There's usually no purchasing decision to overcome when a game lands on both the Wii and its horsepower-pushing competitors; in all likelihood the title's going to offer a better experience on the 360 or PS3. This is primarily due to most multi-platform games being developed with the more powerful hardware in mind, reducing the Wii version to a watered down port of the original.
Atari has smartly realized the pitfalls of this trend, and taken a refreshing approach with Ghostbusters. Yes, the 360 and PS3 versions are better, but I'll be damned if strapping the proton pack on via Wiimote doesn't come a very close ghoul-wrangling second. For starters, the developers at Red Fly have given the frights-chasing foursome their own look on the Wii; rather than dumbing down the near-photo realistic visuals of the current-gen versions, they've stayed within the Wii's comfort zone and rendered Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson as charming caricatures. The result is a much more cartoony, but equally engaging presentation. Adopting this less realistic look has also afforded the developers the opportunity to add some fantastic destruction effectssome of the best I've seen on the Wii, in fact. You won't want to holster that proton pack once you've experienced its full range of room-rearranging powers. Whether you're shattering chandeliers, sending books skyward, or just turning furniture into stick piles, you'll continually be impressed by the environmental effects at work. Couple the eye-pleasing visual presentation with the actual voices of the original cast, and a script penned by Ramis and Aykroyd, and it's practically like you're playing a third movie in the series.
The controls also lend themselves nicely to Nintendo's quirky hardware; honestly, it's like the Wiimote was made for stunning, wrangling and trapping paranormal menaces. Wielding the peripheral like a PKE meter offers similar immersion-pushing thrills as you track poltergeists, secrets and objectives with Egon's slick gadget. On the downside, the controls do take some time to master and will likely be frustrating for younger ghost hunters and, as much fun as it is early on, fighting off the frights does get repetitive around the game's midpoint. Recruiting a buddy to don a tan jumpsuit for some split-screen co-op, though, injects some freshness into the spectral slaying formula. Wii owners needn't be afraid of this one, as battling the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and his slime-slinging cohorts is still a frights-meets-fun blast on Nintendo's comparatively low-tech console.
score 8.5 out of ten
verdict Bustin' makes me feel good, even on the Wii.
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