I’m sure that Ghostbusters doesn’t need much of an introduction, the slot being based on the hugely popular movie released in 1984, and which has become a classic. It’s been over three decades since Ghostbusters was launched, and to this day people still remember it and the actors that played in it. It’s my pleasure today to review the slot based on this movie, and to tell you how close it manages to get to it. The developer that managed to secure the license for the Ghostbuster slot is IGT.
A 5 reel with 30 lines slot machine, Ghostbusters might not give you big prizes, the maximum is worth about $25,000, but there are more features inside than in most of the slots that IGT created, so you should have plenty of opportunities to make your money back.
Features of Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters has what you would call a feature rich environment. With wild symbols, scatters, bonus games, free spins and mystery features, you will have a lot of variety and chances are that you’re going to have a blast. Unfortunately, all these features come with an extra cost, so instead of using 30 coins you have to use 50 for all your bets.
To start off, there are two different symbols in the game, both marked with the word Wild. One of them has the famous green ghost in it, the other being with the spirit of an old lady. Both wild symbols can get their own combinations started, with the jackpot being awarded by them when five are on the same payline. As for its substitution role, it is used only when the regular symbols are involved, so the various scatter and bonus symbols are not influenced by the presence of a wild.
Ballroom Busters
One of the bonus games that Ghostbusters puts forward, Ballroom Busters needs three bonus symbols on the reels, but two of them have to be of one kind (White Ghost Bonus), while the third one is the Green Ghost Bonus.
Here, you get to shoot five proton beams at various objects, behind which the six ghosts might be hiding. The location is a ballroom, hence the name used for the feature. Clicking on an object fires the weapon at it and a prize is given if you locate one of the ghosts there. The prizes can also benefit from a random multiplier, between 2x and 5x.
Stay Puft Free Spins
The second bonus game of Ghostbusters is called Stay Puft, and its trigger is the same two White Ghost Bonus symbols, but the third one is the Sailor Ghost. You get 8 free games from it, with locked wilds that fall into position at random, after some of the free spins. These free spins also come with 40 lines, instead of 30, so there are more chances to win. Once these wilds have appeared, they will remain there until the free games are done. There is also a random chance that you will get a Win Meter payout, with a prize between 50 and 1,000 coins.
The free spins have their own paytable and reels that they use, the payouts being smaller than in the base game, but at the same time using different symbols and pictures of the main characters.
Random Mystery Features
Once in a while, you will notice that the base game spins will give you a random mystery feature, which doesn’t get triggered by the game’s symbols. There are four different outcomes when this feature is activated.
The first one would be a 2x to 5x multiplier, applied to the prizes of that particular spin. Another would be the appearance of 1 to 3 wild reels. The third mystery feature is a cash prize, between 50 and 1,000 coins being given through it. Finally, the fourth and last of the mystery features consists in extra wilds, with 1 to 4 regular symbols transformed.
Betting options and jackpots
With only 30 lines available inside, the game asks of its players to use 50 coins, 20 of them being for the many features that it provides. Each of these coins has a denomination between $1 and $50, so you can easily get to $2,500 for a single spin in this game.
The payouts use the coin value as a guide, the best one being at 500 coins, or up to $25,000.
Design and symbols
The movie served as direct inspiration for the slot machine, so you should expect all the actors from the movie to be part of the symbols. The Ghostbusters team is on the reels in full force, along with the various pieces of equipment that they used, as well as the various good or evil ghosts that they tried to get rid off. With a combination of real photos of the actors, plus cartoons showing you the objects used, the game is interesting, but not spectacular.
Symbols: Wild Green Ghost/ Woman Ghost Wild (wild, 500x), Ghost Bonus (bonus), Peter Venkman (250x), Egon Spengler (250x), Ray Stantz (200x), Winston Zeddemore (200x), Louis Tully (150x), Energy Storage (125x), Car (125x), Ghostbusting Machine (125x), Detector (100x) and Nightvision Glasses (100x).
Is It Worth Playing?
You will enjoy playing this Ghostbusters inspired slot machine, and not only if you’re a fan, but also if you simply want an entertaining game with a lot of features inside, where you don’t get a chance to get bored.
Ghostbusters, the Movie
A movie that was released in 1984, Ghostbusters was a combination between a Sci Fi and Fantasy movie, with copious amounts of comedy thrown in. The title refers to a team that specializes in catching ghosts, using specialized equipment that allows them to clear haunted buildings. The three members of the team were played by Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, plus a fourth member that was added later on, Ernie Hudson playing that part. Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver were also part of the movie’s cast.
The movie had a $30 million budget and it managed to get $295 million worldwide, out of which in the United States alone it got $242 million. It had two Oscar nominations and it’s considered one of the top 100 comedies of all time. After the initial movie, the series also included a second movie in 1989, video games and a couple of animated TV series.
The Ghostbusters slot machine is offered through the IGT platform, so if you want to play it for real or just to practice, look out for casinos that use it.
