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E.T. Phone Home! for Atari 8-bit Computers FAQ

by BHodges

Version  1.0
Created  11/16/03

This document Copyright 2003 by Brian Hodges.  This FAQ is not to be posted
without explicit permission by me.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.

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Table of Contents

I.     Introduction
II.    Background Story
III.   Getting Started
IV.    Playing the Game
        A.  Building the Phone
        B.  Reaching the Spaceship
V.     Scoring
VI.    My Top Scores
VII.   Game Review
VIII.  Version History
IX.    Contact Information

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I.  Introduction

This is a FAQ for the Atari 8-bit Computer Game E.T. Phone Home!.  It contains
information on how to play the game and a mini-review.

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II.  Background Story

For those of you who haven't seen the movie, here is a little background:

E.T. is an alien, who while making a visit to Earth was left behind.  He soon
befriends an Earth boy named Elliot.  E.T. is trying to build a communications
device so he can "phone home" and be rescued.  Elliot must help E.T. build the
phone while protecting him from the government scientists.

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III.  Getting Started

Press Option to select a difficulty level between 1 - 9.  The higher the level,
the more parts you must collect for the phone.  There are also more scientists
as well.  In levels 5 and up, there are also fake parts, they look like a part
you need but are the wrong color.

Press Start or the joystick button when you are ready to begin.

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IV.  Playing the Game

There are two parts to E.T. Phone Home!.  In the first part, you take on the
role of Elliot as he is trying to collect the parts E.T. needs to build his
phone.  In the second part you must guide E.T. to rendezvous with his
spaceship.

You play the game until you run out of energy or E.T. boards his spaceship.
You get a total of five energy bars.  The flowers in the upper left of the
screen represent the remaining bars.  When you bring a part back to the house,
you get a small increase in energy.

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A.  Building the Phone

You control Elliot in this part.  Your goal is to collect all of the parts E.T.
needs to build his phone.

Level   # Parts   Fake Parts
   1         4           No
   2         6           No
   3         8           No
   4        10           No
   5        10          Yes
   6        10          Yes
   7        10          Yes
   8        10          Yes
   9        10          Yes

You move around with the joystick.  Pressing and holding down the button while
moving causes you to run.  Pressing the button while standing still brings up
the status screen.  On the status screen the items you still need to collect
are shown at the top.  In the center is E.T..  His heart will turn red when
you are near a part, it will be blue when you are not.  Also note that your
energy decreases at a faster pace while in the status screen.

You start out in front of your house.  Parts are placed at random so you have
to just go and look for them.  Notice the scientists running around, they won't
bother you until you pick up a part.  When you are near a part you will here
a continuous tone.  It grows louder as you get closer and fainter if you move
farther away.  You can only here this tone while walking.  You can also only
see parts while walking.  There are more than one of each part, but you only
need one of each to build the radio.  In levels 5 and up, there are fake parts.
They look like parts you need, but are the wrong color.  Before picking up a
part, check on the status screen to see if it is the right color.  There is no
penalty for bringing home a fake part, you just waste energy doing so (you
don't get any extra energy for a fake part either).

When you find a part, move to the bottom of it and press the button to pick it
up.  Press the button again to put it down.  You cannot run while holding a
part.  You have to take the part back to the blue square in front of your house
and drop the part to collect it.  If the part shows up on the ground, you
missed, pick it up and try again.  If a scientist touches you while you are
holding a part, he will steal it and hide it in a new location.  If you see
one approaching, drop the part and wait for him to move away.  You will
probably have to leave the area and come back.

Once you collect all the parts, you will see E.T. and he will say "E.T. Phone
Home! E.T. Phone Home!".

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B.  Reaching the Spaceship

Now you control E.T..  Your goal here is to take E.T. to the blue square in
the middle of the forest to meet with his spaceship.  Note that your energy
wasn't refilled from the first part.

You move E.T. with the joystick and hold down the button to run.  Running now
drains energy faster than walking.  Coming in contact with a scientist will
drain a huge chunk of energy, so avoid them at all costs.  You should only run
if you are being chased by a scientist.

To reach the spaceship go left until you hit a house, then go up and to the
left till you hit the tree.  Then go down until you hit the house.  Now go left
until you run into shrubery.  Go around the top of the shrubs and follow the
path left until you see a house with a blue car parked underneath.  Go to the
top of the house and line up with the chimney.  Now go directly north until you
come to a clearing with a blue square.  Step on the square to meet the
spaceship.  You will see the brief ending where E.T. boards his ship, the
ending is the same for all nine difficulty levels.

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V.  Scoring

Your score is determined by the amount of energy you had remaining and the
number of parts you collected.

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VI.  My Top Scores

Level     Score
  1     56,551
  2    127,529
  3    141,219
  4    151,148
  5    111,451
  6    109,795
  7    107,767
  8    138,442
  9    127,430

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VII.  Game Review

Much better than the Atari 2600 E.T. game, when it was released it was
considered to be ahead of its time in graphics and sound.  The graphics were
about as good as any Atari 8-bit computer game released at the time and the
digitized phrase "E.T. Phone Home!" was cutting edge and the game's main draw.
This was the first Atari game that used digitized voice and was the first Atari
computer game to be designed by a team.

I really enjoyed this game when I was a kid, but twenty years later it has
really aged.  Playing "Hot and Cold" isn't as much fun now as it was when I was
four.  The digitized voice, which was the game's gimmick and my favorite part,
sounds terrible when compared to the CD quality sound of today's games.

I would recommend this game for younger fans of the movie, adults who don't
play this game aren't really missing much.

Pros

-  The target audience of this game is young fans of the movie and it manages
  to do a good job at that.
-  The music is good for an Atari 8-bit computer game.  The theme song sounds
  nice and I have always liked how the theme from Jaws was played when the
  scientists were near.
-  I have always been a sucker for digitized voices in cartridges and this
  game is the reason why.

Cons

-  Like most Atari games, this one hasn't aged gracefully.
-  I have always found the tone that sounds when a part is nearby very
  annoying.
-  This game is really just a dressed up version of the children's game "Hot
  and Cold".

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VIII.  Version History

1.0   11/16/03  Created FAQ.

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IX.  Contact Information

You can contact me at [email protected]

I would appreciate hearing what you thought of this guide and any thoughts
you have for improving it.  Be sure to let me know if I have missed anything.

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