Ghostbusters II (Game Boy) Review

A lot of people talk about New Ghostbusters II, the un-released in the US game

often cited because of how much better of a game it is compared to the 8-bit

offerings Activision gave us.  But I feel that this game we did get—one that can

be thought of as a younger sibling to New Ghostbusters II, doesn’t get enough

attention.  So today I’d like to take a look at HAL Laboratory’s handheld game

based on Ghostbusters II.

The game is pretty simple, you start off by choosing two of the ghostbusters:  

one to blast the ghosts, and the other to trap.  Capture all the ghosts in the area 

to move to the next stage.  There’s a time limit for each stage, but it only effects 

the scoring.  The art design is kind of cute, but you can tell who all the characters 

are supposed to be. The game follows the movie somewhat.  You battle ghosts in 

the courthouse, sewers and the museum.  

If you’re familiar with New Ghostbusters II, at first inspection youth may think this 

is basically a scaled-down version of that game.  There are fewer levels, and the 

levels that are here are much shorter.  But they made a few tweaks that change 

up the gameplay a little bit from the console version.  

Here, both characters, the blaster and the trapper have lives, so if either takes 

four hits, it’s game over.  So you have to watch out for you and your partner.  

The ghosts can be kind of unpredictable at times, so this can get kind of tricky,

but not terribly unmanageable.  However to help you along you do encounter

your fellow Ghostbusters and supporting cast members Louis Tully and Dana

Barrett.  They will give you health and weapon power ups.  The Ghostbusters

will also switch players, which other than appearances, doesn’t change anything 

else, not even health, unless that’s what kind of power up he gives you.  At the 

end of each level, there’s a boss battle which plays a little different than the 

stages.  Shield, weapon and health power ups fall during the battle.  This is the

only time you don’t have to worry about the well-being of your trapper, as he 

is protected by a shield throughout the battle.  It’s a good strategy to get behind

him, since he can’t be hurt.

The power ups during the stages are pretty neat and well varied, from the ability 

to walk through walls, to temporary invincibility, and direct trapping, among others.  

All of which are really fun and useful.  

While there is quite a bit of good about the game, there are a couple negatives as

well.  The music isn’t all that great.  Aside from the title theme, the music is pretty 

boring.  Kind of disappointing, especially since New Ghostbusters II has some 

decent sound-alike tracks of songs from the movie’s soundtrack.  Also, the AI of 

the trapping character is pretty dumb, frequently getting caught up when you’re 

trying to make your way around the stage, which could lead to a cheap death.

In speaking of cheap deaths, while I don’t feel that there’s quite as many in this

game than there are in the console version.  But they can happen especially since

you have to keep an eye on both Ghostbusters’ lives.  It can be frustrating to see

the game over screen because your trapping character takes a hit you had no

chance at defending against.

The only other gripe I can really mention is that sometimes, when you only have 

a couple ghosts left to catch, the unpredictable nature of how and where the 

ghosts will pop up can cause things to get a little annoying.  After the time limit

expires, the “no ghost” icons might not disappear and reappear like the ghosts,

but they do move pretty quickly, and can travel through walls.  So chasing after 

those I feel is even more tedious, especially since many ghosts, while you might

not tell when they’ll show up, many will stay in a section of the stage at a time.

With that said, is the game fun?  Is the atomic weight of cobalt 58.9?  The answer

to both questions is yes.  It might not be a popular opinion, but I actually find this

one more enjoyable than New Ghostbusters II.  If you’re a fan of the franchise, 

check this one out.  

Activision had the rights to produce games based on Ghostbusters in the US,

which is why HAL Labs’ console offering wasn’t ever released here.  Activision 

chose to distribute this one here, but not in very large quantities. A loose cartridge 

sells between $10-$15.  You might be able to find a European or Japanese copy

for a little less, having no region protection on Game Boy games makes playing

imports easy.  So check it out, if you can.