It’s been thirty five years since the release of the first Ghostbusters movie and the fandom is just as strong as ever. Sure the reboot was a flop, but that hasn’t stop the love the fans have for the franchise. And with news of another reboot in the works that follows the events of the first two movies, I think its time to revisit the game everyone agrees that should have been the third movie, Ghostbusters The Video Game. Coincidentally 2019 mark’s the game’s ten year anniversary. But instead of digging out a PS3 or Xbox 360, we are going to check out Ghostbusters The Video Game Remastered for the Nintendo Switch.
We’re here to believe you
The “third” movie- Let’s get this out of the way: the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, the one with the all female cast, was not received very well, and that’s putting it nicely. What they really wanted was the following: It’s been two years since the events of the last movie and the Ghostbusters have officially been made city contractors. With an up tick of more work, they decided to hire on a fifth member, you, as a field tester for their new experimental gear. Perfect timing on their part, as there has been strange instances have been happening since a huge pulse of supernatural energy has exploded from the Museum of Natural History, which just so happens to be hosting a Gozer the Gozerian exhibit. The pulse of supernatural energy expands into the city and causes an increase of supernatural activity. The pulse reaches the Ghostbuster’s firehouse and cause a power short, which frees Slimer. After having to capture Slimer again, along with several other new ghosts at the Sedgewick Hotel, they come face to puffy face with a revived Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. You and the rest of the team take down Stay Puff and head back to the station to figure out why Stay Puff came back and what’s causing all this increased supernatural activity.
Yes, the game is already ten years old and there is a great chance that most people have played it already, but just like the movies, the story never really gets old. That and Harold Ramis (RIP Egon) and Dan Aykroyd helped write the script for the game. One liners, comedic timing, character mannerisms perfectly match the feel of the previous movies, which is what fans wanted in the first place.
Updated visuals…somewhat- Like all games that get remastered, Ghostbusters The Video Game also received a visual upgrade…sort of. Now I say sort of is because there are two sets of graphics used: one for the actual game and one for the cut-scenes. Since I have the Switch version of the game, one would think that the graphics wouldn’t be as good as the PS4 or Xbox One versions. Actually when docked, the in game graphics are crisp and look really good . Sure there’s a bit of clipping here and there, but that’s more to do with the physics engine. When playing in tabletop/handheld mode, the game still looks good at the Switch’s 720p screen. The cut -scene graphics on the other hand look like the developers just ported the cut-scenes from the original game and that’s it. No editing, adjusting colors, no up-rezing etc.
Gozer the Gozarian
No character customization- Being a Ghostbuster has always been a dream for kids who have grown up watching the movies. Every kid wanted to suit up along with Ray, Egon, Winston, and Peter to hunt ghosts and just hang out at the fire house. When the original Ghostbusters The Video Game came out, everyone was excited that they were a part of the team. But then when fans realized that they couldn’t customize their character to look like them, they (including me) were disappointed. With the remasterd version now out, would this be the chance to finally have our likeness in the game? Nope. You would think that having a character customization option would be a no brainier, that with the current power of the consoles it would be possible. Nope. Again disappointing.
No multiplayer- One of the most fun aspects of the original release of Ghostbusters The Video Games was that it had online multiplayer (or at least the 360 version did, since Atari shut down the PS3 multiplayer). These were missions that were separate from the main story and involved capturing as many ghost as you can and protecting the Ghostbusters’ power grid. While it would have been great to play as the Ghostbusters in the main story mode, being able to play as them in multiplayer was just as fun. And with the remaster now on the Switch, it makes sense for there to be multiplayer. But no dice on all versions of the game.
While not the prettiest remaster that I’ve played, Ghostbusters The video Game Remastered does what the original set out to do the years ago: make me feel like a Ghostbuster. The story feels like it should have been a movie, with many dubbing it as the “unofficial third” movie. The in-game visual look just as great as they did back then, but it seems that the cinematics are stuck in 2009. It would have been great if the remaster added in character customization and multiplayer, but like Vigo the Carpathian trying to come back to life, it was not meant to be. Regardless Ghostbusters The Video Game Remastered is just as fun now on the Switch as it was back on the 360 and PS3.
