Took me about 4 hrs to beat all 3 modes. I was not going for a high score, just getting rescued once in each mode.
This would have been an 8/10 if not for the pixel-perfect detection for falling in the pits. It can also be cheap when it places the FBI guy right where you come out of the pit and thus takes a telephone part (if you're carrying any) with absolutely no chance to avoid him. Not many 2600 games have a title screen with music.
Reading the manual and tip sheet (which clarifies one or two things from the manual) is a must. Definitely start with Game Mode 3 to get the hang of how the game works. I actually found Mode 2 to be the hardest since in Mode 1, when I sent the Scientist or FBI guy back to their "homes", they would regularly get hung up at the edge of the screen, and since they would almost always still be there when you change one screen, this made it possible to just sit on the Landing Zone while the counter expired for easy rescue. In Mode 2, the FBI guy never got stuck on the edge of the screen, so it came down to being able to time when to send him back (if you're lucky to get a Send Back area in the Landing Zone area) so he doesn't reappear and is on-screen when the counter expires, thus preventing the spaceship from landing -- I did discover that once you Phone Home, you don't need a complete telephone to get picked up, so you can use this to get him to leave the screen if the Landing screen doesn't have a Send Back area. Other than in Mode 3, I didn't ever use Elliot since if there was an FBI guy or Scientist already on-screen, his assistance doesn't come until you either change screens or get hit by the FBI guy since only one human can be on-screen at a time.
Something that I thought was impressive, considering it's a 2600 game, is that the closer a human is to you, the louder the human's footsteps are.
Now that I have played the game for more than about 20 minutes (and from the little I previously played, I didn't think it was that bad), I really have to say that all the hate this game gets is ridiculous.
