E.T.: Interplanetary Mission
E.T.: Interplanetary Mission is a 2002 action video game developed by Santa Cruz Games, released by NewKidCo and Ubi Soft, and based on the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
E.T.: Interplanetary Mission gained a surge of notoriety following its inclusion in a December 18, 2025 episode of the Angry Video Game Nerd, which highlighted a hidden message condemning Osama Bin Laden at the end of the game's credits. 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 follows the end of 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 effect the fate of the universe.The player takes control of E.T. in an isometric environment. The goal of each level is to collect unique plants and guide E.T. to the exit, which is represented by a circle with E.T.'s face on it. While E.T. is slower than most enemies in the game, he is able to heal using his glowing finger, stun enemies using his stomach, and lift or throw enemies using telekinesis. If E.T. takes enough damage, his skin will turn white, symbolizing death.
E.T.: Interplanetary Mission has fifteen levels divided among five worlds: Green Planet, Ice Planet, Desert Planet, Planet Metropolis, and Earth. The game also features puzzle elements and three levels of difficulty.
Credits easter egg
The game is notable for its crass hidden message contained at the end of the game's credits which require entering 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, who were unaware of the message. The easter egg was featured in episode 229 of the Angry Video Game Nerd released on December 18, 2025, which sparked a surge of interest in used copies of the game disc.Reception
E.T.: Interplanetary Mission received mixed reviews from critics. The game has a rating of 50 on Metacritic based on four reviews.Kendall Lacey of TotalGames.net described the game as "a lot better than anyone dared to imagine ", but noted that the game was not as good as the movie it was based on. J.M. Vargas of PSX Nation said the game is "a decent-enough scavenger hunt to amuse youngsters for quite a few hours of simple and repetitive item-gathering and level-clearing fun". GameZone called the game "a nice little program, certainly not all that challenging, but delightful for its animation of a benign alien creature and its charming ways", but Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine said "It's dreadfully ugly and unredeemingly unfun".