The following article was written by @TheKingofRetro
Good day everybody, it’s The King of Retro here to bring you a review of a game that has been ridiculed and crapped on by almost every major video game publication known to man and hundreds of millions of gaming fans since its creation. This is a game that was part of a bigger picture that “crashed” the video game market back in the early 80’s and a game that carries with it a stigma that it will probably never shake off. That game, ladies and gentlemen, is E.T for the Atari 2600.
E.T for the Atari came out right before Christmas time of 1982 and was poorly received by fans a critics who stated that “poor gameplay” and “terrible graphics” were some of the issues the game suffered thanks to being rushed into production to meet the holiday deadline. The story behind its creation and release is a popular one that you should know if you’re already a fan of old school gaming or the industry as a whole so I won’t spend too much time discussing its origin, but I’ve got to at least touch upon it for those reading this who may not know all the details. A Programmer by the name of Howard Scott Warshaw was one of the aces in the hole working on video games back in the golden days of Atari and had created a bulk of their highly successful games, many of which were million plus sellers. When the E.T film hit theaters Atari unloaded a truck full of cash to Steven Spielberg and bought the rights to produce a game based on the movie for the Atari 2600, the problem was that the Christmas season was looming and they needed someone to produce the game fast and they called upon Howard Scott Warshaw to deliver the goods. At the time the negotiations finalized Warshaw had only 5 ½ weeks to make the game and have it ready for store shelves, which is not a lot of time in this line of work when you’re starting from scratch and are working within a deadline. Howard pushed the game through and remarkably had it ready for Christmas of 1982 and the rest is history. One of the mistakes Atari made was that they put too much money into securing the rights to produce the game with the other mistake being that they demanded it be ready within such a short amount of time. Had Atari negotiated better and let Warshaw take his time to create a better game than maybe things would’ve turned out different. The final nail in the coffin was that Atari manufactured way too many copies of the game believing that the movie was so popular that people would purchase Atari 2600 consoles just to play the game and that left them with millions of unsold cartridges that they eventually buried in a New Mexico landfill along with other products and games Atari had stored in local warehouses. When the company learned that people were looting the burial site they sent in steamrollers to crush the product and poured cement over the remains.
As for the game itself, I actually like it. Yes that’s right…..you read that correctly. I grew up with an Atari 2600 in the house and E.T was one of my favorite games for that console when I was a kid. I can’t tell you how many hours I put into that game back in the day and how many times I actually beat it. At this point you probably think I’m crazy but think about it for a second. Being a kid and not having your own money to buy video games causes you to play what you have in front of you and thus your experience with the game isn’t such a bad one because when you’re 4 or 5 you really don’t know what a bad game truly is. Things may have been different if I picked it up today for the first time and started playing it but my memories of E.T for the 2600 are from my childhood and therefore are memories of delight and joy and being my entry into video games. I guess in hindsight I’m looking at E.T with rose colored glasses but I do still enjoy the game to this day and usually revisit it once every few years and try to complete it before putting it away until the next time I stumble upon a fleeting fancy to play it. I don’t expect others to agree with my assessment of E.T but I do challenge those who claim it’s the worst game in history to go out there and fish around and you will be sure to find many games that are much worse. Hell, the Atari 2600 probably has some of the worst games I’ve ever played (along with some of the best) and I’d wager that probably the NES has some stinkers that are less playable and enjoyable than E.T is. In fact I can think of quite a new N64 and PS1 titles that are barely playable and have less meaning or enjoyment than E.T has, so the bad rap that E.T for the 2600 has is kind of unwarranted in many regards. But history is history and people flock to popular opinion quicker than rabbits reproduce so I guess at the end of the day it is what it is. But I’ll always love the game.
Graphically speaking it’s no gem but it certainly is a lot better looking than a block on the screen that’s supposed to represent a man or a distorted mess of a spaceship that is shooting random balls while floating around. The problem with E.T lies within its gameplay and the fact that you’re constantly falling down holes in an attempt to find things to create a “phone” (as depicted in the film). If the controls were a little more refined than you wouldn’t constantly keep falling down the same hole you’re trying to get out of and really the only truly bad part of the game is that and that alone. The activities of finding the parts you need to call your mother-ship is actually quite fun and avoiding being captured by the government is kind of entertaining too, so all in all I wouldn’t say that the story and idea behind E.T for the 2600 is a bad one, it just wasn’t executed as well as many would have hoped, though the rumor is that Spielberg enjoyed the game when he got a chance to play it. The music in the game is standard Atari fare with simple bleeps and bloops coupled with the classic E.T theme and some other sounds that aren't very notable but by no means is it better or worse than most of the Atari library that was out at the time. The game as a whole is fine. Do I think the game would find its way into my personal top 10 of all time? No. But it certainly would hold a spot in the top 100 if I was writing out the list of games I’ve had the fondest memories playing or games that have impacted me and shaped me into the gamer I am today. E.T and the 2600 console both had a hand in making me the gamer I am today and my memories of sitting in the basement playing this game before and after school are very important and nostalgic to me. And I’ll always remember the classic E.T Christmas commercial where he’s dressed like Santa and opens the game up and begins playing it. It’s one of my all time favorite Christmas commercials and I remember to watch it on YouTube every year. Anyway, that is all I’ve got for you at this point in time check out the overall game rating below and let me know in the comment section if you agree or disagree with my review. Peace & chicken grease, peeps!
8.0/10
Do you remember this game? Did you have it as a kid? Any fond memories you'd like to share? Questions? Comments? If so than feel free to post them in the comments section and I'll reply as soon as possible.
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