Is this really the worst game EVER?

When talking about the worst video games of all time, this little nugget always seems to come to mind.

You've got to give Howard Scott Warshaw credit. For one infamous game he designed, Warshaw has endured more criticism than for the great Atari 2600 titles he created, including Yars' Revenge and Raiders of the Lost Ark. It took four to five months for him to create Yars' Revenge. He only had five weeks to create the video game adaptation of E.T. the Extra Terrestrial.

The resulting product, which he defends, has been the butt of video game jokes for more than 20 years. We all know that names - "Worst Video Game of All Time" or "Reason for the Video Game Crash of the Early 1980s." Many saw E.T. as a game where you aimlessly roamed about and fell into holes at random. And if that guy in the raincoat got a hold of your behind, you were in trouble. That other guy wanted to get you, too.

But is E.T. really that bad, or is it just misunderstood? To come up with the answer, let's look at this as a puzzle and see if all the pieces fit together (no pun intended).

• Landscape - The entire game is made up of six screens, all of which allow you to walk in four directions to an adjoining screen. Think of it as walking around a cube, with each side of the cube (top and bottom included) as a separate screen. That'll get you over the "wandering aimlessly part."


• The idea - The game's objective is pretty much the same as the movie. You must collect the pieces of the phone, call home and meet the spaceship that's here to pick you up.


• Gameplay - Pieces of the phone are located in selected "holes" or "wells" in the landscape. You fall into a hole, pick up the piece and hover back up to the main screen. When you find all the pieces, you must call the spaceship back (Hint: Call from the forest). Actually, the status bar at the top of the screen will tell you when you're in the right spot. And don't get caught by the FBI guy or scientist: The FBI dude will take your phone parts; the scientist will take you. You can eat Reese's Pieces to regain energy, and Elliot can also help you in your quest.
  

Believe it or not, that's pretty much it. If you know what you're supposed to be doing, the game is pretty easy and can be completed in just about 10-15 minutes or so. If you have no idea what you're supposed to do, then yes, you probably think this is the stupidest thing to be encased in plastic. If you break the game down, like I just did, it really sounds easy and not quite so dumb. E.T. also features different skill levels to make the game more of a challenge.

I know there are some of you who will still think this game is terrible even after reading this, but you should sit back and ask yourself, "Is it really as bad as I thought before?"

Want to see more worst of the worst? Just click here for a listing of some of the lowest-rated games of all time.