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Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is a graphical adventure game, originally released in 1988, published by LucasArts (known at the time as Lucasfilm Games). It was the second game to use the SCUMM engine, after Maniac Mansion. The project was led by David Fox and co-designed and co-programmed by Matthew Kane.
Originally released on the Commodore 64, it was later ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, and PC with EGA graphics. A version was later ported to the Japanese FM Towns system, this one with 256 colour graphics and CD music.
Storyline
The plot follows Zak, a writer for the National Inquisitor, a tabloid newspaper; Annie Larris, a freelance scientist; and Melissa China and Leslie Bennett, two Yale University coed students, in their attempt to prevent the nefarious, alien Caponians (who have infiltrated society in the guise of a phone company) from slowly reducing the intelligence of everybody on Earth using dial tones.
Luckily, the Skolarians, another ancient alien race, have left a defense mechanism hanging around to repulse the Caponians, which just needs a quick reassembly and start-up. Unfortunately, the parts are spread all over the Earth ... and Mars.
The game was heavily inspired by the many popular theories about aliens, ancient astronauts and mysterious civilizations. The many places visited in the game are common hot-spots of relevant literature, like the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, Lima, Stonehenge, Atlantis, a space cadillac with Elvis (really an alien) and eventually the Face on Mars. The general New Age feeling is very obvious since players will meet also gurus and a shaman who hold secret knowledge of everything, as well as help convert an airport-housed bum to become a Hare Krishna.
All this is no accident. David Fox, the lead designer and programmer, intended to make a more serious game. While designing the game, he spent some days with David Spangler, noted new age writer, before Ron Gilbert persuaded Fox to increase the comedy angle.
Trivia
- In Maniac Mansion you could find a red herring chainsaw but no fuel; in Zak, you can find chainsaw fuel but no chainsaw. Also, there is a wanted poster for the Purple Meteor of Maniac Mansion inside the Friendly Hostel on Mars, and in the Kathmandu, Nepal Police office.
- There is a poster advertising Maniac Mansion in Lou's Loans merchandise store in San Francisco.
- The game's name is in all probability inspired by the David Bowie album, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Ziggy Stardust was for a short period of a time an androgynous David Bowie alter ego.
- The band "Razor and the Scummettes" was the name of Razor's band in Maniac Mansion, and was the band playing the song Inda Glop Oda Krell on the Digital Audio Tape (until you record over it)
- The three girls in the game are named after the programmers' other halves. For example, Annie Larris was David Fox's wife's maiden name and the appearance of the game character is also inspired by her looks*. Similarly, Leslie Edwards was Matthew Kane's girlfriend. During the game production she worked as a major playtester and is listed in the credits.
- Every time you take off Leslie's helmet, her hair is a different colour. This must be an in-joke related to the real Leslie Edwards, although its background remains obscure.
- One of the shapes made by the yellow crayon is the initials DF (David Fox).
- The 'words of power' (Gnik Sisi Vle) that mend the crystal in Stonehenge read 'Elvis is king' backwards.
Fan sequels
In the absence of an official sequel (and a very low likelihood of one ever appearing), numerous Zak McKracken fans have turned to designing their own sequels to the cult game. The first one to reach completion was The New Adventures of Zak McKracken by "LucasFan Games", containing graphics from the Japanese FM Towns 256 color version, country-specific backgrounds from King of Fighters and some original art. The original release was notorious for containing a somewhat perverse ending (concerning the main characters and group sex). However, the ending was soon changed. That sequel is very short and fairly limited, compared to what the two other fan sequels in production promise to be; Zak McKracken Between Time And Space was due for release at the end of 2005, and Zak McKracken and the Alien Rockstars will hopefully be released sometime in 2007. At least one other fan sequel is said to be in production, but those are the major ones.
Zak McKracken Theme
The Zak McKracken Theme originally composed by Matthew Alan Kane is a popular song for remixes and reinterpretations. Among the artists who have made cover versions of it are The Dead Guys, Puffy64, DJ Lizard, Razor and the Scumettes and the German band Glückswald (http://www.glueckswald.de).
See also
External links
- The Zak McKracken Archive
- Netjak Review of Zak McKracken
- Zak McKracken C-64 version theme from the High Voltage SID collection
- Zak's theme, original 1987 recording predating the in-game versions
- Zak McKracken Between Time And Space
- Zak McKracken and the Alien Rockstars
1988 computer and video games | Adventure games | Amiga games | Apple II games | Atari ST games | Commodore 64 games | DOS games | FM Towns games | LucasArts games | ScummVM supported games
Zak McKracken | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders | Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
"Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders"