[9], The game received high scores in general press. Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is a 1988 graphic adventure game by Lucasfilm Games. Indy Guide All the girls who star in the game have the names of the game designer's wives or girlfriends. Like Maniac Mansion, it was developed for the Commodore 64 and later released in 1988 for that system and IBM PC (MS-DOS). The following year in 1989, the game was ported to the Amiga a… The game started seamlessly where LucasArts' game left off more than 14 years ago. The many places visited in the game are common hotspots for these ideas, such as the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, Lima, Stonehenge, the Bermuda Triangle, and the Face on Mars. If you have a version with a code sheet, try entering the wrong codes three times and see what happens. The game play is great and the puzzles and humour make the game a worthy successor of the original title. I'm not sure why... maybe my humor was more European in nature?"[3]. Discussing Zak McKracken's commercial performance, David Fox later wrote, "I think Zak was far more popular in Germany and Europe than in the States. Night Shift, released in 1990, features characters from Zak McKracken, as well as Maniac Mansion, Indiana Jones and Star Wars. [1] An Apple II version was apparently planned, but never released. The original German version contained a tasteless and perverted ending, which fortunately has been removed in the translated version. On 19 March 2015, Zak MacKracken was re-released on the digital distribution platform GOG.com after years of non-availability. Contact: , done in 0.003 seconds. Zak McKracken has inspired a number of fan projects. It was the second game to use the SCUMM engine, after Maniac Mansion. New Adventures of Zak McKracken, The. "The New Adventures of Zak McKracken" starts out simply enough. LucasArts didn't say anything, but then the same fans announced their intention to make a new Indiana Jones game. While the story and ending are weak, this game has the best puzzles in the Pirate Fry series. If you get captured by the aliens and taken to the Mindbender, there is a quick way out. You must also download the original Zac McKracken game to see where the humor and the great adventure began. Everything in MobyGames is contributable by users. [2] The GOG.com release marked the first time the 256-color version of the game had been made officially available outside Japan. ©2020 San Pedro Software Inc. Read our story. The SCUMM Bar when you try to pick it up, Melissa or Leslie says "I don't need it. The game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon #142 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. Many reviews, both online[4] and in print,[5][6] rate Zak McKracken as among the best adventure games ever made, but others disagree. Well, I hated it, GFX are bad and it is confusing at parts. Privacy Policy. If your game has been rated 1 cup, please don't be offended! The biggest Zak fan base is in Germany, where both of the major fan sequels are being made. he will not notice you come into the phone company and he will not notice you go into the back room even if you don't have on the disguise. Other critics complained about the need to enter copy protection codes not once, but multiple times whenever the player flew out of the US. home . The graphics are skilfully done to reproduce that good old adventure game feel. For instance, many of the characters from the original "Zak 1" reappear and divulge funny little quirks about their lives. Terms of Use. On Mars, you can play a music cassette. Anyone who has played the original game (and you simply must play it if you consider yourself an adventure gamer) will feel right at home with TNAOZM. I'm not sure why... maybe my humor was more European in nature?"[3]. There are no game credits on file for this release of the game. Unfortunately, the parts are spread all over Earth and Mars. If you liked Quest for Glory 4 1/2 and other fanmade adventures, you will still have a lot of fun with Zak in his new adventures. These differ in different versions of the game. As soon as you regain control, quickly put on the hat and nose glasses, but you have to be quick to do it before you lose the 'put on' command. [citation needed] In 1989, the game was ported to the Amiga and Atari ST. An MS-DOS version with enhanced graphics was also released. have taken place, and others have not. Ideas from Zak have parallels in various movies and TV shows:the X Files, Stargate, The Adventure Game (in Britain), Mission to Mars... but Zak did it first. The Japanese console, FM-Towns, was in many ways more advanced than Windows. Some of this game's supporters have argued that fan-made sequels are unfairly held to a higher standard than "legitimate" sequels and that it is therefore harder for them to succeed. The project was led by David Fox, with Matthew Alan Kane as the co-designer and co-programmer. In the original game, you get to type in keywords so that Zac can interact with the other items and creatures in the game. Soundtrack Island Still in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: examine the crystal in his office and Indy says that some flakes in San Franciscohave been trying to get it off him. ", You can pour Sushi into your sink and then press the waste disposal button.... yuch. "The New Adventures of Zak McKracken" is a game which starts out with a lot of potential, but sadly falls short of it in every way possible. The game's storyline is also too short and not complex enough to match up to the original. If you don’t remember, or didn’t play the original game then it’s definitely worth checking out as this fan remake picks up where we left off last time with our unlikely Hero. [7] Compute! When researching the story, David Fox met with David Spangler, noted New Age author. They appear to turn a blind eye as long as they can. The original release was notorious for containing a quite adult ending. It was the second game to use the SCUMM engine, after Maniac Mansion. LucasFan Games also did an excellent job of imitating the original LucasArts sense of humor and "Monkey Island 2" style of writing sequels. Zak and Annie falling in love, the world communicating by telepathy, etc.) There was also an enhanced version released for b… In order to finish writing the game in record time, LucasFan Games also stole other background scenes from tournament style games. The Japanese 256 color version of Zak, in 1989, was one of the first major games to be released on CD-ROM. While Maniac Mansion took over a year to develop given that an entirely new engine was written for it, Zak took roughly nine months to make. The humor of the game, the execution of the graphics, the solid game play, the easy controls do very well! She's now writing a Hollywood screenplay. [This only works if you have first paid your phone bill:] Go into the phone company and read the payphone, there is a number on it. Worse than this, however, is the way in which the game ends. LucasFan Games has since ambiguously disappeared, leaving no forwarding information as to whether they intend to come back, and the last known news from them prior to their disappearance was that they turned down an opportunity to write a "Zak 3" game in favor of writing a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" game. After, like i do with many games, i check wikipedia for more information about it, maybe insight on things i missed, trivia, etc. Wow, a lot of mail again, he thinks to himself. Some Zak McKracken fans have created and released their own sequels, so called fangames, among which: Other notable but unreleased fan sequels include: "LucasArts Entertainment Company - 20th Anniversary", "Outlaws, Zak McKracken among new line up of classic Lucasarts games hitting GOG.com", https://web.archive.org/web/20010306150013/http://home.nikocity.de/claret/Int_Dave.htm, "Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders", "Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders for Amiga (1988) MobyRank", Die neuen Abenteuer des Zak McKracken (2002), Zak McKracken and the Alien Rockstars (ZMAR), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zak_McKracken_and_the_Alien_Mindbenders&oldid=961131307, Video games developed in the United States, Video games featuring female protagonists, Pages using collapsible list with both background and text-align in titlestyle, Articles using Infobox video game using locally defined parameters, Articles using Wikidata infoboxes with locally defined images, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2016, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 June 2020, at 19:36. In spite of this, this would make a very good adventure game if it had been released as a stand alone game and not as a sequel to a well known game still beloved to millions of fans worldwide. There are some pretty amazing details which is important in an adventure game where the sceneries are just as important as the game play to create an over-all effective game. The country's unbridled love for the game is really quite astounding. Zak McKracken was originally released in October 1988,[1] for the C64, self-published by Lucasfilm Games. An Apple II version was apparently planned, but never released. Unofficial Sam & Max, CMI Guide It is currently in late beta testing, and should be out in a few months.