Classic Game Room - E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL review for Atari 2600

/ classicgameroom
E.T. Atari 2600 review! CGR is supported by a legion of rad fans around the galaxy. If you dig it, please kick in at least $2 on Patreon for CGR production :) Lord Karnage will smile upon thee!!
Classic Game Room reviews E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL for Atari 2600 from 1982, a video game reviled by many. Does it deserve the abuse it gets? Mark digs into E.T., plays the game and suffers through an adventure based on one of his least favorite movies of all time... and that's even before he starts analyzing E.T. the video game! Sure, it looks pretty good for an Atari game. It works fairly well and has some interesting ideas, but E.T. suffers from a lack of fun. Perhaps it should phone home and go far, far away!!

[@classicgameroom]

So, how much do you LOVE E.T. the video game! It has E.T.!! You know what would have been better? E.T. vs. the alien from Alien. Who would win... E.T. vs. Jar Jar?

[@ggeorge747]

+Lord Karnage E.T. rules! (Actually, it's not that bad!) BTW, your opening was awesome! LOL!

[@CrispyBaconYT555]

+Lord Karnage Mark, I can tell ya that I have the same opinion on the movie. It's been YEARS since I watched it, and I don't know when or if I will again. I DO actually have an E.T. cartridge lying around someone with our dysfunctional Atari. It's a real shame since I have like 20 other great Atari games... but I can't play any of them. Stupid modern TVs! : ( Also, Jar Jar. All E.T. seems to be able to do is heal people with his glowy fingers.

[@Dungyfan007]

+Lord Karnage E.T because any respectable passerby would immediately start curbstomping Jar Jar and E.T could run away.

[@rainbowcemetery]

+Lord Karnage i remember it as the first game i had to read the instructions to understand. didn't like it that much as a kid but i did play it a lot, having music and a title screen made it a bit of a novelty to me at the time. might've even been a minor financial success if atari didn't massively overproduce them

[@MonkeyspankO]

+Lord Karnage Jar Jar is a drunken kung fu Master Sith, responsible for the downfall of the republic! ET gets scared a lot...so, tough call.

[@Realwessharpe]

Wait, so CGR was banished from Earth, yet this game WASN'T?

[@CultOfJim]

+Abus Bambus Along with a ton of other games, including good ones, and unused hardware.

[@TheLastLineLive]

Maybe Mark lied about being banished and voluntarily left because of bad games like this lol.

[@jupreindeer]

+Logical Phallusy ...and was eventually rescued...

[@michaelbreen7865]

No, but it was buried somewhere in the American West during the crash of 1983.

[@agamer107]

Michael Breen New Mexico there was a great documentary on it called Atari game over

[@rarpcgaming]

You were banished from Earth. This game was banished into the Earth.

[@googleboughtmee]

Mark this is a great review, I enjoyed the more in depth talk than usual about the game and its history and the landscape at the time, especially since you remember it first hand.

[@dtdimeflicks6708]

I put more hours into this game as a kid than I'm comfortable admitting.

[@juddery]

Same. The worst thing is that I just accidentally came across an IGN video of someone speed-running it in under a minute! That really hurt man, lol.

[@obsoletegeek]

"It's baaad" -kid with Power Glove.

[@scottydu81]

The guy who said that line in the movie is now a convicted sex offender

[@firstnamelastname-oy7es]

+scottydu81 Of course he is. Have you ever worn the Nintendo Power Glove? It does things to you man! Just look at what happened to Jim Carey's character in Liar Liar. Poor guy.

[@13Hyrule]

+The Obsolete Geek *slaps* how do you not remember our God Lucas' name? he is a God among men

[@scottydu81]

+13Hyrule a god among little boys, too, it seems.

[@ZombryaTheDark]

should have made this review into a movie.... wait

[@VezixHaikal]

+GameR AD nah as LORD KARANAGE and the Quest of the Vectrex

[@VezixHaikal]

Featuring BJ theme

[@jambihd]

God damn the CGR intro music brings back memories! The first stuff I watched on KZbin all those years ago

[@danielmiller4279]

Mark - I agree with you about the film E.T. - it's just never clicked with me.

[@firstnamelastname-oy7es]

+underscoredan Me too.

[@CommodoreFan64]

+underscoredan Same, but my mother tried to get me to like it when i was little because my first pair of glasses were E.T. branded with the soft case with the E.T. moon logo on it, plus buying me, and my sister the E.T. Game itself, but of course i was all of 2 years old at the time, and I've gone back to what it again as an adult with a different view on it, and like i said just never clicked with me either.

[@OtterloopB]

I found it depressing.

[@BlackburnBigdragon]

I don't find this game as bad as everyone says it is. I think the big problem with this game is that when kids got it for Christmas that year, they just plonked the cartridge in and didn't bother to read the manual and it's a game that requires reading the manual. Back then, games were simple. People were used to just pulling cartridges out and pretty much shoving the cartridges in and tossing the boxes and manuals for the most part. No one read those manuals. That's why no one knew what the hell to do in this game. You can probably point to this game as being one of the first, very extremely simple, rpgs. A fetch quest utilizing multiple screens in which you had to assemble an item and then locate the proper location to use it but first, you had to find the landing site for the space ship and after you used the cosmic phone, you needed to be at the landing site at the time the counter ticked down. That's a very simple RPG right there.

[@BazookaTooth707]

Complex for the day

[@nintendokings]

I'll give you points for trying

[@Frankenstein077]

+BlackburnBigdragon While I'll agree with most of what you've said, it's hardly one of the first CRPGs. CRPGs were already a solid genre and quite complex before E.T. came out. There were several versions of Dungeons and Dragons in the 70s, you had Temple of Apshai from 1979, Odessey the Complete Adventure and Akalabeth: World of Doom from 1980, Ultima from 1981. On consoles you had Advanced Dungeons and Dragons for the Intellivision in 1982, Adventure from 1979 and SwordQuest: Earthworld from 1982 for the Atari 2600.

[@frankschneider6156]

+Frankenstein077 or Raiders of the lost Ark (Atari) or Riddle of the Sphinx (Imagic) both for the 2600. I'm also pretty sure, that ET appeared BEFORE the Swordquest Series. Also AD&D was a rather late game on the Intellivision, not sure if it wasn't predated by ET on the 2600 too.

[@frankschneider6156]

+Paul Clinton The 2600 has ALWAYS been behind the Arcade (like all consoles/PCs until the 00s). Nonetheless cartridges and arcade ports were produced for it until 1989 (eg Double Dragon), that's after the introduction of the Megadrive.

[@BAKU2K2]

Funny thing, I found where in space the Intergalactic Space Arcade is located. It's in the asteroid belt that separates the 4 inner planets and the 5 outer planets. I found that out because one day, I took a trip to Earth Classic Game Room finding out that it's been banned from Earth, then I noticed the El Camino parked in front, opened the door on the driver's side, noticing that Edit Station 1 is in the passenger's seat. He tells me to hotwire the car and drive around the back of the former Earth Classic Game Room, therefore I did and discovered a garage door, opened it and it revealed a stargate that teleported me to the Prism Road. Edit Station 1 tells me to drive the El Camino all the way to the end of the block and enter the stationary asteroid; so I did and it turns out, that asteroid wasn't no asteroid, it was the Intergalactic Space Arcade. In order to enter, you must take a quiz on how much you love Truxton and how much the Game.Com sucks.

[@AandNvg]

Nice review.I like this style and think you should do a few like this every now and then.

[@danytoon]

I know that this has been asked before, but what the title of the tltle of theme that sounds at the end of the review?

[@phil5992]

Mark I appreciate this review. you explained everything thoroughly and took your script writing more seriously than you usually do. you left out the mention of robots, flame throwers, and machine guns and gave a legit and informative review. this reminded me a lot more of the mark a couple years ago (the days with the red eyed squirrel). I definitely appreciate your typical humor but these kinds of reviews are also appreciated. Sincerely, An Avid Viewer Since 2010

[@Bruhmoomentoo]

Hey mark where do you get you're arcade machines I am trying to look for one and I can find any I need help

[@dbradford259]

The game was good. Games like adventure, ET, superman were so much better than the any of the other games minus the icon games like Pacman, Joust, Astroids, etc. In that direction if we didn't have the game crash we might have ended up with some real RPG type games.

[@KanoWhite53]

I really want to send you a game from my country Australia Mark. How can we find out what you have already in your collection?

[@mattsmedley.onehandedgamin9029]

Brilliant review of a game that I've wondered about yet never played.

[@timnickerson5389]

I loved this game as a Kid, and was surprised when I got older at how much hate it got. I think most people who had Atari game systems at the time liked the fact you could just pop in a cartridge and point and shoot, no story or knowledge of game mechanics required. ET, you had to know what you were doing, and what you were looking for and that is not what people expected from an Atari Game in the early 80's. The truth is ET was a game ahead of it's time, albeit confined by the graphics and constrictions of the Console itself. A very comparable and well loved game from the same console is Adventure! and I don't here much hate about that, although it carries many of the same elements and frustrations.

[@ClassicVideoGameDork]

Great review Mark.Back in the day when I was a kid I beat this game several time its not as bad as everyone lets on it didn't cause the video game crash by itself.I am so glad I am a Patreon backer to get all of this extra stuff.

[@M_Customized_Box]

How can I send something to the intergalactic space arcade?

[@footlesssushi]

Damn good review and I just got myself a Vectrex the other day!

[@Toschez]

Much better review than by those who were born after the game and choose it as an easy target, most likely based on the internet. Thank you so much, Mark.

[@domlee5902]

The long awaited CGR review is FINALLY HERE

[@noptic]

Mark, I'm new to this series and you in general. Are you going for a MST3k sorta vibe with your intro where you must review everything while you are banished? I get that sorta vibe from the intro. I appreciate it regardless.

[@KaroKoenich]

I do find it fun to play. Incredible piece of programming by HSW.

[@SauceEstPizza]

Should I do a review of E.T. for the 2600 where I try to make the game kinda okay?

[@prepare2qualify111]

I actually think it's a good game with a minor flaw, the pitz

[@Bigbacon]

yea really isn't that bad of a game. Loved it as a kid.

[@ShamrockParticle]

Same here. It's like a different take on "Adventure".

[@fromthenorth2]

Finally a real review of this game (y).

[@godofgta123]

There's a vectrex at my local pawn shop with 4 games and the box but they want 280 dollars it just sits in a glass case I don't know if I want it

[@wingedhussar1453]

good game very underrated tho

[@Frankenstein077]

+atari guy It's nowhere near as bad as most people (most of whom never played it) say. It's not great but I had fun with it way back when. It's main problem was that it was rushed. They, well he, Howard Scott Warshaw, (same guy who made Yar's Revenge) had 5 and a half _weeks_ to develop it. Yes, you read that right, _weeks._

[@NESADDICT]

I was brought into the world 7/9/81 and got this game in a bargain bin for .50 cent in 1985/86.

[@PMSJordans]

Tbh i'm shocked you never reviewed this yet. :D

[@timusforlife]

Uploaded on my birthday... Thanks.

[@stevefulkerson4995]

Remembering games on the 2600, this game has fairly detailed designs for all the characters walking around on the screen. I remember having fun with it, but I was only 7 years old at the time.

[@redhead6598]

Great review. I have not seen a review on this game in its proper context: 1982. I remember playing the game around that time and hated it. Not that the graphics were awful, but I did not understand the specifics on beating the game. It took my older cousin to explain what was going on.

[@oasisbeyond]

ET is a beautiful film and my first movie I ever watched in the theater, I still get flashbacks going downtown at night as a kid with my parents. I think it was also their last movie in theaters lol.

[@DehnusNorder]

I always find that a strange thing "Video Game Crash" it is dictated by the Internet towards the whole world. And that Nintendo "saved" everybody. The thing is for much of the world? IT NEVER HAPPENED! They just moved from consoles to home computers like the C-64. As many parents thought that games were bad for children, and at least on a home computer you could do your "homework"(right name one child that does that for fun ;), but we all use it as an excuse). It is why in Europe most of the Developers were Homecomputer based and later PC based. Nintendo more encroached on that market rather then "saving" video games. They literally never crashed and ET certainly isn't responsible. But really the 2600 by the time of 1982 just looked dated compared to the Commodore 64 and home computers that were in the making. It might be before I was born, but if you do some reading it is easy to see that Atari just waited too long with making a good successor to an era were the C64 was being released and the Amiga was being rumoured about (Then still in Atari's own camp before Commodore bought them causing a lawsuit from Atari to Commodore :) and the underachieving Atari ST to be produced). Again Console Fanboys: There is more than consoles out there you know. :D. PS: The only reason Nintendo "didn't allow" just any game was money. They wanted a bigger slice of the pie. As really the amount of movie tie in crap on the NES is... astounding. And it very often even got a "Nintendo Seal of Quality!" which you could just buy. It simply was: The 2600 was dated and Atari didn't get a good successor out in time.

[@FireBlades]

so apparently you haven't researched this kind of thing its ok, i'm not in the mood to write 2 whole paragraphs to prove you wrong

[@SoulforSale]

I think C64 games sucked there were more bad games for that thing than the 2600 but there were some very very bad games for the NES too Although, I'm a Hugh fan of E.T. ( the game not the movie)

[@pizzamon795]

I loved E.T.! You can walk around the pits, it's not difficult. I was 7 when I played it. I beat it at 7 years old. IT'S THE FIRST GAME I EVER BEAT. I LOVE THIS GAME. YOU CAN ALL GO TO HE'LL WITH YOU OPINIONS. I have good memories if playing this game, and that's all that matters.

[@themarcshark]

It had to happen eventually. The legend.

[@arcade_matt]

LOL, awesome review! I never liked E.T. either.

[@sullyrox2298]

i think it's an ok movie, but the game sucks.

[@Term271]

@@sullyrox2298 yeah

[@RobertROrosco]

Mark I highly doubt ET used a "cell phone" to phone home. Love ya and keep up the good work! ;)

[@ednguyen3822]

E.T. Is a solid game, just difficult. And you really do need to read the manual. Beating the game on top level was a very rare occurence for me. I usually stuck with novice wimp level. There was a homebrew of sorts that ironed out some rough spots in the game and made it easier to play.

[@MagicAccent]

This was an unusually thoughtful and non-comedic-starwars/Lando/Flamethrower praising review. I really enjoyed it!

[@antaine1916]

I always loved this game. I even got the rom to play on my 2600 smartphone emulator

[@antdude]

I was excited to get this game on Christmas when I was a callow ant. :/

[@OMG_BeCkY]

How many GB is that game?

[@oasisbeyond]

I liked this game as a kid, it was cool seeing the flower grow and other stuff. I had no clue what was going on half the time but Indiana Jones was the same thing and yet that was one of the first adventure action games ever made.

[@ninjamaster3453]

like pits? like falling in them? like fumbling around aimlessly in confusion? then ET is the game for you.

[@youtubepoophispano5856]

my life is complete because Mark reviews E.T

[@jeffreyshambling711]

Hey Mark do you think that Pac Man is worse than E.T on the Atari 2600?

[@Expa0]

"It's like returning to a scene of crime" I like that.

[@gluey_7773]

how many times do you think you said E T

[@version736ha2]

Great video. Thankee

[@SageOwl]

Almost no sarcasm in this review. I am impressed. I agree that E.T. is not the worst game on the 2600; golf takes that cake if you ask me. It is playable, has multiple screens, actual action going on, and a clear objective to an end screen. That doesn't make it good or less frustrating. Also this review was both more informative about E.T. and entertaining in 10 minutes than the AVGN's movie was in it's entirety.

[@jdude9365]

Why do you have three copies of this?

[@rayforceaddict]

Firehawk \o/ one of my all time favorite DOS games.

[@soterioncoil2163]

I used to play and win E.T. There was a little fun to be had.

[@deathofkings5633]

The character graphics here (and sword graphics in sword quest water world) are really good looking. I didn't know the 2600 could be made to do that. Why then does a title like centipede look so bad compared to the arcade version? You think they would try harder with a title like that right?

[@SurvivalHorrorMaster]

This video is fucking epic. How come it didn't exist already? XD

[@coolhardware65]

that game was hard as hell when i was a kid

[@jenniferschillig3768]

I...kind of liked this game when I had it as a kid. Maybe because I usually played the easy level.

[@firstnamelastname-oy7es]

4:58: If you turn sideways, so the right of the screen is your bottom, and you imagine ET is a green rectangle, and imagine that the holes in the rectangle are silhouettes, it kind of looks like one bunny rabbit (with his ears up, facing right) has as pistol pointing towards another bunny rabbits face. Who in their right mind would put bunny homicide inside a children entertainment product? Big dog Kim?

[@mysterion3182]

Even though you don't like E.T. did you know he's in Star Wars Episode I?

[@edbadyt]

I liked this game as a kid and I never understood the hate it gets. I read the instructions and it was a lot more involved than other games I had.

[@theodorerelic2718]

I have a copy of this game. The manager of a used-game store heard me say I had never played it, and since he had a ton of copies, he offered me one for a whole 50 cents, ostensibly to show me how "bad" it was. And after futzing around with it for awhile, I didn't find it good, but far from the worst 2600 game I ever played. Very ambitious, especially since it was programmed by one guy (Howard Scott Warshaw, creator of Yar's Revenge), and how little time he was given to create the game. All so Spielberg could suggest that he make a Breakout clone with the license instead.

[@TheLastLineLive]

I don't think ET is a bad game, it is clear what the idea and vision behind the game was, and if perhaps the developer was given at least twice the time to develop it as they had, perhaps they could have ironed out a lot of the issues like randomly falling into pits after teleporting. Also more time could have been used to expand the game board, allow multiple boards, and offer up some other AI challenges. Or at least realised the falling into pits mechanic was white stupid and just did something a bit more conventional and fun.

[@SolutreanPride]

I actually loved this game when I was a kid. I easily put 100 hours into it. It helped to have a very vivid imagination.

[@AAYMF]

awesome

[@ilcool90]

Star Wars was not in ET, but ET was in Star Wars

[@OtreborBotanist]

"ET wasn't Star Wars, and therefore ET sucked." That's how I felt as a kid, too.

[@Horzuhammer]

I haven't seen E.T. in over 20 years. I was a little kid back then and I remember not particularly enjoying it. I was more into stuff like Ghostbusters.

[@cartmanbeer]

I really didnt understand the ET love The movie depressed the crap out of me as a kid - he nearly dies, and then goes and leaves. . I think it must be the flying bike scene. That was awesome.

[@stewartfullerton1965]

I was able to master it the other day, with the baddies enabled.

[@seanspear6224]

I can't believe my parents owned this for Atari and now it's mine lol

[@schmoab]

Check out the documentary on this game on Netflix.

[@ZoeThePirate]

I have to agree with your assessment of E.T. as a movie... I saw it in the theater when it first came out and I wasn't impressed, despite being only five years old at the time. Though where you compared it to Star Wars, I compared it to Poltergeist, which I also saw in the theater that year and was my favorite movie in the whole wide world. :D

[@teddym2808]

hah i still have this boxed somewhere in the garage.. i liked it as a kid even though it sucked.. but I loved E.T.

[@thebri2000]

ET looks like the grownup version of the baby from Eraserhead.

[@Schimnesthai]

Throwing the big videos i see... 😆

[@slmrcs]

idk, I had it as a kid, I played it, I thought it was ok. It was a 2600 you could actually beat - which was unusual - didn't have other games then with an ending or objective other than points.

[@johneygd]

Et has been saved from his grace.

[@laprasking]

Don't worry Mark, I'm sure Disney will buy ET someday then they can create a Star Wars crossover with Storm Troopers chasing ET and ET headbutting JarJar right in the spaceballs... ;)

[@AloanMoreira1]

It should've been called: E.T. Pitfalls :D

[@centipede167]

Did anyone ever make a game of Mac & Me?

[@gintori5329]

you might have as well written SH next to the name!

[@ikey1555]

best ET review ever

[@pem1974]

Atari Guy is absolutely right! The only big problem with ET was that you couldn't just plug it in and play it. You had to actually read the instructions first and what kid is gonna do that?

[@ViktorVonfuling]

Is that all the game is? I could make that with game maker!

[@thatsmallcessna8300]

It's actually pretty fun to play.

[@AdudenamedVince]

Oh damn, never thought I'd see you play this "game"!

[@kei_nishimaru]

I consider this game to be in my list of favourites, only in the 25s.

[@kei_nishimaru]

Just to show to what would you rather play, and showing how far we have gone to.

[@shipped_my_pants_3000]

Drawing mustache on an ET cart.... Mark's middle finger to video game reviewers.

[@harunal-muhajir5555]

Watching this alone is bringing back frustration.

[@Ridge8516]

When I was little, this movie scared me to tears. He was more scary than the alien from aliens.

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

true fact: the video game crash was caused by 1980s gamers picking up Mark's warning from the future on not to buy atari games. Unfortunately the last part of the message got lost in transmission so not as many people bought a Vetrex as they should have.

[@RetroAmateur1989]

Oh no! What have you done, Mark?! What have you DOOOOOOOONE!?!?!?!?

[@jeffreyshambling711]

Mark should done this years ago

[@thegamechangerchannelclass9711]

Mark 3 phone home!