The Ghostbusters were quite a phenomenon when they released and for good reason. The 80s should often be considered as the golden era of animation and the Real Ghostbusters (RGB) cartoon was among it. After that, there was quite a lull and everything that followed was subpar and lacking.
The 1990s were mostly disappointing until 1997, when the XGB released. When one first sees the commercials, one says to himself "OMG!Another Ghostbusters cartoon! This is going to be huge!". When the day finally came, XGB turned out to be exactly that and more, for the first time ever, exceeding everything of equal effect in the 80s including the (now dated) RGB. We're talking bleeding edge animation here, maintaining the very same uniqueness that made the RGB stand out, only with 1 or 2 generations of evolution in standards, with serious plots replacing the purely humor-centric plots of the RGB and better characters. Are these guys, the XGB team, including Richard Raynis and Fil Barlow, Gods or what?
Some nice elements of the RGB are missing and this includes the musical sequences which was typical of 80s cartoons. However, since the sequences were never matched with visual splendor, they seemed more like surrogate time wasting tactics rather than genuine plus points. Despite this, the songs were good and were missed, although XGB filled the gaps by adding in more content and detail.
XGB represents a major evolution in visual excellence and fine experiences. Even after the series concluded, no show to date has even come close. I've even shown this to men under my command and they love it too. You'll appreciate it even more if you are into Ghostbusters in general.
