A LEGO Movie Adaptation is Dying to Be Exhumed

Over the last two decades, LEGO has produced an ever-growing mountain of video games, the vast majority of which have revolved around a slew of different popular movie franchises. From Star Wars to Indiana Jones to Harry Potter and then back around to Star Wars again, LEGO has worked with almost 10 distinct IPs in the world of video games, which is impressive, but does leave plenty of room for future franchise adaptations, and it’s about time Ghostbusters got the full LEGO game treatment.

Debuting in 1984, Ghostbusters has somehow continued to be one of the most popular supernatural franchises out there, despite the vast majority of its entries coming out years, if not decades apart from one another. Though it’s crossed paths with LEGO in the past, Ghostbusters has never really been in the running for a full LEGO video game adaptation, but with five movies now under its belt, it seems like the perfect time to bust some plastic ghosts.

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It’s The Perfect Time for a LEGO Ghostbusters Game

LEGO’s History With the Ghostbusters License

The very first LEGO x Ghostbusters collaboration occurred all the way back in 2014. To celebrate Ghostbusters’ 30th anniversary, LEGO released an Ideas set based on the franchise’s iconic Ecto-1 vehicle. A 508-piece set, the Ecto-1 also came with minifigures based on all four original Ghostbusters, complete with uniquely printed torsos and an arsenal of Proton Packs. A few years later, LEGO would release another two Ghostbusters sets, one based on the iconic New York City firehouse headquarters, and the other based on the 2016 movie’s version of the Ecto-1.

Interestingly, real-world sets aren’t the only collaboration LEGO and Ghostbusters have had. Released in 2016, LEGO Dimensions featured two level packs based on Ghostbusters. The first of these was a level pack based on the original duology, letting players take control of Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore as they battle their way through the events of the first 1984 Ghostbusters movie. The second LEGO Dimensions x Ghostbusters story pack lets fans play through the events of the 2016 reboot.

What a LEGO Ghostbusters Game Could Look Like

While those previous LEGO x Ghostbusters collaborations have been great, nothing compares to a full LEGO video game adaptation, and there’s finally enough content to justify its existence. Including the recently released Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, there are now five live-action Ghostbusters movies, which is an ideal number for a classic LEGO video game adaptation, with each movie getting around five missions each.

While a LEGO Ghostbusters game would have plenty of source material to draw from, it wouldn’t need to be a massive open-world experience like LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, or even on the same scale as previous games like LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2. Instead, a LEGO Ghostbusters game could offer a more streamlined experience, acting as a throwback to LEGO games of old. That being said, if LEGO did want to make its Ghostbusters game open-world, then it would already have some good foundations, with New York appearing in several LEGO games already.

Though there should be enough characters to fill out a sizable roster, a LEGO Ghostbusters game could look to some alternative sources for inspiration. While there are five mainline Ghostbusters movies, there are also two animated TV shows, both of which are only really remembered by those who grew up watching them. That being said, both The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters would be great sources of inspiration for additional LEGO game characters, settings, and missions.