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The stylized version of the Ghostbusters: The Video Game was developed by Red Fly Studio and was released on the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable. It is loosely based on the films. PlayStation Portable version was released on November 3, 2009, much later than all of the other versions of the game, both stylized and realistic. It is a compact version of the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions.

The Nintendo DS version is different from the stylized version, therefore it has been given its own page here.

Release Differences[]

  • There are two releases on the Wii: a standard version and a Slimer edition version which is only being offered by Amazon.
  • Ghostbusters creator Dan Aykroyd prefers the Wii version of the video game.[1]
  • Pre-orders of the Wii version at GameStop included an exclusive Video Game T-shirt.
  • On the cover of the stylized version of the game, Ray has two P.K.E. Meters. (hint look at his belt)

Slimer Edition Version[]

To read about about the exclusive Amazon version of the game, click here.

Differences in Gameplay[]

  • The most immediately noticeable difference in game play between the Nintendo Wii and other versions of Ghostbusters: The Video Game is the ability to use the Wii Remote to aim a cursor on the screen to control the neutrona wand. Also, making a bowling motion with the Nunchuk is how ghost traps are released.
  • Aside from control differences, Redfly Studios stated that in their version there is a stronger emphasis on puzzle elements than the Terminal Reality versions.
  • Another difference between the Redfly Studios versions (Wii, PS2) and the Terminal Reality versions (PS3, 360, PC) is that in the Terminal Reality Versions, collateral damage will directly effect the amount of money earned on any given mission. The more damage is caused, the less money is earned which could otherwise be used to upgrade the Ghostbusters' equipment. The Redfly Studios version does keep track of the amount of collateral damage, however, the player is not accountable for paying it (Actually, it seems that indirectly encourages damaging the environment).
  • Some ghosts are replaced or added in. For example, in the Terminal Reality versions, the player gets to face ghosts based on jobs like Pappy Sargassi, and the main boss ghosts include The Chairman in the Museum, and the Imprisoned Juvenile Sloar. In the Redfly versions, all the job ghosts have been removed except Chef Deforrest Sargossa from the Return to the Sedgewick Hotel level, who gets moved to the Sedgewick Hotel level, filling in Pappy Sargassi's role. While Imprisoned Juvenile Sloar and The Chairman are replaced by Black Slime Behemoth and the Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleton.
  • The Wii version allows for two player local cooperative play throughout the main story with both the male and female iterations of the Rookie. The Terminal Reality versions instead have separate multiplayer missions which can only be played online.
  • The PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions are ports of the Wii version. Aside from using the right analogue stick to aim the targeting reticule and button presses for throwing traps, its gameplay is identical to that on the Wii.

Freezing and Glitches[]

  • The PS2 version of the game seems to freeze very easy during play. Also, sometimes dead batteries will get stuck against walls and between objects leaving the player with no other option but to quit and restart the area of the game again.
  • On the Wii version during the level Splitting Up it is possible to fall through the floor while going through the portals. This most often happens with the door leading into the Spirit Locked door area. It is also possible for the Spirit Locked door to never open despite having caught all the key ghosts.

Unlockables[]

There are unlockables which change gameplay.

  • Faster Health Regeneration - Get over 50% of the illustrations for Tobin's Spirit Guide.
  • Increased Scanning Speed - Get over 50% of the scans for Tobin's Spirit Guide.
  • Equipment Strength Upgrade - Get all 103 illustrations (100%) for Tobin's Spirit Guide.
  • No Equipment Overheat - Get all 103 scans (100%) for Tobin's Spirit Guide.
  • Invulnerability - Get 100% completion on any difficulty.
  • Gozerian Rookie Outfit (immunization from sliming) - Get 100% completion on Gozerian (Hard) difficulty.

Plot[]

The events of the game occur during Thanksgiving Day 1991, two years after the events in Ghostbusters II. The Ghostbusters are training a new recruit, who Dr. Venkman insists they simply call "Rookie". A large PKE shockwave then hits New York City, and sends the team on a variety of calls to capture ghosts that result from it, including the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. Throughout these calls, they are hounded by Walter Peck, now head of the Paranormal Contract Oversight Committee (P-COC) as appointed by Mayor Jock Mulligan, who warns them about causing too much damage in their ghost capturing activities. The Ghostbusters discover through a series of adventures and encounters with museum curator Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn that Ivo Shandor, the architect who designed 55 Central Park West that was once used to summon Gozer, had also designed a network of tunnels to channel ectoplasmic slime through the city, including specific Shandor-renovated buildings acting as nodes on a mandala, as a means to merge the real world with the Ghost World and bring forth another Great Destructor like Gozer. The Ghostbusters help to destroy the nodes and capture the node guardians at the Sedgewick Hotel, the New York Public Library, and the Museum of Natural History.At the last node in the middle of the Hudson River they discover a mansion on an island rising from the water. As they explore it, they find that the island belonged to Shandor and that Ilyssa is his descendant. They also discover machines pumping the slime into the tunnel network and disable them as well as the final Mandala node, and escape the island just before it sinks back into the water.

When they return to the mainland, the Ghostbusters find that Ilyssa was captured and the containment vault shut down, releasing the ghosts, and suspect that Peck has been possessed and is trying to call forth a Great Destructor. A massive mausoleum appears in Central Park and the team fights their way into the central structure. Inside, they find both Ilyssa and Peck chained to walls and discover Mayor Mulligan possessed by Ivo Shandor himself who used Peck as a scapegoat to avoid detection. The Ghostbusters are able to exorcise Shandor from the Mayor before he can sacrifice Ilyssa as part of a ritual, but are pulled into the Ghost World where they are forced to fight Shandor in his Destructor form, a blue skinned, hooded figure with immense power called the Architect. They manage to defeat Shandor by crossing their proton streams, and return back to the real world, where they rescue Ilyssa, Peck, and the Mayor before the mausoleum collapses.

Before the credits, the four Ghostbusters determine that five of them is just too many, but decide to offer Rookie a position as the head of a yet-to-be-opened Ghostbusters franchise in another city, just before Slimer escapes his cage again and leads to the Rookie capturing him a second time.

Characters[]

Playable Character[]

Main Characters[]

Minor Characters[]

Villain Ghosts[]

Sedgewick Hotel


Times Square


New York City Public Library


Natural History Museum


Return to Hotel Sedgewick


Shandor's Island


Central Park's Cult Cemetery

Paranormal Related Items[]

Other Terms[]

Weapons/Equipment/Vehicle[]

Levels[]

Places/Locations[]

Development[]

According to John Melchior, producer, he pitched the Stylized version as something more kid-friendly like The Real Ghostbusters to marketing and was kicked out of the room. Ultimately, the script was changed around but was an uphill battle even though Sony supported it because it was a different take for a different market. The actors made sure their features were still circa 1991 and they were given cartoon big bellies nor old looking. The approval process was a little more difficult overall. [2]

Unaccredited Art Direction[]

Artist Dan Schoening, later known for his work on the Ghostbusters IDW Publishing Comics had helped inspire the graphic style for the Styled versions of the game. However, he wasn't included in the credits for the versions of the game as claimed by Red Fly Studio CEO Dan Borth was because there wasn't enough room.[3]

Scripts[]

Trivia[]

  • Tobin's Spirit Guide has 109 entries listed in the data files on the video game disc, but there are only 93 entries in the actual game itself. The entries cut from the video game are:
    • Adhesive Memo Zombies
    • Avatars
    • Ghost Hunting Tome
    • Gozer
    • The Initiate
    • Inter-Dimensional Cross-Rip
    • Kitchen Conglomerate
    • Mannequin Wisps
    • Marshmallow Hoppers
    • Office Wisps
    • Phantom Matter
    • Protective Psychokinetic Barrier
    • Psychokinetic Manipulation Event: Museum Implements
    • Psychomagnatheric Ectoplasm
    • Unassuming Demons
    • Will O Wisps
  • Some of the lines Ernie Hudson recorded in case Bill Murray didn't appear for recording can be heard in this version of the game.
    • During the Museum of (Super)Natural History Level, Winston asks Ray to open gate 3487. In the realistic version, Peter asks Ray to open gate 3487.
  • On page 22 of Ghostbusters Volume 1 Issue #4, a newspaper article in the PCOC file reveals the Stylized Version's Male Rookie was named Chad Fuller and the Female Rookie was named Maddie Collins.
  • On page 28 of Ghostbusters Volume 1 Issue #9, Peter alludes to the two Rookies.
  • On page 5 of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #2, the Male Rookie's I.D. card is seen in a foot locker.
  • On page 15 of Ghostbusters: Get Real Issue #2, on the bottom of the page, to the right, are the Ghostbusters from the Stylized version.
  • On page 43 of Ghostbusters: Get Real Trade Paperback, the Rookies appear in one of the portals.
  • In Ghostbusters International #8, there are numerous references to the Stylized Version
    • On page 1, in panel 5, the third floor of the Firehouse resembles the layout of the second floor seen in the game.
    • On page 1, in panel 5, there is the console with six monitors, a panel above the console, the shelving, a table with various gear on it like the Stylized version of the Boson Dart attachment, the 4 column mustard drawer set and various objects atop it from the second floor in the game
    • On page 2, in panel 1, the cork board with the map of New York City, the TV with the loading screen of the game, and the Ghost Capture arcade from the second floor in the game appear.
  • On page 11 of Ghostbusters 101 #2, like in Ghostbusters International #8, the third floor is visually based on the second floor in the Stylized Versions and bears many references.
    • The loading screen on the TV
    • On the table on the left are some Stylized Versions of equipment: A Trap, Paragoggles, a Proton Pack with the Boson Dart attachment, Slime Mine, and a Slime Blower.
    • On the table on the right are a Stasis Stream, Particle Thrower, and P.K.E. Meter.
    • Aiming reticule on the floor
    • Interact logo prompt on the floor
    • Map on the brown board
  • On page 12 of Ghostbusters 101 #2, in panel 3, now on the monitor screens are stills of the Male Rookie looking around the 2nd floor of the Firehouse in the game.
  • On page 11 of Ghostbusters: Funko Universe, the Ghostbusters investigate in the second floor of the Firehouse from the Stylized Versions - evidenced by the computer monitor and yellow file.
  • In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #1:
    • On Page 18, in panel 1, on the table are equipment from stylized versions: a Slime Mine, Proton Pack with Boson Dart, and a Stasis Stream. Egon appears to be holding the Shock Blast as well. In panel 3, to the right of Egon is a still, from stylized versions, of Ray with the Aura Video Analyzer colander on in the cinematic after the player finds the team on the second floor at the beginning of gameplay.
    • On Page 19, in panel 4, also seen on the table are more equipment from stylized versions: Paragoggles, a Trap, and a P.K.E. Meter
    • On Page 20, in panel 1, Egon works at the console from stylized versions. In panel 4, on the right, the arcade is Ghost Capture from the Panic in Times Square level from stylized versions.
  • In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #2:
    • On Page 4, once again on the table is the Proton Pack with Boson Dart, P.K.E. Meter, Slime Mine, and Trap.
    • On Page 18, the arcade is Ghost Capture from the Panic in Times Square level from stylized versions.
    • On Page 20, Janine's new look is based on her appearance from the stylized versions.
  • In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #5:
    • On Page 9, like in Issue #2, Janine's design is based on the version seen in Stylized Versions.
  • On May 31, 2018, Erik Burnham confirmed the stylized video game resides in Dimension 11-W. [4]
  • In Ghostbusters Crossing Over #2:
    • On Page 2, once again, the third floor is modeled after the second floor in the Stylized Versions, including the map of New York City, the loading screen, and the Ghost Capture arcade and blue arcade next to it.
    • On Page 20, in the top right corner are the Ghostbusters of Dimension 11-W; Egon, Winston, Ray, and Peter from the Stylized Versions.
  • In Ghostbusters Crossing Over #5:
    • On Page 1, one of the Slimers is from the stylized version of the video game.
  • In Ghostbusters Crossing Over #6:
    • On Page 8, in panels 1 and 2, on the right, is the Phantom Craftwork from Stylized Versions.
  • In Ghostbusters Crossing Over #7:
    • On Page 3, in panel 2, the chalkboard references Chef Sargossa from Stylized Versions.
  • In Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary: Ghostbusters:
    • On Page 1, in panel 3 is the skull of the Tyrannosaurus Rex from Stylized Versions.
  • On the back of the Ghostbusters: Afterlife Cereal box, the term "Psychokinetic Biological Inhabitation" is used. It was a formal term used for Possession in the Stylized Versions of Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

See Also[]

References[]

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20090614222608/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/13/dan-aykroyd-prefers-ghostbusters-for-wii-says-romance-got-axed/
  2. Reddit AMA "AMA with the developers of 2009's Ghostbusters: The Video Game!" 7/16/16 John Melchior says: "Everybody at that time in the industry had a 360 and Wii at that time for some reason. Those were the winners. I was thinking for a collector of Ghostbusters, if I made this one look more like the Real Ghostbusters, or a kid-focused version, would they buy both? I presented that to marketing and I got kicked out of the room. They thought it was the worst idea. There were some technical reasons why we were doing it for sure but I really felt like it was a different experience. If the Wii caters to families and kids, this is a softer side. It's not as hard edged and real. Ghostbusters fans and collectors of which there are a lot of will play - possibly buy and play both. We had to change the script and make it a bit different here and there. It turned out as a big win for the sales but it was an uphill battle. Sony was supportive of it because it's a different version, a different take, a different market. The actors wanted to make sure their features were still 1991 features and not cartoony big bellies and old guys. Their approval process was a little more difficult."
  3. http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2009/06/24/ghostbusters-credits-neglect-artist-crucial-to-games-style-d/
  4. erikburnham Tweet 5/31/18

External Links[]

Gallery[]

Packaging[]

All images provided by Spook Central.

Overall[]

Game Setup Screen Caps[]

Menus Minus Text[]

Secondary Canon[]

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