The Real Ghostbusters

When you're in the mood for a good-time Game Boy action puzzler, who 'ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!

Stage Fright

As Dr. Peter Venkman of the Ghostbusters cartoon, you're trapped in a 50-stage, side-view haunted house full of ghosts, creatures, mazes, and puzzles. To escape each stage, you must ferret out a set number of hidden Spirit Stars and beat a stage timer without being zapped by spooks and traps.

You should be able to figure out how this game progresses: The mazes get trickier, the number of Stars increases, the Stars are harder to find, and the Paranormals get peskier!

At least your ghost-busting gear is in order. You use your handy Proton Pak to zap a path through blocks, but watch out, 'cuz they reappear in a few seconds. The cart places plenty of handy items around for you to find. Bombs and Invincibility Potions help you ward off the evil spirits. Clocks buy you more thinking time. Luckily, the game doesn't ask much of the controls, but they handle the job nicely anyway.

Although the game sounds familiar, Ghostbusters will give puzzle fans a real run for their money. Intermediate gamers should blow by the f irst eight stages, then Stages nine to 15 require concentration. Stages 15 to 50 are definitely frightening.

Since your brain works overtime on the puzzles, you might not pay attention to the graphics and sounds, but Ghostbusters are Game Boy good. Spirit sprites and goodies are detailed and easy to see. The music tries hard enough to deserve at least one listen.

Don't Be 'Fraid of No Ghosts

Ghostbusters is a surefire way to give your mind a rigorous workout. Some stages will haunt you till you solve them.