Before I begin, I would like to point out that without watching AVGN's follow-up review of Ghostbusters, you'll likely be very lost. Prior to reading, please watch it. You won't regret it! Well, it has been precisely two years today that James Rolfe, The Angry Video Game Nerd, reviewed the Ghostbusters games in their entirety. So until recently, my thoughts of these games were filled with predetermined notions of horrible design. By chance while sifting through some of the more obscure Nintendo titles, I came upon The New Ghostbusters 2. At first I dismissed it as just another barely passable Ghostbusters game. Interestingly enough, my overwhelming curiosity got the best of me, and what did I get? 8-bit gold. I myself am not a game reviewer, and I don't believe that by doing so the game would receive justice. However, I would like to address the problems James covered in the first Ghostbusters, and display how The New Ghostbusters II is able to rise above them. 1. Spellcheck There really isn't much to say about this. Other than the overuse of "and" during the ending credits, it gets a pass by me. Seems like we're off to a slow start. 2. Better Use of Ghostbusters Characters Now here we go. This is when the game really begins to show improvement over the previous installment. In this time around, you can actually play as any two of the four Ghostbusters characters. As well, you're given a remarkably exciting, Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-3-like character selection screen! 3. Better Graphics An undeniable homerun in terms of the Nintendo's capabilities. No longer will you see featureless grey buildings, or banana-peel ghosts. Instead, say "hello" to flawlessly detailed office buildings, dark and puzzling mine shafts, and powerfully devastated museums. Not to mention, the characters and monsters all actually look like what they are supposed to be. 4. Better Sound The soundtrack is composed by Jun Ishikawa, who you may remember from the Kirby series. Much like his other work, his soundtrack to The New Ghostbusters II is shockingly close to perfect. This is one of the rare cases that a game will feature themes from a series of movies, and actually manage to improve upon them. Jun's brilliant work, to me, feels like arguably one of the best Nintendo soundtracks of all time, and a definitive reason why 8-bit music is timeless. 5. Better Gameplay No game is complete without a gameplay hook. Whether it's a gripping challenge of survival, a fast-paced shooter, or an intriguing adventure, you'll need to think of some hook to keep the player interested. This game combines all three of these aspects. Try thinking "Zelda," but add powerful proton guns and an army of ghosts. Expectedly enough, they eliminated the driving and shopping scenes as well to reveal pure uncomplicated gameplay. As James Rolfe himself said, "Ghostbusters should have just involved going around blasting ghosts." Well here it is, and much more. Now the only thing it's missing is a two-player mode. Let's just say that no longer can anyone utter the phrase, "Ghostbusters on Nintendo sucks ass." Well, excluding that first game.