The 1988 original

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders: the Original

Released by Lucasfilm Games in 1988, first on the Commodore 64 and later on many other systems: the adventure without which Between Time and Space would never exist.

The story

The year is 1997, and the world is a dumber place than ever. Aliens have built a machine that is slowly pushing human IQ down into single digits. The only one who can stop them is Zak McKracken, a reporter at the sleazy National Inquisitor who makes up stories about carnivorous potatoes and vegetarian vampires.

The aliens have taken over the phone company. It sounds like one of Zak's tabloid fantasies, but he finds three allies: Annie, head of the Society of Ancient Mysteries, and the Yale students Melissa China and Leslie Bennett, who traveled to Mars in a converted van. Together they must piece together an ancient puzzle, unmask the aliens and destroy the stupidity machine.

The plot weaves in mysteries from all over the world: the Inca culture, the pyramids and the Sphinx, Stonehenge, the Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis and the face on Mars. So you travel far, from Seattle and San Francisco via London, Cairo, Kathmandu and Zaire all the way to Mars.

The creators

The game was conceived by David Fox, who had worked on Maniac Mansion and got a free hand for his next project. The team consisted of two scripters, David Fox and Matthew Kane, who also wrote the music. Ron Gilbert further developed the in house SCUMM engine.

At first a rather serious game was planned, built around spiritual and psychic mysteries. David Fox did not like the seriousness, so he made the hero a reporter for a third rate paper, and suddenly there was room for humor. After months of programming the rooms of Maniac Mansion, he wanted to “see the world”. Hence all the locations.

Matthew Kane wrote software that turned the Commodore 64 into a synthesizer. That made multi track music possible and the elaborate intro, where David and Matthew synchronized movement and music. The Zak McKracken theme is still a cult classic.

In 2006 we met both of them in California. Matthew Kane told us why the game is so hard: Lucasfilm wanted to sell hint books. Read the whole story in the travel report.

Easter eggs and hidden jokes

Lucasfilm references

Zak's house number on 13th Avenue is 5858, the same number as on the gate of Skywalker Ranch. His phone bill is 1138 dollars, a nod to THX 1138, George Lucas's first film. The number turns up in many Lucasfilm games. Some markings in the Sphinx maze look like TIE fighters.

Maniac Mansion references

Maniac Mansion had a chainsaw without fuel. In the hostel on Mars there is a can of chainsaw fuel. Try to take it and you hear: “I don't need it. It's for a different game.” A wanted poster in the Kathmandu jail asks for one murderous purple slimy meteor.

The power outlet

If you have the butter knife, use it on the power outlet in Zak's living room. Short, but worth it. No need to save first.

Mount Rainier

In Seattle, try “Walk to Mt. Rainier”. Zak thinks it is too high. Then try “Pick up Mt. Rainier”.

The two headed squirrel

You can use the peanut from the plane on it without harm. The golf club, butter knife or branch, sadly, are another story.

The blue crystal

The blue crystal lets Zak turn into animals. Try it on the yak in Nepal, or on the two headed squirrel in the Seattle cave. Careful: after every transformation a Caponian shows up soon.

Back to Earth

Sit in the space bus on Mars and use the controls, and you fly towards Earth. The trip takes two months. Save first!

The fan sequel

Zak McKracken never got an official sequel. That is the gap the Artificial Hair Bros. set out to fill: Between Time and Space continues the original and tells what became of Zak twenty years later. Download the sequel for free

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is a game by Lucasfilm Games. All rights belong to Lucasfilm Ltd.