E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (Atari – Atari VCS)
If one of your objectives is to gain as many points as possible, the
conservation of energy is your priority; upon the completion of each mission, your
remaining amount figures into the score. Points are added for each piece of
candy you’ve given to Elliott (during the “kissing” animation), so your second
score-related concern is that all pieces are handed over before the spaceship
is called. Your counterpart – E.T., of course – should continually walk at his
normal speed, expending more energy to rush only when escape is required from
either of his adversaries. Up to nine pieces of candy can be held at once; when
these have all been collected, find the symbol pictured here and press the
button. Elliott will eventually walk up and take the candy. Nine more pieces
can then be picked up. (If you’ve given Elliott a full batch, avoid calling him
whenever you’re empty-handed, or he’ll bring you one of the outstanding phone
parts in exchange – and the points for the nine candy pieces won’t be awarded
at the end of the mission.)
As you encounter arrow symbols, try to memorize their locations. When the
F.B.I. agent or scientist is hot on your green heels, teleporting to an
adjacent screen is a less costly means of escape than accelerated travel.
(Teleporting uses up more energy than merely walking to the same destination,
but still not as much as running.)
The only problem with teleportation is the possibility of falling down a well
that’s located exactly where the arrow is (but on the destination screen,
naturally). A better way to get rid of either rival is to keep walking until
you find the zone whose symbol is seen here, duly pressing the button to
activate it; this will trick him into returning to the city screen. On his way
there, he’ll almost always be obstructed by the southern border, valiantly
walking in place – but posing no danger in collision – until another human
enters the screen. This makes your exploration less complicated for a little
while, as only one foe searches for you at the moment (unless someone has
immediately walked in, of course); but it prevents you from activating the
spaceship zone, should it be on the same screen as the blocked enemy when
you’re ready to trigger the ending sequence.
If you’ve fallen down a well, immediately press the fire button to halt in
midair, averting the energy loss that will result from an impact. If part of
the phone lies at the bottom (or you’d like to pause the game by remaining down
here), drift downward until you land. Otherwise, levitate from the well without
delay; energy is constantly expended while you’re floating.
This zone should never be activated if you’re taking the score into account. If
the conservation tips above are exploited, you won’t need to eat candy for more
energy; you’ll be able to give every piece to Elliott. Before calling the
spaceship, ensure that you’ve visited every screen containing wells, confirming
that no further candy will be provided.
Remember that using this zone reveals only one part of the phone. If the same
screen harbors another piece, you won’t know until the first has been taken (or
you happen to fall down the right well); so revisit the question mark, just to
be sure.
Once you’ve collected all three phone pieces (and given all available candy to
Elliott, if you’re playing for score), walk northward to the forest screen, and
commit to memory the sites of its city and landing-zone symbols (the latter is
seen here). After calling the spaceship, return to the forest, stand in the
city zone and wait for your pursuers. There can be only one human on the screen
at a time, so they’ll arrive individually. Each will have to walk all the way
from the city screen to the far south…
…because all humans return to the city when you activate the spaceship zone
(whose location should obviously be remembered if you find it prematurely, so
you won’t waste energy searching for it after the phone’s been assembled).
Neither the agent nor the scientist should be present in the forest when the
ship-landing timer finally ticks itself out, as every human but Elliott will
scare away your rescuers, obliging another visit to the spaceship zone and
reducing your energy accordingly. The instant each enemy walks into the forest,
activate the city zone. The duration between each of their visits is fairly
regular, as they’re never blocked on the way back to the city from the forest.
Immediately after casting out the third bad guy, rush to the landing-zone
symbol – it can take a second to find the precise spot – and wait to get
rescued.
With four Easter eggs, E.T. has more than any other VCS game. The egg
with no connection to the others is found only in Game Variation 1. Give
Elliott a single piece of candy; whenever you’re both subsequently on the
screen that bears eight wells, graphic artist Jerome Domurat’s initials appear
at the top.
Unveiling the other Easter eggs involves completing two missions in a row. Game
3 is recommended, as the agent and scientist actually stay at work all day. As
seen at the bottoms of wells (rather than in your inventory), the phone pieces
are roughly shaped like programmer Howard Scott Warshaw’s initials. After
starting a new game, search until you find the piece shaped like a skewed H.
Now give Elliott seven pieces of candy. It actually doesn’t matter whether you
do this (nor how much of that candy you collect) before or after taking the phone
piece, as long as exactly seven pieces are relinquished at one time. Now search
for and revive the flower, which will promptly take wing as a Yar (giant mutant
housefly) from the game Yars’ Revenge. While only the piece shaped like
an H is necessary for bringing this Easter egg to light, you can possess the
other two as well; in fact, if you can’t find the flower, one of them might be
covering it up, in which case it won’t be visible until you grab the piece and
then plunge into the well a second time. For this reason, you might as well
pick up any other pieces that you stumble upon; you’ll need them for getting
yourself rescued anyway.
After the mission’s been completed and the score’s been calculated, press the
fire button to embark upon a second mission. This time, the required phone
piece is approximately shaped like an S.
Once again, give Elliott seven pieces of candy and restore the flower. As it
turns out, you’ve resuscitated Indiana Jones, hailing from the game Raiders
of the Lost Ark and apparently having reached an especially unremarkable
point in his explorations.
In the third mission, the only essential phone piece is shaped like a W turned
on its side.
When this flower’s been revitalized, part of your energy readout is obscured by
the final Easter egg: Warshaw’s initials. The number indicates that this is the
third VCS game he’s written; the characters embodying the prior eggs feature in
the other two games.
©2009 Chris Federico