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E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial - Atari - Atari 2600    Manual Scan icon HTML Manual   

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
ATARI(R) 2600(TM)
E.T.* THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

* E.T. and the E.T. character are trademarks of and licensed by Universal City
Studios, Inc.  (C) 1982 Universal City Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

NOTE: Always turn the console POWER switch OFF when inserting or removing an
ATARI Game Program(TM) cartridge.  This will protect the electronic components
and prolong the life of your ATARI 2600(TM) Video Computer System(TM) game.

(C) 1982 ATARI, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. HELP E.T. GET HOME!
2. GAME PLAY
3. USING THE CONTROLLER
4. CONSOLE CONTROLS
5. SCORING
6. HELPFUL HINTS

1. HELP E.T. GET HOME!

What kind of crazy planet is this, anyway?  We came here to conduct a simple
study of primitive planets, and look what happened!  These...things...came and
scared away my friends.  Before I knew it, all my friends boarded our lightship
and flew home.

What do I do now?  The only one I can trust is that nice little alien--
Ellleeott.  He gives me those tasty energy pills (What did he call them?
Reeessseess Peeesssesss?) But these other aliens!  Every time I get ready to
assemble my transgalactic communicatior, they come and take me away.  The one
with the white coat sticks that temperature measuring device in my mouth (I
wonder why he was so upset when it melted?), and the other one in the trench
coat keeps muttering those strange sounds (Naaashaaannaall Seeeccuuuureeetteee?)
I just want to go home!  I hope Elllleeott and I can assemble all the pieces
of my communicator before my energy runs out.

Oh, oh.  Here come those crazy aliens again.  Help me, Elllleeott!  Help me get
home!

2. GAME PLAY

Your mission is to help E.T. find the three pieces of his interplanetary 
telephone, call his ship, and guide him to the landing pad in time to be
rescued.  Do this before E.T.'s energy runs out, and you'll win the round and
score points!  E.T. transverses six sites on Planet Earth.  Four of these are
full of pitfalls--they are dotted with deep wells (Figure 1) into which E.T.
can fall (Figure 2).  A fifth site (Figure 3) shows Elliott's house, the
Institute of Science, and the FBI building.  Here, E.T. is taken by the 
scientist to be studied.  The sixth site (Figure 4) is a forest setting where
E.T. first lands and where the ship will land to pick him up.

A round ends when E.T. boards the spaceship.  At the end of each round, all your
bonus points are displayed.  If you want to play another round, simply press
the controller button.  E.T.'s telephone pieces and the Candy will be 
redistributed for him to find again.  You can play as many rounds as you like,
since your bonus points will accumulate.

A game ends when E.T. runs out of energy or when you decide to quit playing.

On each site E.T. moves through various power zones.  While in a power zone,
E.T. can execute only one of his extraordinary powers.  For example, if E.T.
is ready to call his spaceship, he must be in a "call ship" zone.  As E.T.
stands in a power zone, the symbol for that zone appears at the top center of
the screen (Figure 4).  At the beginning of each new round, the power zones
are redistributed on each site.

The power zones are as follows:

Find phone piece zone--


 *****              Power executed in this zone will reveal to E.T.
*******             whether a part of his interplanetary telephone is
**   **             hidden on the current screen (The part will blink as
    ***             shown in Figure 1.) E.T. must go to the telephone piece
   ***              and touch it.  Then, via telekinesis, it will move
  ***               to the telephone construction site at the top of the
                    screen (see Figure 4).
  ***

Send humans back zone--

*******             E.T. can send the FBI agent, Elliott, and the
 *****              scientist back to their respective buildings in
 * * *              Washington, D.C.
 * * * 
 * * * 
 *****
*******

Eat Candy zone--

  ****              E.T. eats one of the Candy pieces he's carrying, and
 **  **             converts it into energy.  Figure 1 shows what the Candy
**    **            pieces look like.  Note: When E.T. eats a piece of Candy,
*  **  *            the Candy count goes down one point and E.T.'s energy
*  **  *            increases.
**    **
 ******

Call Elliott zone--

       *            Elliott will go to E.T.'s rescue when E.T. calls from
 **   *             this zone.  If E.T. has nine Candy pieces, Elliott will
**** *              take the Candy, chase away dangerous humans, and leave
** *                to find a missing phone piece.  Elliott will then bring 
**** ***            the phone piece to E.T.  If E.T. has less than nine Candy
**                  pieces, Elliott will take the Candy and go back home.  You
 *** *              score points for every Candy piece that Elliott takes back
      *             home (see section 5, SCORING).

Move to a new site zone--

   **               Executing power in any of these four zones will cause
  ****              E.T. to immediately move to a new site in the direction
 ******             indicated by the arrow.
** ** **
*  **  *
   **
   **

Call ship zone--

  *  *              E.T. can use this zone to call his rescue ship after
  ****              the phone is assembled.  Once E.T. executes his "call ship"
 * ** *             power, a clock will appear at the top right of the screen
********            (as shown in Figure 4).  The clock will count down the
* **** *            time E.T. has to arrive at the landing zone.  In most cases,
 ******             E.T. cannot call his ship when a human is present. (See
  *  *              Section 4, CONSOLE CONTROLS for exceptions).
 *    *

Landing zone--

*******             E.T. must be on the Landing zone to be rescued.  If a
*  *  *             human is on the screen when the rescue ship appears,
* *** *             the ship will leave without E.T. and he'll be left
*** ***             stranded once again.
* *** *
*  *  *
*******

NOTE: Sometimes the ship will still land when Elliott is present. (See Section
4, CONSOLE CONTROLS for details.)

While trying to get home, E.T. encounters many hindrances.  He might fall into
a well, the FBI agent can take away his phone pieces and Candy by touching him,
the scientist can detain him for scientific studies, or E.T. can simply run
out of energy.

NOTE: If E.T. has any phone pieces when the FBI agent touches him, the FBI
agent will take one of the pieces and hide it in a well.  If E.T. has no phone
pieces, the FBI agent will take all the Candy that E.T. is holding.

E.T. uses energy when he seeks phone pieces, executes special powers, or when
he's escaping from dangerous humans.  Although E.T. can replenish his energy
with Candy pieces, the supply is limited so they should only be used for
energy in an emergency.

If E.T.'s energy expires before he is rescued, Elliott will appear on screen
to save the waning E.T. by merging with him.  This "emergency measure" results
in a revived E.T. carrying 1500 energy units.  Elliott can merge with E.T.
three times per game.  Once during a round, however, E.T. can encounter a wilted
flower hidden in the bottom of a well.  If E.T. is revives the flower, Elliott
is given the ability to merge with E.T. one extra time.  If E.T. runs out of
energy after the last "emergency measure," E.T. goes into hibernation to await
the next rescue attempt.

3. USING THE CONTROLLER

Use your Joystick Controller with this ATARI(R) Game Program(TM) cartridge.
Be sure the controller cables are firmly plugged into the jacks at the back
of your ATARI 2600(TM) Video Computer system(TM) game.  Hold the Joystick with
the red button to your upper left, toward the television screen.  Use the
LEFT CONTROLLER jack for this one-player game. (See Section 3 of your Owner's
Manual for further details.)

STARTING THE GAME

Press the RESET switch on your console of press the red button on your Joystick
Controller to start the game.

E.T. moves up, down, left, and diagonally in the same direction you move your
Joystick.  To help E.T. levitate out of a well, press the controller button and
push your Joystick forward.  To help E.T. make a speedy escape from the FBI
agent and the scientist, move your Joystick in the desired direction and press
the controller button.  Remember, the faster you move, the more energy you'll
use!

Press the controller button to execute a power while in a power zone.  E.T.'s
head will elevate whenever he executes a power.

4. CONSOLE CONTROLS

GAME SELECT SWITCH

Press the GAME SELECT switch to select a game variation.  The variations are:

Game 1--All humans present in game.
Game 2--Elliott and FBI agent present, no scientist.
Game 3--Only Elliott present in game.

GAME RESET SWITCH

Press the GAME RESET switch to start the game.  Each time GAME RESET is pressed,
the game starts over.

DIFFICULTY SWITCHES

The RIGHT DIFFICULTY switch controls the speed of the humans.  In the A 
position, the humans move faster than in the B position.  The LEFT DIFFICULTY
switch determines the landing conditions for the rescue ship.  If the switch
is in position A, Elliott cannot be present on the landing field when the
rescue ship arrives.  If the switch is in the B position, Elliott can be
present when E.T. calls the ship and when it lands.

TV TYPE SWITCH

On a color television, the game will appear in color.  On a black and white
TV, the game will appear in black and white.  The TV TYPE switch is not used
in this game.

5. SCORING

There are four ways to earn special points in the game: by keeping E.T.'s
energy count up, by carrying Candy onto the rescue ship, by giving Elliott
pieces of Candy, and by collecting more than 31 Candy pieces in a round.
Your score is displayed on the screen at the end of the game, or when E.T.
boards the rescue ship.

PENALTY

After E.T. collects 31 Candy pieces, he loses 700 energy units for each new
Candy piece he picks up.  The energy units are subtracted from E.T.'s energy
count in the *next* round played.

Bonus points are scored as follows:

Candy Pieces carried onto Rescue Ship                490 points each
Candy Pieces given to Elliott                        770 points each
Candy Pieces after the 31st piece                    1000 points each
Remaining energy                                     1 point per unit

6. HELPFUL HINTS

This game manual provdes the basic information you'll need in order to rescue
E.T.  But remember, E.T. is an adventure game and adventure games are full of
surprises.  So, keep your eyes and mind open, experiment with various 
techniques, and expect the unexpected!  The following are just a few hints
to help you get E.T. rescued before his energy runs out.  As you play the
game, you'll discover other strategies.

1. Use the wells as escape zones.  Since humans can't go into the wells, E.T.
can deliberately fall into one if a threatening human approaches.  Remember,
floating in and out of wells costs energy.

2. Since the game is set up so that only one human at a time can be on the
screen with E.T., you might occasionally want to let the scientist capture
E.T.  This way, the FBI agent can't get our hero and take away precious phone
pieces.

3. Give Elliott as many pieces of Candy as possible.  The more you give him,
the more bonus points you score at the end of the game.

4. To pause play, allow E.T. to fall into a well.  You can leave him there as
long as you like without endangering E.T. or subtracting from his energy.  When
you're ready to play again, levitate E.T. out of the well and resume the game.

5. Sometimes E.T. will fall back into a well after he has levitated up to the
planet surface.  To prevent this, move E.T. right or left immediately after the
scene changes from the well interior to the planet surface.  E.T. will move from
the well onto solid ground, in the same direction you move your Joystick.

ATARI, INC.
Consumer Division
P.O. Box 427
Sunnyvale, CA 94086

TIPS ON GETTING E.T.(TM)* HOME FAST! { supplement }

START WITH GAME 3

Learn to play E.T. by playing Game 3--the easiest game variation--first.  Set
both DIFFICULTY switches to the B position.  After you've mastered Game 3,
move on to the more difficult game variations.  Check your game manual for
more information about game variations.

Press GAME SELECT until a 3 appears at the top of your screen.  Then press
GAME RESET to start the game.  You're ready to go!

ATARI(R)
*E.T. and the E.T. character are trademarks of and licenced by Universal City
Studios, Inc.

(C) 1982 Universal City Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(C) 1982 Atari, Inc. C020807 Rev. 1

Help E.T. find three hidden pieces of his interplanetary telphone.  The phone
pieces are concealed inside deep wells--use E.T.'s special powers to find the
right wells.  A '?' will appear when E.T. is in the right power zone to find
a phone piece.  Once E.T. has collected all three pieces, he must make his
long-distance call and arrive safely at the landing zone, where a rescue ship
will come to pick him up.

HOW TO CONTROL E.T.(TM)*

E.T. moves in the same direction you move your Joystick.  To move E.T. fast,
press the red button on your controller while he is moving--but watch out for
wells!  To make E.T. use one of his special powers, press the controller button
while E.T. is standing still.  E.T. will execute the power shown in the "power
zone" indicator at the top center of the screen. (See pages 3-5 in your game
manual for detailed information about power zones.)

LEVITATING OUT OF WELLS

Even experienced extraterrestrials sometimes have difficulty levitating out of
wells.  Start to levitate E.T. by first pressing the controller button and then
pushing your Joystick forward.  E.T.'s neck will stretch as he rises to the top
of the well (see E.T. levitating in Figure 1).  Just when he reaches the top of
the well and the scene changes to the planet surface (see Figure 2), STOP!  Do
not try to keep moving up.  Instead, move your Joystick right, left, or to the
bottom.  Do not try to move up, or E.T. might fall back into the well.

CALLING THE SHIP

After you've assembled the telephone, you must call E.T.'s spaceship.  Find the
"call ship" zone (it can be anywhere on the planet surface) and press the
controller button.  A countdown clock will appear at the upper right corner
of your screen (see Figure 3).  Now hurry!  E.T. must find his landing zone
on the forest screen and be waiting there when the countdown ends.  You did it!
You've won--E.T. has finally reached home!

This document obtained from the History of Home Video Games Homepage, �1997-1998 by Greg Chance