DESCRIPTION

When there's something strange in your neighborhood ...who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters for your Atari 2600!

With a $5,000 loan from the bank, you're out to start your own ghostbusting business. You make money by catching ghosts and must earn more than $10,000 before the dangerous psychokinetic (PK) energy emissions reach critical mass.

When you start the game, you have the option of buying equipment to assist you in your ghostbusting. You can spend your $5,000 loan on the following items:

1. An image intensifier, which makes ghosts easier to see. $800 2. Bait to prevent the Marshmallow Man from destroying buildings. $400 3. A Ghost Vacuum to soak up roamer ghosts on the street. $500 4. Traps to catch and store ghosts. $600

Once you have purchased all of the equipment you want, you must toggle the left difficulty to switch to get to the map screen, which shows the people and places you must deal with in the game. At the top of the screen is Zuul's evil temple. Roamer ghosts are making a beeline for Zuul's, so run them over with your vehicle to stop them in their tracks.

Your vehicle is represented by the Ghostbuster logo. Buildings infected with ghosts flash red, and your headquarters flashes yellow. Maneuver your vehicle to a red building and press the fire button to drive there. In driving mode, you are presented with a top down view of your vehicle. If you purchased the vacuum, you may suck up any roamer ghosts that get in your way. This will slow the PK count.

When you arrive at the site of a ghostly disturbance, you are offered a side view of the haunted building. Take control of your first ghostbuster, and lay down a trap to catch the ghost. Walk to the edge of the building and face inward. A second ghostbuster will appear on the right side of the screen. When you press your action button, both ghostbusters will release a stream of negative ion energy that they can use to trap the ghost. Maneuver the streams to force the ghost directly over the trap. Press the fire button to release the trap and catch the ghost. If you catch him, you earn some money. If not, you'll get slimed and more PK energy is released into the city.

The game ends if the PK energy reaches 10,000 and your bank account has not. If you make over $10,000, the game continues. ~ Michael Schwartz/Joan Dykman, All Game Guide