will do nothing. |
| SELECT | Press this to pause the game. |
| START | Press this to see what’s currently in your inventory. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD | Use the Up, Down, Left and Right Directional Pad buttons to move your Ectomobile (symbolized by the Ghostbusters Logo) throughout the streets of Manhattan. |
The trick to navigating the game effectively is to know what you’re trying to do – you can visit whatever building you want by simply moving next to it, holding the DIRECTIONAL PAD in its direction, and pressing the A BUTTON. However, you’re the Ghostbusters, and sight-seeing is not what your job is – you’re here to bust some ghosts! Therefore, you need to enter the affected buildings and nab the Ghosts. In order to do that, move around the city until you find a building that is flashing red (they only flash red when you’re next to it, unless you have a Ghost Alarm). When you find one (assuming you’ve already purchased your equipment), enter it, go through the driving scene, and capture some ghosts!
Map Synopsis – Just so you don’t feel foolish, the overview of the map is simple. The Building at the bottom labeled “GBHQ” is the Ghostbuster’s Head Quarters. When you need to empty your traps, go here. The Buildings at the Top of the Screen, labeled “GAS” and “SHOP” are (obviously) the Gas Station and the Shop, respectively. Finally, the building in the middle of the screen is Zuul’s Building, which you will worry about later on in the game.
SPECIAL NOTE – You’ll notice the ecto-plasm meter on the screen, showing you just how much paranormal activity is amounting in the city. You can slow this down and give you more time for ghostbusting, however, by driving over the ghosts on the screen. So do your duty and run down a ghoul today!
The Driving Screen
| Buttons | Effects |
| A BUTTON | If you have a Ghost Vacuum, by pressing the A BUTTON you can suck up Ghosts that are on the streets. |
| B BUTTON | Press this to switch the information on the bottom of the screen (Gas Left and Distance Remaining switches to Money Accumulated, and vice versa). |
| SELECT | Press this to pause the game. |
| START | Press this button if you REALLY want to waste your time. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD UP | Speeds up the Ectomobile. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD DOWN | Slows down the Ectomobile. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD LEFT/RIGHT | Although impossible for a 1976 Hearse, by pressing LEFT or RIGHT the Ectomobile travels horizontally left or right. I don’t see how this is possible, but hey, it’s just a game… |
The object of these scenes is simple – you are given a random distance to your destination, and you have to get there. You control your car as you drive towards your destination, all the while dodging other vehicles. If you collide with another vehicle, you lose 200 Dollars (stupid collisions…why doesn’t the OTHER guy pay for it? Doesn’t he have insurance?). Also, while driving along you will come across Oil Drums and Ghosts. To save time on refueling, nab an Oil Drum. If you have room in your trap(s), run over the Ghost to pick up for some quick cash. Eventually, you’ll arrive at your destination…however, if you happen to run out of gas on the way there, you’ll be forced to get out and push Ecto-1 to the Gas Station, and then you’ll have to go all the way back to the building again!
Remember – the longer you drive around without actually going into a building, the further you have to drive when you actually pick a building. Save fuel – make your drives short by making your decisions early.
SPECIAL NOTE – When you speed up, you move a lot faster but also use more gas. When you slow down, you move slower but use less gas. The funny thing is, the programmers must have gotten the mathematical formula wrong for this particular equation because if you travel as fast as possible (meaning your car is at the top of the screen), you travel many times faster than normal while expending marginally more gas than you would at an average speed. You’re actually SAVING gas by speeding as fast as possible! Of course, this DOES have a downside…if you’re going that fast, there’s no way to stop quick enough to grab a Ghost or Oil Drum (or get out of the way of another car)…unless you drive fast for 4 seconds, then slow down to nab the precious gas.
ANOTHER SPECIAL NOTE (courtesy of Blitz) – While going full speed while driving, a gas barrel shows up every 5 seconds. If you go top speed for 4 seconds after you see a barrel, then hold down to slow down, you will slow down just in time for when the next one comes and you can grab it. Also, going full speed at the top corners you rarely hit another car.
The Shop Screen
Ah, shopping. For a lot of people, shopping is a great way to relax and have fun. Other people realize that they’d have more fun for their money’s worth if they simply flushed it down the drain. However, as a Ghostbuster, you need to do some shopping if you’re going to get anywhere in this game. The shop’s controls are simple:
| Buttons | Effects |
| A BUTTON | Make a Purchase or Sell an Item. |
| B BUTTON | Switch from the list the items you have purchased (and vice versa). |
| SELECT | Pressing Select while in the shop does so little, it hurts. |
| START | Leave the shop. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD | Select different items from the shop. |
Now, let’s talk about the items located within the shop, their prices, and what they do.
| ITEM | COST | WHAT IT DOES |
| Ghost Vacuum | $2500 | Sucks up Ghosts you drive past on the street. |
| Sound Generator | $100,000 | Slows down the Ghosts in Zuul’s Stairway. |
| Capture Beam | $3,000 | You use these in the “Ghost-Busting” scenes to nab ghosts. It’s a weaker Proton Pack, but it gets the job done |
| Hyper Beam | $12,000 | You use these in the “Ghost-Busting” scenes to nab ghosts. They have a better range than the Capture Beam. It’s the stronger of the 2 Proton Packs. |
| Ghost Food | $2,000 | Distracts the Ghosts in Zuul’s Stairway. You get 2 uses. |
| Ghost Alarm | $2,000 | Shows you which buildings are currently haunted. Anti-Ghost Suit $20,000 Gives you 6 added hits from the Ghosts in Zuul’s Stairway. |
| Capture Trap | $1,000 (each) | For every Capture Trap you buy, you can hold 1 Ghost. After that, they have to be emptied. You can hold up to 3 Capture Traps. |
| Super Trap | $6,000 | Unlike the Capture Trap, you can only hold one Super Trap at a time. However, each Super Trap has an unlimited Ghost-packing capacity, so you never have to stop and unload ever again. Saves time, no? |
In order to sell something, simply select the item you wish to sell from your inventory and press the A BUTTON. You’ll only get half of what you paid for it, so think about what you want to sell before you sell it. When you want to leave the shop, just press Start.
The “Ghost-Busting” Screen
This is where you make your main money, so make it count, Ghostbusters!
| Button | Effect |
| A BUTTON | Drop the Trap. |
| A BUTTON (2) | Once the Trap is dropped, Pressing the A BUTTON makes your Proton Packs come alive, sending the beams out. |
| A BUTTON (3) | Once the beams have been extended, pressing the A BUTTON yet again makes the trap suck up ghosts. |
| B BUTTON | Switches from the left and right Ghostbusters. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD | Moves your Ghostbusters to where they can drop the Trap. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD (2) | LEFT and RIGHT move your Ghostbuster(s) left and right, while UP and DOWN change the angle of the Proton Beam. |
Now, how do you make money this way? If you’re familiar with the movie, you’ll know that you should hold the Ghosts in place with the Proton Beam while the trap sucks ’em up. So set down the Trap, ignite your beams, try to nab a ghost or two, move it over the trap, and press the A button to suck it up. Congrats, you just nabbed a ghost!
Now, the trick to making money quickly off of catching ghosts is simple – every time you manage to catch a Ghost, you get $200 dollars. If you managed to nab 2 ghosts at once, you’ll get $200 for the first one and $400 for the second. Not bad, you’ve made twice as much as the first one. If you manage to get 3 Ghosts at once, you’ll be awarded $200 for the first, $400 for the second, and $800 for the third. If you can somehow get all 4 Ghosts in one try, you’ll get $200, $400, $800, and $1600 for your efforts – you just made $3000 bucks off of one trip! Considering the fact that if you get them one at a time the most you can get is $800 for all four Ghosts, getting more than one at once is CLEARLY the way to go.
SPECIAL NOTE – you can change the angle of your beams by pressing UP or DOWN. The important thing to remember is this – remember what Egon said about Crossing the Streams? Well, that doesn’t exactly happen in the game, but it DOES make you immediately leave the Ghostbusting screen and returns you to the Map screen. Be careful where you’re wavin’ that thing!
ANOTHER SPECIAL NOTE (courtesy of Blitz) – Drop the trap as high up as you can. The ghosts aren’t going to fly below it, so you might as well make it as short a trip as possible, eh?
Climbin’ Zuul’s Stairway
Ah, the final area(s). This is what it all boils down to, folks – you getting to (and defeating) Gozer, the Traveller. When enough ghosts have generated the necessary Ectoplasm levels to allow Gozer’s return, then it’s time to hit the center building and do some climbin’. So let’s get climbing!
| Button | Effect |
| A BUTTON | By pressing this repeatedly to move. |
| B BUTTON | Press this to open the door to each floor. |
| SELECT | Pauses the game. |
| START | If you have any Ghost Food with you, pressing start will make you set it down. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD | In conjunction with the A BUTTON, this determines which direction you move. |
This stage is nuts! You have to tap the A BUTTON repeatedly to make the 4 Ghostbusters run up the stairs. When you come to a door, press the B BUTTON to open it. All the while, Ghosts will be homing in on your position, hoping to touch you (yeah, I know, it doesn’t sound as bad as it really is). If they touch you 3 times (5 times with the anti-ghost suit), you fall down. If you fall down 3 times, Gozer wins…apparently you break your necks during the last fall, and everyone decides that death is certainly much better than standing and walking.
To make your trip of the stairs easier, you can purchase some Ghost Food, which will distract the Ghosts from you. A Sound Generator causes the Ghosts to move slower and thus easier to avoid, but it is extremely expensive! Finally, the Anti-Ghost Suit gives you 2 extra hits (per fall) from the ghosts. The most important item you can have to make this easier, though, is a turbo controller – after a while, your thumb REALLY starts to hurt!
Oh yeah, one Final Note – you’re heading up those stairs to beat Gozer, right? What’re you gonna use, harsh language? You HAVE to take a Proton Pack with you, or else you can’t even enter!
Battling Gozer
Finally, Gozer herself! How do you deal with her? Let’s find out!
| Button | Effect |
| A BUTTON | Fires your Proton Pack |
| B BUTTON | Diddly. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD LEFT/RIGHT | Moves you left and right. |
| DIRECTIONAL PAD DOWN | Allows you to see the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man climbing the Building. |
Now here’s the trick, folks – blast Gozer until she’s dead. Got it? If the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (SPMM) climbs the building before you’ve killed Gozer, then you lose, go it? Here’s hoping after all that you don’t screw up!
…yeah, it’s just that simple.
How to Play
It’s a basic section, yes…but I feel it’s important to outline this stuff.
How to Win
The layout for the game is simple – you have to survive the trip up to the top of the Zuul’s building. In order to do that, you should save up and buy at LEAST a Proton Pack and some Ghost Food. If you want to make the trip easier, you’re gonna need the Anti-Ghost Suit and the Sound Generator. In order to afford that stuff, you’re gonna have to bust a lot of ghosts. In order to bust ghosts, you need to visit the shop anyways.
Step 1 – Go to the Shop.
My personal suggestion for your first purchases is getting the Capture Beam & the Super Trap, or the Capture Beam, the Ghost Alarm, and 2 Ghost Traps. There is a reason I suggest either:
- With the Capture Beam/Super Trap, you won’t have to worry about unloading your traps (and this saves time on constantly driving back to the Headquarters and unloading them).
- With the Capture Beam/Ghost Alarm/Ghost Traps, you’ll have to deposit the Ghosts you collect at the Headquarters, but you won’t have to drive around to find Haunted Buildings.
Step 2 – Start Busting Ghosts.
Ok, so you’ve got your proton pack and your traps. It’s time to decide what you want to save up for. If you picked up the Super trap, I suggest you save up for the Ghost Alarm. If you picked up the Ghost Alarm, save up for the Super Trap. Easy enough, right? If you want to make money that much faster, purchase a Ghost Vacuum when you can afford it – after all, sucking up spooks on the road gets you that much more money!
Step 3 – Think about what you want to buy.
Remember, the entire point of the game is that you take down Gozer. You gotta get to Gozer, and that’s what counts. What do you want to save up for to aid yourself in reaching The Traveller? As I said above, I suggest at least having some Ghost Food (as well as a Proton Pack). If you want anything past that, you’ll be saving for a while.
Step 4 – Take on Zuul’s Stairway.
Good GOD, I never want to have this much trouble with stairs! Honestly, this is SO cheesy, I don’t know what else to say. It’s bad enough that there are always 4 ghosts on the stairs, but the hit detection is so poor it’s hard to tell if you’re going to get tagged or not! On top of that, if a Ghost is STILL on you, you’ll take hit after hit until you either fall down or one of you leaves. This is SO ridiculous…
Step 5 – Blast Gozer.
Blast Gozer. You win. The end. Happy now?
How to Lose
There are 5 ways to lose at this game (you’ll probably see ’em all, too).
- You run out of gas and don’t have any money to pay for it. Why can’t you guys just hoof it until you have enough for gas? Huh?
- The Psycho-Kinetic Reading (PK, listed at the bottom of the screen) hits 9999. This means New York City officially literally with Ghosts.
- The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man appears, and you don’t have at least $10,000 in your bank account. Apparently, the City expects you to be able to pay for the damage done.
- You are knocked down 3 times while climbing the stairs in Zuul’s Building. (“Gosh, this floor is so comfy, I think I’ll just lie here and DIE with the rest of the city.”)
- The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man climbs all the way to the top of Zuul’s Building while you’re fighting Gozer. Next time, don’t even bother with the stairs – hitch a ride with this guy!
Frankly, I’d just like to complain a bunch about this particular situation. C’mon, why are your guys so lazy? Huh? HUH? “Oh no, I fell down, I guess I’ll just let New York City blow up!” “Oh no, I’m out of gas, heaven forbid I WALK somewhere.” “Oh no, The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, an imaginary advertising icon, is now a 100-foot-tall walking monstrosity that is destroying the City! I think I’ll move to China and change my name to Merle!” C’mon, folks, why don’t you actually put some effort into what you’re doing?
Various
Revision History
05-15-01: Started this FAQ.
05-18-01: Finished this FAQ. Go me!
03-22-02: Almost a full year later, I return to this FAQ so that I
might do some updates.
03-14-03: Once again, almost a full year has passed before I gave this guide
another look. Yay!
Thanks
~CJayC ([email protected], www.gamefaqs.com) for putting this FAQ up.
~Al Amaloo (www.gamewinners.com) for being such a cool guy, and having a great site.
~A big muchos gracias goes to Chris “Blitz” for various bits about the guide that I somehow forgot to mention. Check it out, Chris, it’s your first step towards fame! Hope you approve!
End FAQ
As I stated above, if you want to use one of my guides, I ask that you e-mail me to gain my permission first. I like to keep track of which sites use my work, so I know where to send the updates, and it’s a little difficult to keep you updated if you don’t e-mail me.
This FAQ Copyright Reverend Eric “Vegita” Johnson, March 2003