E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (also referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 adventure video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600 video game console. It is based on the film of the same name, and was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw. The objective of the game is to guide the eponymous character through various screens to collect three pieces of an interplanetary telephone that will allow him to contact his home planet. It is widely regarded as the worst game ever made and one of the major…
A fascinating disaster you play once for history and never again.Kit · Sadkitty Games
Loved
- Ambitious for its time
- Big part of gaming history
- Short
Not so much
- Constant, confusing falls into pits
- Unclear goals and clumsy controls
Play it if gaming historians curious about the most famous flop ever.
Skip it if anyone who wants to actually have fun.
No cheat codes
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial doesn't have cheat codes. The tips and secrets below are the next best thing.
Play it better
- Watch the icon at the top of the screen, because it tells you what power works in your current zone.
- To climb out of a pit, hold the button and push up so E.T. stretches his neck and floats out.
- Steer clear of the FBI agent, who takes your phone pieces and candy.
- Once you have all three phone pieces, find the zone that lets you call home and then reach the landing area in the forest.
- Walk out of pits slowly at the edges, because touching a pit's border drops you back in.
Hidden in plain sight
Tap a secret to reveal it.
Trivia
- Warshaw had about five weeks to build the game.
- Atari reportedly paid over 20 million dollars for the movie license.
- Millions of cartridges went unsold and were dumped in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
- It's often blamed, along with Pac-Man's poor 2600 port, for the 1983 video game crash.
