The Real Ghostbusters (Arcade)

The Real Ghostbusters
Based on: Meikyuu Hunter G (JP) Developer: Data East Publisher: Data East Platform: Arcade (custom, but based on some other 8-bit Data East games) Released in JP: May 1987 Released in US: December 1987 Released in EU: December 1987 This game has unused graphics.

The Real Ghostbusters is an arcade game based upon the classic 1980s cartoon based upon the classic 1980s movie. ("Real", as opposed to those two guys with the ape, who are the real Ghostbusters as in "they came first" but not the ones everybody knows.)

Unused Graphics

Pictures of Peter, Egon, and Ray, whose likenesses strangely don't appear anywhere in the game itself (the player characters are all generic palette swaps). Their suits have been recolored to match the in-game players.

Of course, these are only found in The Real Ghostbusters.

Regional Differences

To do: We're just getting started here. There's also a bunch of revisional differences as well.

This game's got a rather odd release history. According to a developer of the game, it was always intended to be a Ghostbusters game. Data East were unable to acquire the Ghostbusters license in Japan, however, so it ended up releasing there as Meikyuu Hunter G, with no connections to the franchise (though the G in the title is a slight nod to the original property), before later releasing in the west with the license. The Real Ghostbusters has other differences from Meikyuu Hunter G, including level design and gameplay mechanics, so much so that you could basically consider it a second (and frankly much better) revision of it.

Title Screen

Japan	International

Pretty self explanatory. The Real Ghostbusters uses unique graphics for its elaborate copyright message, while Meikyuu Hunter G simply writes its out in the game's regular font.