E.T.: Interplanetary Mission (known as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary in Europe) is a 2001 actionplatformer video game developed by Santa Cruz Games, developed by Santa Cruz Games, released by NewKidCo and Ubisoft, and based on the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The game's story, which follows the end of the movie, centers around the titular character traveling to various planets, including Earth, in order to collect rare plants to save the universe.
E.T.: Interplanetary Mission was met with mixed reviews upon release. Critics deemed the game an improvement from the previous E.T. game, but criticized its simplicity and graphics. The game gained a surge of notoriety in 2025 after a hidden message condemning Osama bin Laden at the end of the game's credits was found. The Easter egg reflects political discourse in America following the September 11 attacks, and despite containing profanity, the game was marketed with an "E" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, since they were unaware of the Easter egg.
Plot and gameplay
The game's story takes place after E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, in which Elliott helped E.T. get home from Earth, but the alien embarks on a mission to gather more knowledge for his people in the form of exotic plants, which could affect the fate of the universe.[1][2]
E.T. shooting a stunning projectile from his chest in an isometric environment
The player takes control of E.T. in an isometric environment. The goal of each level is to collect plants and guide E.T. to the exit.[3] While E.T. is slower than most enemies in the game,[1] he is able to heal using his glowing finger, stun enemies using his stomach, and lift or throw enemies using telekinesis.[4] If E.T. takes enough damage, he will lose a life, requiring the player to start a new game or continue with a new life.[1]
E.T.: Interplanetary Mission has fifteen levels divided among five worlds, including Earth.[1][2] The game also features puzzle elements, such as blocked areas that can only be accessed by collecting keys and touching switches,[5] platforming elements,[6] and three levels of difficulty.[3][1]
Development and release
E.T.: Interplanetary Mission was developed by Santa Cruz Games as one of multiple games released in time for the movie's 20th anniversary in 2002.[2] In 2000, prior to the game's development, NewKidCo founder Hank Kaplan wanted to secure the rights to E.T. in order to create movie-based children's video games, but due to the film's age and the backlash of the 1982 Atari game of the same name, Kaplan's decision was met with a mixed response. Once NewKidCo and Ubisoft acquired the license to the movie from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. The partnership was extended in 2001,[7] but NewKidCo ran into financial hardships caused by the large number of licensed E.T. games it had released in the early 2000s, which included Interplanetary Mission.[8]E.T.: Interplanetary Mission was released in North America on December 4, 2001.[1]
E.T.: Interplanetary Mission received "mixed or average" reviews from critics according to Metacritic.[6] Kendall Lacey of TotalGames.net described the game as "a lot better than anyone dared to imagine", making reference to the 1982 Atari game, but said that the game was not as good as the movie it was based on.[10] Michael Lafferty of GameZone called it an easy game with "delightful" and "charming" animations.[1] Gary Steinman of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was more critical, commenting that the game is "dreadfully ugly and unredeemingly unfun".[9]
Easter egg
In 2025, researchers discovered a hidden message at the end of the game's credits, which required a cheat code to view. The credits list the individuals who worked on the game, all of whom are listed with humorous nicknames, and at the end of the credits the message "Fuck Off Bin Laden" is shown, reflecting popular political discourse in America in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Since it was an Easter egg, the game still shipped with an "E" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), who were unaware of the message.[11]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
