Your reviewer is old enough to remember the palpable disappointment of forking out a tenner for the original Ghostbusters computer game on the ZX Spectrum, and sitting bewildered as he kept failing to get into Zuul courtesy of the bouncing Marshmallow Man.

The tie-in game to Ghostbusters II was worse, bizarrely, and when you factor in the tepid Real Ghostbusters outings too, it's odd to think that it's taken 25 years to finally get a game worthy of the classic film's name.

That said, it's genuinely been worth the wait. With a script partly written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, and attracting voice talent from the film too (including the always-marvellous Bill Murray), the first thing to notice is that the game doesn't skimp on its production values. With graphical representations of the lead characters and movie sets that are actually recognisable, you step into the shoes of a new Ghostbusters recruit. And after a quick sojourn to the basement to learn the basics of busting ghosts, it's down to action.

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Set two years after the last film, it's not long before the city of New York is once again under paranormal siege, which means the script gets to give plenty of nods to the films and some of the locations will be most familiar. Heck, many of the ghosts are familiar, too.

It's perhaps unsurprising, then, that the game is very scripted, without much in the way of an opportunity to go off the beaten track. This does slow matters down, but you are rewarded with some good gags, so it's not a bad trade-off.

Once the nostalgia is out of the way, though, and you hit the game proper, it's hard not to get a good deal of fun out of it. One of the most faithful and loving movie tie-ins you'll have seen, the base gameplay mechanic doesn't really vary too much in Ghostbusters. But that's not really a problem when you've got a proton pack as cool as the one you're given here.

With said proton pack - which you need to ensure doesn't overheat - you first of all weaken your current ghostly foe of choice, then you have to slam them into the walls, ceiling and floor, and then you drag them over to the trap. It's a little fiddly at times, but the screen is so alive with colour and action that we never really felt like grumbling.

As the game progresses you can upgrade your equipment, but not dramatically so. But on the plus side, the game convincingly makes you feel a part of the Ghostbusters, and you do feel like a team of people trying to take down the paranormal. Compared to every other attempt to bring Ghostbusters to the world of videogames, that's an achievement not to be sniffed at.

And ultimately, despite the rudimentaries of the game and its annoyances and flaws, it just feels so damn cool. And a lot better than the version we got to see around 25 years ago.

It has its problems, but it's faithful to the source material and fine entertainment when you get your proton pack out. You won't get the theme tune out of your head for weeks, either.