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Ah, the licensed game. If ever the caveat 'let the buyer beware' be applied to video games, this is a category it must see strenuous use for. Many a memory of licensed games do I possess, with the balance probably being negative. It IS possible to make a licensed title that is moderately enjoyable, and I've run into a few - but for RPGs? Well... more on that later.
A licensed game in the English-speaking world is generally NOT an RPG, because the greedy little children can't handle thinking while they play the game(s) featuring their favorite characters. Or at least I can picture this being the gist of why the uninspired platformer is so often the licensed genre of choice... I haven't played a licensed game that I didn't think pretty good things of for many years, but a few from way back I remember more-or-less fondly.
Such as Bram Stoker's Dracula for the Genesis. I can't objectively defend a platformer that doesn't refill health from level to level, has a microsecond of invulnerability after being hit, and can be completed in half an hour - but I somehow gleaned enjoyment enough to buy it off a rental place for $10 ten years ago. A less guilty pleasure would be the Genesis Aladdin, which is a good platformer even now, if a bit on the easy side. The TMNT have a pretty good record (particularly in the world of licensed games), at least back in the late 80's/early 90's. Both Genesis X-Men games manage to be pretty good, if challenging. And Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, despite being absolutely ludicrous 18 years later (would ANYONE on the planet make a game that has Michael Jackson saving children now?), manages to be pretty good with some respectable Genesis audio renditions of some awesome tunes.
These are the exceptions, though. Far lengthier in the list of licensed titles are the ignoble failures. Such as Predator 2 for Genesis, something I tried playing and gave up quickly thanks to its irredeemable crappiness (I was 10 and it wasn't my rental dollar). Also to the SNES Ren & Stimpy game, which I've managed to mercifully forget over the years. Wayne's World for the SNES sucks hard. Some games I don't need to even look at to know their terrible qualities: anything based upon a crappy source such as That's So Raven!, Bratz, or Barbie is automatically bad. Non-crappy sources that are patently unsuited for any form of video game adaptation will also make crappy games, and the mere existence of games based on sitcoms offers proof of this.
Thus far I haven't mentioned RPGs much, for the marketing reasons listed above. I did try Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for GBC, and that was enough to keep me away from such endeavors for a long time. Harry Potter certainly could make a good RPG, but that incredibly dry and dull cut-rate GBC game wasn't it. My ventures into the world of licensed RPGs mostly come from Japan, where the RPG is a far more important genre for corporate bottom lines. Anime-derived RPGs don't rise to the top of the material deserving localization, but some of them are kinda worth playing. Sailor Moon: Another Story is a fundamentally decent game that actually tells an acceptable side-story within the Sailor Moon universe. Not great, but definitely playable and with a pretty good challenge at parts. The Ranma 1/2 and Tenchi Muyo Super Famicom RPGs await my playing, and I expect at least reasonable things from them. DBZ: Densetsu no Super Saiyajin on SFC is the kind of game that is most likely unplayable to anyone not deeply immersed in the Dragon Ball world. I once was this, and have conflicted memories from that time. DBZ and Sailor Moon, I both reviewed for RPGamer, so there is no point in delving too deeply into the games here.
A GOOD licensed RPG would be a highly desirable commodity. The properties amenable to RPG treatment are plentiful: Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, the Terminator, Oz (the books, not the HBO prison drama!), and many others could be a lot of fun. I forbear from listing Star Wars because all reports have it that Knights of the Old Republic is quite a good game, though calling it 'licensed' is a stretch when its setting is not directly lifted from the movies. I'm not necessarily expectant that a good licensed RPG will be made, just hopeful.
And as to the title: the Ghostbusters game on the Master System I found very interesting as a kid. Despite the tendency of Mr. Stay Puft to end the game by squashing two Ghostbusters real fast, it was fun. Not so the Genesis Ghostbusters title.
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