E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial is a game that came out for the Atari 2600. It shares its name with the movie and is one of the first games to be based on a film. The Video Game Crash of 1983 has this game as the face of it.
The plot in this game is that E.T. has landed on Earth and must pick up pieces for a phone so that can go back home. To do so, he must look through various pits while avoiding the FBI agent or the scientist who simply wants him there to observe. Elliot is the only one who wants to help. He wants to help E.T. get home.
Truthfully, there isn’t much to complain about when it comes to the graphics. The reason for that has more to do with the limitations of what the Atari 2600 can do performance wise. It is best to use your imagination. While not too complex, it is basic.
You start with 9999 as the meter. When moving, it takes some away. Growling will take some away as well. It will require strategy. If you lose all your health, Elliot will appear to revive E.T. Even after recovery, you will not have nearly as much health as before. If you fail, the game is over.
For controls, there is only a button and just using a joystick. There are commands that show what the user can perform. With multiple screens, there are pits. Some of them will have a piece of the phone. While it may not look like one necessarily, it is important to pick up. The FBI agent is the one to avoid as he will take all the phone pieces thus causing the process of searching to go longer.   The actions cannot be performed generally if someone is on the screen.
It should be mentioned that there are Resse’s Pieces, which are represented by a little dot. You can Elliot to take them. He is the kid who is on your side, and you don’t have to worry at all.
To win the game, you must get all the phone pieces and then be able to call. Once done, you will have a time limit to get to the spot you need to be at to be picked up. Be very precise and do not have anyone be on the screen. The ending screen will display with E.T. being alive and tallying up a score.
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial is not a great game by any means. Truthfully, only one person worked on it. Had there been a team and perhaps more time, it could have been even better. While it is hard to say and looked at in hindsight, it is fair to make that comment. Is it one of the worst games ever made? It is debatable and one that will live on. You might be able to find it in a retro gaming store if you happen to have a working Atari 2600. Of course, with modern TVs, it will take plenty of conversions to get it to work properly.
