by Bruce Bostwick

Created on: February 23, 2009

E.T. is a game created for the Atari 2600 in an effort to capitalize off the popularity of the movie itself. Historically, this is actually considered the symbol of the demise of Atari as the dominant force in the video game industry. Looking even further, it was also considered the symbol of the infamous Video Game Crash of 1983. Howard Scott Warshaw developed the game in six weeks, the man who created Yars Revenge and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Object: Its purpose is to actually get E.T. home by finding three pieces of the phone. Along the way, you can collect Reese Pieces and you can call for Elliot to take them away. You only get three lives in the game but if you lose a life, you are all but guaranteed to lose again. Watch out for the scientist and the FBI agent. The scientist wants to study E.T. while trying to keep him away from going home. The FBI agent only steals the Reese Pieces.

As far as how the graphics look, then you have to remember that it was the Atari 2600. Its power is nowhere near what is seen today with today's video game consoles on the market.

You only have one button and if you see the symbols at the top of the screen, E.T. can perform special commands. It can even work to scare away the scientist and FBI agent but the good news is that one can

Review: This isn't a game that would be worth buying or even finding anywhere. The only reason to hold it is to say you have what could be considered one of the worst games ever made. To be fair, it was developed in six weeks and not much was going to be done about it. It is a good game? Not really because it just feels too much like an incomplete game. Had it been completed, perhaps the game would have gotten a bit better reviews than what it had gotten. It's a shame that such a game with so much potential got flushed drown the drain just to simply make a quick buck.

Legend: The major legend of the game is that it was buried in a New Mexico landfill. It probably did happen and wouldn't honestly be that surprising. The game itself wasn't something that would be considered a masterpiece but you would think it would be recycled for parts. This was considered the symbol of hatred and had the game been given the time, would it have been an excellent game? That will always be the question but you cannot go back in time to fix it. Because of this game, there is no confidence that a movie can be made into a good video game.

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