Here we have it – the most requested game for the nerd to Nerd review — the one everyone wanted, covering what has for many years been called the worst game ever – E.T. for the Atari 2600.
This also is certainly the most unique episode as it’s not actually a real episode – it’s the ending to the AVGN movie! The only difference is that, unlike in the film where a special animation that looks very similar to E.T. is shown (licensing reasons, go figure) the review uses footage of the actual game as it is on the VCS.
For all that buildup, you’d be expecting something greater and, quite honestly, this isn’t that. That’s not to say it’s bad, but for a stand alone AVGN episode it isn’t quite what we’d expect for this game. That’s, of course, what the film is for (aspects of which are still referenced in the review) but cut down to size it really falls short.
That’s not to say it’s a bad review either – it’s not, it’s actually incredibly thorough in what it says about the game. While it doesn’t touch on every single aspect (what game review can, especially in about 5 and a half minutes worth of time) it does do an incredible job on presenting an actual explanation on what playing the game is like — something many who have traditionally insulted the game so heavily seemed to never comprehend.
The audio goes all over on this episode, due to this being a cut from the film. It’s just… different. Not bad, but the overall mix is odd, and the sound of crickets in the background + the reverb of the Nerd being “outside” when doing the review detract some. It all just feels out of place, which, it is — it’s out of it’s own place in the film!
Still, putting it out as a proper episode – in a sense a critical clip to watch – still works. I just feel it may have been better to take the overall review script and re-create it in a more traditional format, but this still works – it is the review, after all.
In the end, James gives the game the redemption it deserves – it’s far from the worst game ever, but it is flawed. Still, his overall take on it is one I pretty well agree with.
Final Rating: 3.5/5
As I said, for all the buildup, all the waiting, the review in and of itself is pretty straightforward. Then again, we’re talking about an Atari 2600 game – it can’t really be that in depth, but still – taken out of the context of the film it’s a good, but still somewhat weak episode.
As a part of the film, however, it works as a pay off to the story, so in that context I give it a higher rating, but as a stand alone, it’s just above average.