E.T.: Interplanetary Mission

E.T.: Interplanetary Mission
Imagine if this was the cause of the video game crash. Would we ever recover?
Genre(s): Action-Puzzle Platform(s): PlayStation Microsoft Windows Release Date: December 30, 2002 Developer(s): Santa Cruz Games Publisher(s): NewKidCo Series: E.T

E.T.: Interplanetary Mission is a PlayStation game released in 2002 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of E.T. The Extraterrestrial. It was developed by Digital Eclipse and published by NewKidCo.

Why It Can’t Phone Home

1. Conflicting plot. The back of the cover says that E.T. is on a journey to save the universe, but the last level contradicts this by acting more like a prequel to the E.T. movie.
2. Very muddy graphics. Given that this was a late release on the PlayStation (the PS2 was already out for more than a year by then), there really should be no excuse.
3. Disorienting level design. The camera moves faster than you, and does so a lot. Going up ramps is also an issue because you could never be sure if E.T. is facing it (mind you, the game is set on an isometric plain)
4. Contradictory NPCs. At one instance you try to avoid enemies, but after winning a level, the same enemies join you in a victory dance.
5. Little to no explanation as to how to deal with bosses. For instance, the game claims you have to use rams to fight a giant yeti, but they don't tell you you have to stun the rams and shoot the yeti with them.
6. Little to nothing in terms of sound. During the levels, at most you'd just hear E.T. talk (saying "ow" when collecting items, saying "Be good" at the beginning of each level and saying his name, seriously, when he dies)
7. The game is little more than a cash-in on E.T. becoming relevant again for the period. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial had the excuse of coming out while the movie was fairly new, and even then it was revealed that the people involved had little time to fully polish the game.
   • Come to think of it, did anyone even ask for another E.T. game? As a consequence, the game became relatively obscure, a fate that's well justified.

Reception

At the time, the game received generally mediocre reviews, with the few made reviews claiming this game is "Better than E.T. for the Atari 2600." Reviewers since then have reviled this as worse than the original E.T. video game.

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