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Ghostbusters References (Video Games)

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This is a collection of Ghostbusters Tributes, Spoofs, & References that have appeared in various video games in the years since the release of Ghostbusters (from 1984 to the present). The items that appear below, while significant, do not warrant their own articles, hence why they appear here. This collection is but one of many here at the Ghostbusters Wiki. Please consult the main Ghostbusters Tributes, Spoofs, & References page for the full index of articles.

A concerted effort has been made to present the information in chronological order.

All data that has been verified will include images and/or a video clip link. If you wish to add a reference to this article, please provide an image or video (cued up to the reference, or with a timestamp notation) to back it up. An image uploaded to the Wiki is preferred due to the likelihood of video takedowns (especially on YouTube). Any reference without an image or video to verify may be removed from this article in the future. Items in need of an image, video, or some kind of reference have the "Citation Needed" notation.

General References[]

1984 - 2009[]

  • The Three Stooges (1989, Nintendo Entertainment System only) - The game features a phony title screen saying "Ghostbusters II" with the No Ghost logo (a tweaked GB1 logo actually). The three stooges soon appear in front of it and say "Hey, fellas, we're in the wrong game... Hey, this looks like a kid's game... You imbeciles." - followed by sounds of them bonking each other on the head. Then the Ghostbusters II screen fades out and the real title screen appears. This game has been released on many different systems, but only the NES version published by Activision contains the Ghostbusters II screen. A lot of the other versions contains the same joke, but with a different phony title screen. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Luigi's Mansion (2001, Nintendo GameCube) - The overall premise consists of Luigi having to save his brother Mario from King Boo while exploring a haunted mansion and helping an eccentric scientist/ghost hunter named Professor Elvin Gadd recapture his escaped Portrait Ghosts. Luigi captures ghosts by stunning them with his flashlight and then sucking them up in the Poltergust 3000, which acts like a combination of the Proton Pack and ghost trap. When a Portrait Ghost is captured, it is inserted into a machine called the Ghost Portrificationizer, which is similar in function to the Containment Unit, except the captured ghosts are forced through the machine to be imprisoned in portraits rather than being imprisoned in the machine itself.
    • ABC News asked Shigeru Miyamoto, the renowned creator of "Super Mario Bros.", about the "Ghostbusters vibe" the game has in a 2013 interview. Miyamoto replied, I am a fan of "Ghostbusters." That wasn't the inspiration for the original "Luigi's Mansion." In fact, when we were developing the original "Luigi's Mansion," we were taking care as a team, even though that wasn't our original inspiration, to make sure that people didn't just assume that that was what we were trying to do. [1]
  • Ben 10: Protector of Earth (2007, multiple platforms) - Before the boss battle with Ghostfreak, the alien tells Ben to behold the form of his destruction, which could be an homage to Gozer's line of "Choose the form of the Destructor." (Watch Video Clip)
  • Ghost Town (2009, online) - A flash app game created by Siena for Facebook which shares common concepts about trapping ghosts. Players would go around collecting candy and fighting zombies. Players could also rid houses of ghosts with various methods that were sold at Henry's Traps (an in-game shop).
  • YoVille (2009, online) - This online game by Zynga has a "Ghost Hunter" mini job which sees the player busting ghosts with a flashlight (ala Luigi's Mansion). In Facebook Feed posts, the icon for the job is a red-haired girl wearing a tan Ghostbusters-esque uniform.

2010 - 2019[]

  • No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (2010, Nintendo Wii) - Travis Touchdown says "Time for some pro bono ghostbusting" before he fights the 24th ranked assassin, Matt Helms. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Transformice (2010, online) - There is an achievement title called "Ghostbuster" first available in Halloween 2014.
  • LittleBigPlanet 2 (2011, PlayStation 3) - There is a pin that you can earn called "DO Cross The Streams", a reference to Egon's line, "Don't cross the streams". [2]
  • Ms. 'Splosion Man (2011, multiple platforms) - The game contains an Xbox 360 achievement named "What Did You Do, Ray?", which is earned when the player downloads and plays against a ghost from a leaderboard entry.[3]
  • The Sims 3: Pets (2011) - The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game contain two trophies/achievements that relate to Ghostbusters. One is "Mass Hysteria", which is earned by having a dog and a cat become best friends.[4] The other is "What Ghosts?", which is earned by catching every ghost spawned by the Ghost Invasion karma power before it ends. The icon for this trophy/achievement is a parody of the No Ghost logo.[5]
  • Stacking (2011, PlayStation 3) - The very first task you have to take in this downloadable game from Double Fine Productions is to help the Gate Keeper find the Key Master so that the gate can be opened.
  • The Darkness II (2012, multiple platforms) - You can unlock a trophy/achievement called "Should Have Called 555-2368..." which is a reference to the phone number that was used in the commercial in Ghostbusters. [6] [7]
  • Retro City Rampage (2012, multiple platforms) - One of the buildings featured in the game is modeled after the firehouse and has a sign out front that says "Go-Go Busters". It also has a car based on Ecto-1, a weapon that acts like a proton pack, and a parody of Ray Stantz who "busted a nut...in a botanical sense, of course." [8] [9] [10] (Watch The Real Go-Go Busters Mission Video)
  • Where's My Perry? (2012, Mobile) - Based on the secret agent character from Phineas & Ferb, Level 1-8 is called "Cross The Steams". This level is available in the free version of the game.
  • Gone Home (2013, multiple platforms) - This first-person exploration game features a young woman returning to her rural Oregon family home to find the house empty, leaving her to piece together recent events. In the living room, she (the player) finds a bookshelf with various home-recorded VHS tapes lying on it. On the far right of the third shelf (from the bottom) is a video cassette with "Ghostbusters / Labyrinth" written on its spine label. (All screenshot images below have been brightened up considerably, and the first two are provided as reference as to where to find the Ghostbusters tape.) (Watch Video)
  • Plants vs. Zombies 2 (2013, multiple platforms) - A item based on a Ghost trap called a "Infi-nut" which is unlocked on level "Far Future - Day 13". The Costumed version adds a trap below the wall-nut (note the costume is China exclusive).
  • Family Guy: The Quest For Stuff (2014, Mobile) - From October 2, 2014 to November 7, 2014, this online mobile game held a "Ghostbusters Event" Halloween special update which included new costumes, characters, prizes and buildings. Peter Griffin and his friend were all decked out in Ghostbusters costumes. [11]
  • Minecraft Story Mode: Season 1 (2015, multiple platforms) - This series from Telltale Games features a Ghostbusters reference near the end of Episode 1. The group comes upon a staircase, and when one character asks, "Where do these stairs go", the player's character is given some options on how to respond. One choice is, "They go up". This replicates a conversation between Ray and Peter in the original Ghostbusters film. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters (2015, Playstation 3 & Vita) - There are seven trophies with names that reference Ghostbusters: "Gatekeeper" (a girl has just confessed to you), "Keymaster" (a boy has just confessed to you), "Don't Cross the Streams" (near death over 20 times), "Busting Makes Me Feel Good" (you've performed exorcisms all over Tokyo), "Dogs and Cats Living Together" (you were a friend 50 times), "I Collect Spores, Molds, and Fungus" (you've smelled 50 things), and "He Slimed Me" (it's the ghost's game). Other trophy names reference Beetlejuice, The Shining, The Sixth Sense, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and other things. [12]
  • Injustice 2 (2017, multiple platforms) - One of Red Hood's opening dialogue lines is "I ain't afraid of no ghost." (Watch Video Clip)
  • Firefighter Simulator: The Squad (2017, multiple platforms) - During the training mission, one of the background buildings is based on Hook & Ladder 8; albeit with the windows on the opposite side and rendered to be thee times as wide (which brings it closer to its original appearance when it was first built).
  • LEGO Incredibles 2 (2018, multiple platforms) - In the residential neighborhood of the hub city, one can spot the creative repurposing of the firehouse from the two LEGO Dimensions levels with some minor cosmetic changes.


  • Crossing Souls (2018, multiple platforms) - Set in 1986, a Ghostbusters poster can be seen on Chris' bedroom wall within the opening moments of the game.

2020 - 2029[]

  • Marvel's Avengers (2020) - When Iron Man equips the Hulkbuster armor, one of his quips is "Who ya gonna call? Hulkbuster!"
  • Grand Theft Auto Online: The Criminal Enterprise (2022) - A Metal Detector, a pastiche of the P.K.E. Meter, appears.
  • Marvel's Midnight Suns (December 2, 2022) - Lilith emerges from a portal and pets one of her two demonic dogs like Gozer did to Zuul in the first movie. Iron Man thinks she is Gozer but Doctor Strange states that is Lilith. She promptly blasts Strange and shushes him.
  • Starfield (September 6, 2023) - On New Atlantis, Kelton Frush calls another scientist a "disgrace to the profession," then goes on a tirade about how "his theories are drivel, his methods are sloppy, and his conclusions are – at best – highly questionable. He is a very poor scientist." This is a nod to Dean Yeager's tirade about Peter in the first movie.
  • Grand Theft Auto Online: San Andreas Mercenaries (gameplay feature from October 12 through November 2, 2023) - A car based on the 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor, called the Albany Brigham is available. To unlock modifications to make it resemble the Ecto-1, the player would have to locate and take pictures of ghosts in the map. Then the player would have to send them to a group very reminiscent of the Ghostbusters based in Blaine County called Ghosts Exposed. The player could only do this between October 12 and November 2, but they could still purchase the vehicle after this time. It is for sale from Southern San Andreas Super Autos for $1,499,000.
  • Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.5 (November 15, 2023)[13] - Huohuo a Foxian girl of Ten-Lords Commission "Judge-in-training" is tasked with eradicating vile spirits, despite her fear of them. She is accompanied by a heliobus (ghost) named "Tail", which she works with. During the Myriad Celestia trailer, she can be seen embracing a pillow in fear, which has a no-ghost like design on it; near her is a book is open to a page featuring the ghost seen on the pillow. In game, when she has her phone, it features the same no-ghost logo on it as well.

Detailed References[]

See Also[]

References[]

  1. ↑ ABC News: 'Mario' Creator Explores 'Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon' (March 24, 2013)
  2. ↑ LittleBigPlanet Wiki: LittleBigPlanet 2 Pins
  3. ↑ XboxAchievements.com Achievements List
  4. ↑ PSN Trophy Leaders: Mass Hysteria
  5. ↑ PSN Trophy Leaders: What Ghosts?
  6. ↑ PlaystationTrophies.org
  7. ↑ XboxAchievements.com
  8. ↑ Retro City Rampage Wiki: The Real Go-Go-Ghostbusters Storyline
  9. ↑ Ghostbusters News: Retro City Rampage Includes the Go-Go Busters Firehouse (October 12, 2012)
  10. ↑ Ghostbusters News: Retro City Rampage to Feature Ecto + Proton Pack Inspired Weapon (March 3, 2012)
  11. ↑ Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff Wiki: Ghostbusters: Quahog's Halloween 2014
  12. ↑ PlaystationTrophies.org Trophy List
  13. ↑ Honkai: Star Rail Wiki- Version 1.5 see Release Date in infobox
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