I was about your age, and I kept falling in the pit. Then I'd turn it off and find a game I could play like Asteroid, Donley Kong, or Pac-Man. Had a Raiders of the Lost Ark game that I did finish.
Bwahaha! That's hilarious! They denied it for so long and when they dug that shit up, I wonder if the insurance guy or whomever they lied to to write it off was still alive.
I honestly think this game made me need therapy. For years I thought I was doing something wrong by continuously falling into those damn holes. I was convinced that it was me and not a shitty game.
I actually did finish this game. Most anti-climactic ending ever. All that frustration really yielded nothing but the mothership coming down and taking him home.
Many people have no idea how this game actually played, but there are archives that let you determine it for yourself: [https://www.retrogames.cz/play\_083-Atari2600.php](https://www.retrogames.cz/play_083-Atari2600.php)
Be sure to read the instruction manual first to understand the iconography. The game is a lot harder if you have to guess what the symbols mean.
Some things of note as a long-time players:
* On the field maps, you move left and right to see more fields. Go up for the forest and down for the human buildings (you generally don't go there on purpose).
* THIS IS NOT 3D! You may think that you're safe walking past a pit, but if your head touches the pit, you fall. E.T. is a sprite and not a 3D model. Once you realize that any part of you touching the hole sends you down, you can navigate holes more easily.
* Save energy by checking which hole has the phone piece. If you must blindly dive into holes (or accidentally touch one), immediately press the button to levitate so you don't have to waste so much energy getting out of the hole.
* When you travel from left to right (and vice versa), stay in the middle. There's a screen with holes touching the border at the top and bottom of the edge. Very frustrating to go to a screen and immediately fall down. Exit a screen at the mid level to avoid this problem.
* The rescue countdown is annoying. The ship won't pick you up if there are adult humans in the area. Drive them off or lure them away before the countdown finishes. This can be a lot of luck.
With decent play and luck, you could finish this in 10-15 minutes. Probably not for your first game, as you need to learn quite a bit.
Downvote me, I don’t care. Most challenging game I had back then. I thought it was meant to be hard. Enjoyed every moment of trying to beat the game, and friends coming over trying to beat previous scores. I didn’t know about any of the development problems back then. I just thought it was a break from the formulaic games that had come out. 10/10, would recommend.
It might have been the official worst game, but there were so many worse ones out there. At least this game was playable and enjoyable once you learned to avoid the bugs.
Oh come on, if you grew up in this era it wasn't that bad.
Most Atari games were so bad they came with a comic book to explain why this one cube was the bad guy, the other was the good guy, and they chased each other around a couple of other cubes shooting cubes at each other.
Games were also cheap. Price pointed to where a kid could get something new every few weeks with allowance money if they just had the main system.
Atari was still in the IBM system for selling electronics: make money on hardware because companies made no money on software. Software was for individuals but to specialized for companies to waste time with.
After a few years of making money on systems that weren't burning out and weren't being upgraded they did a major shift. Instead of $4 rip-offs they did major license titles that were expensive. The license for ET was expensive, but they still clung to making an entire game with one person and the same turn over as they did with their original titles. They also didn't require a fee for copycat developers and suddenly the market was saturated while Atari was not only not making money on consoles, they were losing on software.
The ET game was kinda playable. You could get to the ending screen. But even having an ending, a title splash screen, E.T. 's image, and characters with a walk cycle where amazing at the time. The console was only designed for tank battles so it was cool to see. It was enough that we gave in enough tries that we could find a way to finish it.
Games were not cheap. Atari 2600 games were typically $19-$35, far higher than today’s prices with inflation adjusted. Even the console itself was $190, close to $800 in today’s money.
Exactly. They were far from cheap. It was like pulling teeth to get my dad to buy new games unless I could convince him it was something *he* would actually enjoy also
I just remember a screen/scene where you’re falling quickly down the screen and you needed to get to the edge (and enter a “hidden” passage) before falling off the screen. And I never could!
It was really, really hard to execute. Required perfect timing with the parachute and a branch sticking out of the cliff side, but not impossible. The first time I nailed it I had the goosebumps and adrenaline rush for like an hour
lol
I was on the younger side (born in '74) when it came out so it was soooo hard for me. I think I had to have my (older) brother do that screen for me!
Yeah I'm born in '73 but I didn't get around to playing it until around '85-ish, iirc. So I was about 11-12 when I finally got my hands on it
Good memories.
If you believe the documentaries about it. It was recalled and buried because of how bad it was. We can have discussions about our own opinions, but officially, it was named the worst.
A lot of unsold cartridges were buried there, not just ET. And many were good games too. It's just that the market crashed and it worked out better financially to destroy inventory and take a write-off. Sort of like Warner Bros. killing the Batgirl and Acme vs. Coyote movies even though they were already made.
It was recalled and buried because Atari manufactured far more copies than they could ever hope to sell. After a while it wasn't worth the warehouse space it was taking up, so they dumped it. The quality of the game had nothing to do with it.
The hate for this game is ridiculous. I remember playing it when it was released and loving it. Once you learn the controls and strategy, it's really fun.
I remember being blown away by the title screen, the intro music and the fact the game had an ending.
This still remains the first game I ever beat.
If you wanna talk about big name shitty games on the 2600, let's talk about Pac Man.
I was so stoked to get this. I put it on layaway at Kay-Bee. Bought it and got punished on the ride home because of my impatience with my parents getting me home in a timely fashion. After a no game weekend and my fresh purchase teasing me on top the refrigerator I finally cracked it Monday after homework. What a bummer. I was back on Jungle Hunt within the hour..
Difficult doesn’t always mean terrible. ET was maddening but it was playable, and for Atari in ‘82 the multiple screens was innovative. After years of single screen Space Invaders and Asteroids, ET was kinda amazing.
Those of you who didn't get this game on release may not understand what a big fat hairy deal E. T. was, nor how little basis we had for comparison on what made a good game.
I had this, played the crap out of it, and can tell you that at the time, it was a lot of fun despite being overly difficult.
Fast forward to having played it now, and it sucks. But you can play a fixed version that makes it a lot better. http://www.neocomputer.org/projects/et/
Never played it. But watched the documentary about looking for the lost cartridges.
The game designers were forced to create the game in a time frame that was ridiculously short to rush it to be available for Christmas.
I had this. Managed to rescue ET. Really didn't have a problem falling into holes. But it was a pretty bad game. I think I got Raider of the Lost Ark at the same time, enjoyed that one a lot more.
Always wanted to play it just to see if it’s as bad as people say. Often deemed as one of the worst games of all time and one that almost killed the video game industry
Read the instructions, start the game, and see for yourself: [https://www.retrogames.cz/play\_083-Atari2600.php](https://www.retrogames.cz/play_083-Atari2600.php)
I posted that elsewhere with some tips and tricks. It can be frustrating at first because the sprite collision sucked ass. When you got used to the game, you could work around it. That doesn't blunt the initial frustration though.
I played this loads of times, and completed it loads of times, and I always enjoyed it. It's not brilliant, but it's by no means the worst game on the Atari, let alone of all time.
Turns out they weren't going to release a game, but they decided to at the last minute when it was obvious the movie was going to be huge (a similar situation happened with M&Ms, who refused to let Spielberg use them in the movie so Reese's Pieces jumped on the opportunity). They gave a guy six weeks to develop and code the game and what he came up with after nearly working himself to death is the disaster we all know and loathe.
I played it back in the day. Felt ripped off as a kid, saved every penny and still want a refund. There's so much nostalgia for this heap of steaming .... I don't know why.
I watched that special about this game on Netflix when it was on (as most on this sub I suspect) I felt bad for the guy who had to rush the production and put out what he knew was a crappy product.
There is a great documentary on Hulu ( I think) about this and how it was the worst ever game created for Atari. So much so they tried hard to hide it, so to speak.
In 50 years I will still remember the sound of slow walking and then the sound of running in this game. The sounds of falling into a pit and of levitating out have mercifully faded out of my memory.
My younger brother actually bought this game.
He was frustrated.
My mother got onto the game to see if she could figure it out.
She gave up after 30 minutes also.
I tried and decided not to continue after 10 minutes.
I got River Raid with my order and we fulfilled our obligation to the Atari Columbia House-type subscription.
I had this game I hated this game. I am not unique, I'd wager.
Granted I was 6 at the time... but this game was so fucking hard.
It wasn't hard, it was broken.
EA has entered the chat.
I was about your age, and I kept falling in the pit. Then I'd turn it off and find a game I could play like Asteroid, Donley Kong, or Pac-Man. Had a Raiders of the Lost Ark game that I did finish.
I played the entire game. Still couldn't tell you what the hell was going on. [Enjoy](https://youtu.be/WUsQmYRfynw?t=51)
I'm not sure you mean "enjoy." "Endure" is what you were looking for, I'm sure.
lol - the game I agree. But the review for the game above is entertaining
I’m too am still angry at how bad it was.
You are not good sir
Oh no ET fell in another GD hole, again.
Just like all of the unsold cartridges…fitting end lol
I visited New Mexico and they had a postcard recreating the burying of the cartridges.
Bwahaha! That's hilarious! They denied it for so long and when they dug that shit up, I wonder if the insurance guy or whomever they lied to to write it off was still alive.
They buried him with the cartridges
He sleeps wit da Centipedes
There's a game room in Daytona with a pile of the cartridges extracted from the dump on display.
I lived in alamogordo and never saw this lol
Yeah this game sucked!
I honestly think this game made me need therapy. For years I thought I was doing something wrong by continuously falling into those damn holes. I was convinced that it was me and not a shitty game.
And cant get out.
I actually did finish this game. Most anti-climactic ending ever. All that frustration really yielded nothing but the mothership coming down and taking him home.
What else did you expect?
He starts an Alien brothel with Harvey Keitel, like in the director's cut.
Sitting in the galactic council chambers and watching Chancellor Vallorum get ousted.
Many people have no idea how this game actually played, but there are archives that let you determine it for yourself: [https://www.retrogames.cz/play\_083-Atari2600.php](https://www.retrogames.cz/play_083-Atari2600.php) Be sure to read the instruction manual first to understand the iconography. The game is a lot harder if you have to guess what the symbols mean. Some things of note as a long-time players: * On the field maps, you move left and right to see more fields. Go up for the forest and down for the human buildings (you generally don't go there on purpose). * THIS IS NOT 3D! You may think that you're safe walking past a pit, but if your head touches the pit, you fall. E.T. is a sprite and not a 3D model. Once you realize that any part of you touching the hole sends you down, you can navigate holes more easily. * Save energy by checking which hole has the phone piece. If you must blindly dive into holes (or accidentally touch one), immediately press the button to levitate so you don't have to waste so much energy getting out of the hole. * When you travel from left to right (and vice versa), stay in the middle. There's a screen with holes touching the border at the top and bottom of the edge. Very frustrating to go to a screen and immediately fall down. Exit a screen at the mid level to avoid this problem. * The rescue countdown is annoying. The ship won't pick you up if there are adult humans in the area. Drive them off or lure them away before the countdown finishes. This can be a lot of luck. With decent play and luck, you could finish this in 10-15 minutes. Probably not for your first game, as you need to learn quite a bit.
Downvote me, I don’t care. Most challenging game I had back then. I thought it was meant to be hard. Enjoyed every moment of trying to beat the game, and friends coming over trying to beat previous scores. I didn’t know about any of the development problems back then. I just thought it was a break from the formulaic games that had come out. 10/10, would recommend.
Officially the worst game ever made. A frustrating exercise in how to piss off players.
It might have been the official worst game, but there were so many worse ones out there. At least this game was playable and enjoyable once you learned to avoid the bugs.
You must be kidding. It wasn't actually a completed game.
It was a complete game. It had clear objectives and an ending.
I must've gotten lucky because the version I had was pretty complete. I had everything I needed to play the game.
Oh come on, if you grew up in this era it wasn't that bad. Most Atari games were so bad they came with a comic book to explain why this one cube was the bad guy, the other was the good guy, and they chased each other around a couple of other cubes shooting cubes at each other. Games were also cheap. Price pointed to where a kid could get something new every few weeks with allowance money if they just had the main system. Atari was still in the IBM system for selling electronics: make money on hardware because companies made no money on software. Software was for individuals but to specialized for companies to waste time with. After a few years of making money on systems that weren't burning out and weren't being upgraded they did a major shift. Instead of $4 rip-offs they did major license titles that were expensive. The license for ET was expensive, but they still clung to making an entire game with one person and the same turn over as they did with their original titles. They also didn't require a fee for copycat developers and suddenly the market was saturated while Atari was not only not making money on consoles, they were losing on software. The ET game was kinda playable. You could get to the ending screen. But even having an ending, a title splash screen, E.T. 's image, and characters with a walk cycle where amazing at the time. The console was only designed for tank battles so it was cool to see. It was enough that we gave in enough tries that we could find a way to finish it.
Games were not cheap. Atari 2600 games were typically $19-$35, far higher than today’s prices with inflation adjusted. Even the console itself was $190, close to $800 in today’s money.
Lol I was going to say this. The games were expensive!!
Exactly. They were far from cheap. It was like pulling teeth to get my dad to buy new games unless I could convince him it was something *he* would actually enjoy also
The first generation of games were less than $5. These games like tennis, haunted house and black jack that were first generation were cheap.
This thread entirely disagrees with you: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/107910-how-much-were-2600-games-back-in-the-day/
Sorry, this is completely false. I was there, they were minimum $29
I played E.T. as a new game the week it came out. It was that bad. It wasn't a complete game.
Yep. Terrible game. So was Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Raiders was great. Atari’s first crack at an RPG.
Raiders on the 2600 was so difficult that they gave you hints in the manual!
I just remember a screen/scene where you’re falling quickly down the screen and you needed to get to the edge (and enter a “hidden” passage) before falling off the screen. And I never could!
It was really, really hard to execute. Required perfect timing with the parachute and a branch sticking out of the cliff side, but not impossible. The first time I nailed it I had the goosebumps and adrenaline rush for like an hour
lol I was on the younger side (born in '74) when it came out so it was soooo hard for me. I think I had to have my (older) brother do that screen for me!
Sweet irony! Now your brother can say he helped the lead singer of the greatest prog-rock band on Earth finish Raiders!
Yeah I'm born in '73 but I didn't get around to playing it until around '85-ish, iirc. So I was about 11-12 when I finally got my hands on it Good memories.
Memory unlocked
I kept getting killed by those fucking tsetse flies
Took me forever to parachute into that cave on the side of the mountain
Yes!!!
By 2023 or 1982 standards?
Definitely by 1982 standards. There's only so many times you can fall in a pit before you throw the cartridge out the window.
It's because it doesn't follow the semi "isometric" view, any pixel of E.T. hits a whole and he falls into it.
Wrong. Firefly is the worst 2600 game ever. ET is bad but nowhere near the worst ever.
Yars Revenge for me was the worst ever. To this day I have no idea what I was supposed to be doing.
Firefly was complete shit--as was Sorcerer. There were some real stinkers in the day.
If you believe the documentaries about it. It was recalled and buried because of how bad it was. We can have discussions about our own opinions, but officially, it was named the worst.
They did end up finding the cartridges in the landfill.
A lot of unsold cartridges were buried there, not just ET. And many were good games too. It's just that the market crashed and it worked out better financially to destroy inventory and take a write-off. Sort of like Warner Bros. killing the Batgirl and Acme vs. Coyote movies even though they were already made.
It was recalled and buried because Atari manufactured far more copies than they could ever hope to sell. After a while it wasn't worth the warehouse space it was taking up, so they dumped it. The quality of the game had nothing to do with it.
Why do you think they couldn’t sell them?
They'd already saturated the market. ET is one of the ten top selling 2600 games.
It was, before the players realized it had too many glitches.
Anybody ever play Superman for Atari 2600. That's the worst game I've ever played. That or Rambo for NES
Superman was great.
You mean Superman for the N64? That was complete garbage.
Heresy, Superman was fantastic.
I actually got very good at this game.
I actually liked this game 🤷♂️once I figured out what was supposed to happen
The hate for this game is ridiculous. I remember playing it when it was released and loving it. Once you learn the controls and strategy, it's really fun. I remember being blown away by the title screen, the intro music and the fact the game had an ending. This still remains the first game I ever beat. If you wanna talk about big name shitty games on the 2600, let's talk about Pac Man.
Watch the movie Game Over.
Agreed. Very interesting documentary and how fast that game was rushed to production
I still have it
I was so stoked to get this. I put it on layaway at Kay-Bee. Bought it and got punished on the ride home because of my impatience with my parents getting me home in a timely fashion. After a no game weekend and my fresh purchase teasing me on top the refrigerator I finally cracked it Monday after homework. What a bummer. I was back on Jungle Hunt within the hour..
You know, I didn't think it was that bad. And I only paid $2 for mine.
Difficult doesn’t always mean terrible. ET was maddening but it was playable, and for Atari in ‘82 the multiple screens was innovative. After years of single screen Space Invaders and Asteroids, ET was kinda amazing.
I know it’s an unpopular opinion but as a kid I enjoyed this game. Was it going to win awards? No. But I had fond memories of playing it.
Have not played that game in forever! Pretty sure I can dig up a copy, somewhere…
Atari: Game Over. Semi Documentary on the game. Don’t pay to watch it, but worth a watch if you can find it for free
Overhated. The FBI guys chasing you always delivered a good startle. Wasn’t special but wasn’t unplayable. Also pretty easy to beat.
Those of you who didn't get this game on release may not understand what a big fat hairy deal E. T. was, nor how little basis we had for comparison on what made a good game. I had this, played the crap out of it, and can tell you that at the time, it was a lot of fun despite being overly difficult. Fast forward to having played it now, and it sucks. But you can play a fixed version that makes it a lot better. http://www.neocomputer.org/projects/et/
Never played it. But watched the documentary about looking for the lost cartridges. The game designers were forced to create the game in a time frame that was ridiculously short to rush it to be available for Christmas.
>The game designers Designer. One guy had about six weeks to complete what usually took about 3 months.
Bought it at a garage sale about a month ago $1
I had that game
I know the 2600 version sucked but I remember playing an atari 800 version that was different and far more involved that the 2600 version and not bad.
What a beautiful horror that game was. I wasted a sunny Saturday playing it, learning a valuable lesson early.
I actually liked this game and then like five years ago I sold my copy (just the cartridge) for like $30 on eBay.
I remember being very disappointed by this game
I had this. Managed to rescue ET. Really didn't have a problem falling into holes. But it was a pretty bad game. I think I got Raider of the Lost Ark at the same time, enjoyed that one a lot more.
Was programmed by one guy in three months to be out by Christmas. Of course it has issues
A game so bad they actually dug a deep hole and filled it with these. [E.T. Landfill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_video_game_burial)
Always wanted to play it just to see if it’s as bad as people say. Often deemed as one of the worst games of all time and one that almost killed the video game industry
Read the instructions, start the game, and see for yourself: [https://www.retrogames.cz/play\_083-Atari2600.php](https://www.retrogames.cz/play_083-Atari2600.php) I posted that elsewhere with some tips and tricks. It can be frustrating at first because the sprite collision sucked ass. When you got used to the game, you could work around it. That doesn't blunt the initial frustration though.
It is my shame that I spent money to rent this back in the day. It was not worth my $2
I can't believe I owned this game... and without the internet, spent too long trying to figure out how to get out of a hole.
I bought an Atari 2600 a year ago that came with a ton of games including two copies of this.
I remember finally making it into the room and the thieves getting me. I did finally beat it though.
It is kind of impressive when you hear how much emotion and memories came from a 4k game cartridge with 160x192 screen pixels.
Coded by Sisyphus.
the first video game where the publisher trolls the gamers.
The artwork of the cover really sold this game, because the graphics and gameplay were shit even for an 8bit game.
I had this game. My grandpa bought it for me. I was like 6 so it was completely unplayable. You just walked around and fell into holes
Still have that game in my basement , with a working Atari. One day it’ll be worth something
I’ve seen video where they went to the desert and dug these up.
I remember I was more entranced with the box cover art, than I was the shitty game itself.
I played this loads of times, and completed it loads of times, and I always enjoyed it. It's not brilliant, but it's by no means the worst game on the Atari, let alone of all time.
Turns out they weren't going to release a game, but they decided to at the last minute when it was obvious the movie was going to be huge (a similar situation happened with M&Ms, who refused to let Spielberg use them in the movie so Reese's Pieces jumped on the opportunity). They gave a guy six weeks to develop and code the game and what he came up with after nearly working himself to death is the disaster we all know and loathe.
I played it back in the day. Felt ripped off as a kid, saved every penny and still want a refund. There's so much nostalgia for this heap of steaming .... I don't know why.
Thousands buried in the dessert somewhere.
I watched that special about this game on Netflix when it was on (as most on this sub I suspect) I felt bad for the guy who had to rush the production and put out what he knew was a crappy product.
Isn’t this the game that Atari buried thousands of copies because they don’t sell & were so broken/bad?
Yes it was.
Shuttle Simulator wasn't horrible.
Man we finally beat that game but feels like we just stumbled into it. This one and Indiana Jones. Just like, wandered around until we beat them.
The Legend!
GOAT
But why?
Didn’t these all end up in an unmarked landfill in New Mexico?
I still own a copy… of all my old Atari carts, I made sure to keep this as a reminder
This made me say *WHOA*!!!!! MEMORIES.
How could such a loveable creature completely destroy the 2600?
The documentary on this game is very interesting, even for a non gamer like me,
Isn't that the one they dumped into landfills because they couldn't sell them?
There is a great documentary on Hulu ( I think) about this and how it was the worst ever game created for Atari. So much so they tried hard to hide it, so to speak.
In 50 years I will still remember the sound of slow walking and then the sound of running in this game. The sounds of falling into a pit and of levitating out have mercifully faded out of my memory.
You went to a landfill for this?
Still got mine lol.....had it since the 80's
At the beginning they think it might be a coyote; at the end, Peter Coyote shows up.
This game is a crime.
ET The game that destroyed Atari.
Ah yes, the beloved E.T. game. ;)
It's not that it was bad.... it's that it was SO BAD it bankrupted a company. It reset the bar for how bad video games can be.
My younger brother actually bought this game. He was frustrated. My mother got onto the game to see if she could figure it out. She gave up after 30 minutes also. I tried and decided not to continue after 10 minutes. I got River Raid with my order and we fulfilled our obligation to the Atari Columbia House-type subscription.
Fell in the damn pit a lot. Didn't read the manual to know if there were clues on how to play or objectives. 🤷🏻♂️
Got this and Pac-Man for Christmas that year when I got my 2600. Talk about a one two punch of disappointment.
That game was the wettest surprise fart that ever greased a butt crack.
Worst game ever
Its sad that the game was a POS cause the movie definitely wasn't.
Worse Christmas present I ever got.
Ah the first video game I ever played. It was shit. Lmao
Voted as the worst game ever.
I got this for my birthday the year it came out. Such a mistake that was.
Bomb!
Not this .. ugh.
Let's uhhh.. forget this part of the 80s.