E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

It's funny to think that even the movie game genre once has humble beginnings. Considering our stereotypical outlook of video games derived from films these days, we don't believe that once these offerings could have actually been palatable. Well, guess what - it turns out they were just as bad in the old days as they are today. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is a prime example of what a poor movie game is.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial was released as an adventure game to work in parallel with the film's narrative. We might as well jump right into it, labeling it as one of the worst games ever made. You can't really sugarcoat something like this - but you can place it into the category of awful cult classics. So what makes this game such a tragic offering?

The Alien Is Lost On Us

There's a famous quote of the developers calling the idea of making an action game based on movies 'a dumb idea.' Perhaps this person should go down history as the prophet of doom whose ultimate prediction turned true. We've had decades of notably bad movie films to suffer through, although some based on franchises have been decent/

But back to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, boy, is this a game hard to swallow. The objective is to locate pieces of E.T.'s interplanetary phone so he can, well, phone home. Yes, the idea is very elementary, but that was normal for a game released around that period. The massive problem is following through the game's mechanics to reach your objective.

It's pretty easy to define why this game is terrible. The gameplay is boring, the graphics are uninspiring, and the narrative doesn't hold a candle to the original film. One of the main aspects of the game is to navigate pits to find your phone pieces. However, falling into them is possibly one of gaming's biggest drags. It's absolutely no surprise that E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial has been panned the way it has.

The funny thing is that games that are so classically bad like this are intriguing to game enthusiasts. There has been some argument that if you dedicate time to actually circumventing the poor design. It's surprisingly challenging. However, for a game meant for a wider audience, that notion is not exactly something the publishers would want to celebrate.

E.T. Phone Executives

Many critics share the universal outlook of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial as being one of the worst games of all time. Why it ended up that way is a matter subject to debate. But we can only judge the final outcome here as being pretty awful. As of movie games today, you wonder how they manage to get in this state?

Pros:

• Players can enjoy the cult elements of this poorly designed game

Cons:

• Messy mechanics contribute to the lackluster gameplay
• The narrative is far-strayed from the film
• Visuals make the game look incredibly dull