Emulator Used

FCEUX 2.1.2-interim

Main Priorities

  • Aims for fastest time
  • Manipulates luck
  • Abuses programming errors in the game
  • Takes damage to save time

About the Run

Ghostbusters is a game in which you have to go to buildings, which you do so by moving around on an overview map of the city, and catch ghosts (you need to buy the proton beam and ghost trap to catch the ghosts). The more ghosts you catch the more money you make which is used to buy things to help you get up the stairwell in the Zuul Building. You also need the money (at least $15,000) to get into the Zuul Building. In the Japanese version of this game, there is a glitch where the player can go to the shop and buy the Ghost Alarm for $2,000 and trade it back in for $3,000. Every time you do this, you can make a profit of $1,000 which makes it easy to enter the Zuul Building early in the game.

The Making of This Movie

For the driving scenes, I moved the car around so that the stopping time is not so delayed. The most challenging part of this was the stairwell scene. The strategy I used for this stage was opening the doors on some of the floors which luck manipulates the ghosts so that they are easier to dodge. The final boss, Gozer, was also difficult because there were so many shots on the screen. The Ghostbusters can only take up to so many hits at a time and there is no recovery time which makes the boss even harder. Thankfully, Gozer doesn't take that many hits to kill, so I just avoided all the projectiles while shooting at the boss and it was over before I knew it.

Special Thanks

I would like to thank everybody on the forum for supporting me on my speedruns. I would have never completed this run if it wasn't for everybody's encouragement.

Baxter A game completed a lot faster than intended, and a well executed TAS. Nice in a technical aspect, but the actual gameplay is rather uninteresting and only the short length of the movie keeps it from getting (too) boring. There is enough support for this TAS to warrant publication. Accepting.

Alden: I got Ghostbusted trying to encode. Sorry.


Active player (279)
Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791
Very nice for such a short run. Yes vote from me.
Experienced player (634)
Joined: 8/28/2008
Posts: 443
Thanks guys! :D I think that also in making this movie, even if it is only 1 1/2 minutes (approx.), there was still tons of speed (considering how short it is) and entertainment value that can be found (and that was one of the most challenging 1 1/2 minutes ever)! I look forward to it being published!!! :D
Senior Moderator
Joined: 8/4/2005
Posts: 5777
Location: Away
Impressive luck manipulation. The game is bad but the movie is short enough for that not to be a bother. Besides, we only see what is the sole interesting part. Voting yes.
Baxter wrote:
いい
These looked like a pair of breasts in the game. "You beat the game, huh? You may now jerk off to celebrate."
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
MarbleousDave
He/Him
Player (13)
Joined: 9/12/2009
Posts: 1559
That was interesting. A yes vote from me too.
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 150
Voting Yes. Mostly because of how short it is and how hard this game was. It is seriously impossible without a turbo controller and spending tons of time in getting the expensive equipment to make that stair climb easier.
Skilled player (1652)
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 2202
Location: Killjoy
I'm surprised your first submission didn't start with Mega, and end with a single digit number! Anyway, impressive glitch demonstration. I always enjoy these short, sweet, glitched up runs, so obvious yes vote from me.
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
Experienced player (634)
Joined: 8/28/2008
Posts: 443
DarkKobold wrote:
I'm surprised your first submission didn't start with Mega, and end with a single digit number! Anyway, impressive glitch demonstration. I always enjoy these short, sweet, glitched up runs, so obvious yes vote from me.
Well...I just wanted to pace myself. :) Next up: Back to the Future- Aims: highest score and fastest time!!!!!! :D:D:D That's right this time i'm going to tell what games i will be tasing!
Samsara
She/They
Senior Judge, Site Admin, Expert player (2239)
Joined: 11/13/2006
Posts: 2822
Location: Northern California
I was thoroughly entertained. Yes vote.
TASvideos Admin and acting Senior Judge 💙 Currently unable to dedicate a lot of time to the site, taking care of family. Now infrequently posting on Bluesky
warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Expert player (2468)
Joined: 6/2/2009
Posts: 1182
Location: Teresópolis - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
Baxter wrote:
いい Has to be the shortest ending text in video game history...
I don't know what it means, but here the end text is like this りり...
I am old enough to know better, but not enough to do it.
Skilled player (1410)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
Dooty wrote:
Baxter wrote:
いい Has to be the shortest ending text in video game history...
I don't know what it means, but here the end text is like this りり...
Seeing the typos they made in the (U) version, I just assumed they made a typo here as well, and meant いい... it's the only thing I can think off that makes sense ;)
Joined: 10/29/2009
Posts: 3
Location: Russian Federation, Chelyabinsk
Nice run. Although I almost skipped the part with the stairs (too tough for me :)) - overall impression is quite good. Remembering childhood when I swamped in that game for some time :)
Joined: 6/20/2008
Posts: 150
Oh man, this game. I grew up on the C64 version, which is eminently superior in just about every way. I was physically ill when I saw that you had to manually climb up Zuul's building, and that every single step along the way, every tiny movement, required a separate A button keypress. The horror. This game introduced me to ridiculously terrible game mechanics. I'll give you that the run is fast. It may even be optimized. But it is so bewilderingly boring despite this, and for that reason I can't give a Yes vote in good conscience. This site, as I am to understand, is about kicking the hell out of games in a marvel-to-behold way, and, well...No.
Joined: 5/2/2009
Posts: 656
*enters the site* "wait, a ghostbusters movie for nes? oh, the master system is way better, I'll probably vote no" *watches the video* "wat" yes vote
My first language is not English, so please excuse myself if I write something wrong. I'll do my best do write as cleary as I can, so cope with me here =) (ノಥ益ಥ)ノ
Noxxa
They/Them
Moderator, Expert player (4125)
Joined: 8/14/2009
Posts: 4090
Location: The Netherlands
Short, but nice and entertaining. Yes vote.
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.
Former player
Joined: 8/31/2009
Posts: 236
=O You published a run!? Yes vote, despite being a horrid game, and people already mentioned the AVGN video, it was quick and painless, and doesn't look like it could be much faster. Now publish Mega Man 3-6!
Joined: 10/2/2009
Posts: 13
Awesome! Yes vote...
Active player (315)
Joined: 2/28/2006
Posts: 2275
Location: Milky Way -> Earth -> Brazil
Big avatar, dude above. But good run. When I played this game I thought the cartridge I played was glitched when I saw that ending. Now I know it's the way it's supposed to be...
"Genuine self-esteem, however, consists not of causeless feelings, but of certain knowledge about yourself. It rests on the conviction that you — by your choices, effort and actions — have made yourself into the kind of person able to deal with reality. It is the conviction — based on the evidence of your own volitional functioning — that you are fundamentally able to succeed in life and, therefore, are deserving of that success." - Onkar Ghate
Bisqwit wrote:
Drama, too long, didn't read, lol.
nesrocks
He/Him
Player (246)
Joined: 5/1/2004
Posts: 4096
Location: Rio, Brazil
I just remembered. Wasn't there something about opening one of the doors and warping like 20 floors up?
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
Voting Meh on this one. I don't really find the game entertaining at all, but it was a well executed TAS.
honorableJay
He/Him
Joined: 8/18/2008
Posts: 104
Location: Albany, NY
FODA wrote:
I just remembered. Wasn't there something about opening one of the doors and warping like 20 floors up?
Ya know, I always wondered why there were doors on each floor. What happens when you go in them anyway? (never played the game myself)
adelikat
He/Him
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player (3573)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4754
Location: Tennessee
I vote no. The trading an item for a profit is kind of a funny oversight. However, every scene in this TAS is boring. Driving, going up 20 flights of stairs, and a boss fight that wasn't impressive at all.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 272
You summed up my feelings exactly. I also vote No.
Experienced player (634)
Joined: 8/28/2008
Posts: 443
honorableJay wrote:
FODA wrote:
I just remembered. Wasn't there something about opening one of the doors and warping like 20 floors up?
Ya know, I always wondered why there were doors on each floor. What happens when you go in them anyway? (never played the game myself)
You press B to open the door and one of three things will happen: there is nothing in the door, a ghost pops out of it, or you get some kind of health refill (don't know what it's supposed to be).
Joined: 7/7/2007
Posts: 161
It's great to see this game demolished, but it makes me feel dirty for wasting so much of my youth on the Atari computer version of this game.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15585
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [1381] NES Ghostbusters by GlitchMan in 01:34.98