Very old article, but still a great one.

Contrary to common internet opinion, E.T. is not a bad game, and certainly not one of the worst of all time. It’s not even one of the worst on the 2600! It’s an okay game that’s let down by some frustrating bugs and design decisions (forced by the absurd development deadline), and this article shows how close it was to being actually good, if only HSW had been given more time to cook.