I've played worse, but this game is really boring and broken. It is well known for the death of the Atari. Farewell.
The graphics for the game are okay for an Atari game, but it gets very boring after awhile. There are only a few screens with a bunch of holes in the ground.
The object of the game is to get the three "phone pieces" so you can phone back home. You can also use an item that resembles "Recess Pieces" which restores you Life Energy, but they are basically pointless.
While you don't have any enemies to fight, you do have to watch out for a F.B.I. Agent that will deliberately try to steal your phone pieces. There is also a Scientist Freak who will bring you back to a Research Facility and waste your time.
So, what's wrong with the game? Besides a few glitches, such as the inability to move to a different screen, there really is nothing bad about it.
However, Steve Spielberg, the director of E.T., asked Atari to make their action movie into a game that must be completed before the Holiday Seasons (which was 6 weeks). Most Atari games take a few months to make, so Atari was rushed and the outcome was horrible.
In fact, there are many game cartridges in New Mexico that are crushed and encased in cement within the desert. This game is infamous for the video game crash of 1983