E.T.: Interplanetary Mission

E.T.: Interplanetary Mission (known as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary in Europe) is a 2002 action video game based on the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

The player takes control of E.T. in an isometric environment. E.T. is able to heal using his glowing finger, stun enemies using his stomach and lift/throw enemies using telekinesis.^[1] The game also features puzzle elements.

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

Despite the profanity, E.T.: Interplanetary Mission remains listed with an "E" rating in the ESRB database.^[4]

The game has a rating of 50 on Metacritic based on four reviews.^[6]

TotalGames.net said "A lot better than anyone dared to imagine (damn that Atari 'classic!') – just don't expect the game to be as timeless and breathtaking as the movie and you'll have a good time".

PSX Nation wrote "A decent-enough scavenger hunt to amuse youngsters for quite a few hours of simple and repetitive item-gathering and level-clearing fun". GameZone commented "This is a nice little program, certainly not all that challenging, but delightful for its animation of a benign alien creature and its charming ways", and Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine said "It's dreadfully ugly and unredeemingly unfun".^[6]