In any case, the pits ARE annoying, but they’re the same damn things found in Raiders Of The Lost Ark (which was a hit) and the patterns never change in a game.  In short, only an IDIOT keeps walking into the pits like you see in this stupid review (BTW, you can keep from losing life falling into the pit by pressing the button and using his head.  And also the definition of INSANITY is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, which is what I see when I watch you try to get out of a pit by moving upward once out of the pit screen and back to the main one when you have to go left/right.  Did it dawn on you to try something different or do you just enjoy watching the same result each time?) 

I mean does this guy have ANY joystick skills what-so-ever?  I watch him walk RIGHT INTO A PIT like he can’t avoid them and then brag about being able to get out because he’s actually good at it!  Good???  You can’t play a baby’s game for shit dude.  Elliot needs a symbol to call and he comes EVERY TIME but ONLY if you’re standing on his symbol (e-shout thing).  You can’t just do it anywhere.  Yes, you need the 9 Reese’s pieces to get a phone piece, but then you don’t have to look for it and you can just run around collecting candy.  The key is to find the place to call the ship first and the landing spot in the forest (annoying but doable and the FBI guy doesn’t come after you if you have no radio and frankly it’s just a matter of running around looking for the symbol to appear) and then get the phone bits as fast as possible (mark down or better yet just remember which pits they’re in but don’t collect them until you’re ready) and then go fast (as you mentioned, it takes maybe 3 minutes to win).  Game Over.  The BAD part is the repetitiveness, not the controls or running into pits accidentally (i.e. the pits are boring and so is the gameplay, but like Haunted House was actually fun?).  BTW, I wrote all this from memory and I haven’t played the game in over 20 years.  It’s not that complicated.  It’s not much fun, but beating a level was some small measure of satisfaction whereas nothing made Pac-Man satisfying on the 2600 period.

BTW, the review bored the crap out of me with all the constant whining and zero skills.  I could beat this game in 3 minutes right now.  I think I’ll play a game on the emulator right now and prove it to myself.  Some people just suck at video games I guess.  Try Asylum on the C64.  You have to map it out on graph paper to win or you can’t find your way around the maze in the dark when the power goes out.  I don’t imagine you’d have the patience to beat a game like that (let alone a text adventure, most of which need mapping) if you can’t deal with an easy game like E.T.