Real Ghostbusters is a one or two player multi-level game in which the players control members of the Ghostbusters team. The objective of the game is to fight your way through each of 10 levels, capturing and storing ghosts on the way. The end of each level features one or more guardians who, when defeated, will yield a key allowing the player(s) to exit that level. The characters are armed with both guns and Proton Beams. Creatures can be shot with either weapon to transform them into ghosts. The ghosts can then be zapped with the proton beam to store them in the player's backpack. Ammunition for the gun is un-limited; the proton beam has a limited charge which is displayed at the top of the screen. Also displayed are the number of lives remaining and the number of ghosts collected. On reaching the end of a level there is a short graphic sequence in which collected ghosts are beamed into ghost storage. A bonus is awarded for each ghost.