Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders

I played this game back in the early 90s (a couple of years after it first came out). In my opinion it's one of Lucas Art's finest graphic adventure games - easily beating it's predecessor - Manic Mansion. The premise of the game is set in the near future... 1997 I think... ;) (it was made in the late 80s). Alien abductions, Global adventures, romance, a trip to Mars and fantastic Lucas Arts comedy! What more could you want?! If you haven't played the game I cannot recommend Zak McKracken enough - it's an absolute gem of an adventure!

A follow-up game after the success of Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders takes place in San Francisco in 1997, with the protagonist McKracken, a burnt-out tabloid journalist, having a very interesting dream that turns out to be a secret psychic message with instructions on how to stop a planned takeover of the world from malevolent alien forces. Said aliens are using certain high-frequency sound waves via a "Mindbending" device, to render humans too stupid to fight back. This adventure takes you all over the world and even to Mars, with some crazy puzzles and plenty of offbeat humor to keep the game engaging. I will warn players that this was made *before* LucasArts had a "no dying, no unwinnable states" policy so saving the game often and remaining careful is required (luckily, this edition uses ScummVM which includes far more robust save game options than the in-game save system). The GoG release is the 1990 FM Towns version with full 256-color graphics and CD-quality music, far better than the original 1988 PC port that featured 16-color graphics and PC speaker sound only. I actually beat that old version around 10 years ago and didn't mind those limitations too much, but this more polished version has me much more excited to replay it! A must for classic adventure game fans.

I believe this is the second point & click game to come from Lucarts. Its borderline Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy, always fun to play.

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is the second LucasArt game to use SCUMM, and playing it you're in for a treat. Playing as the tabloid journalist Zak McKracken you stumble upon an extraterrestrial conspiracy to dumb down and I suppose enslave the earth. Of course you have to be the hero! As Maniac Mansion, you also have several playable characters; well there's four and in this game you will need to play with them all which makes for interesting gameplay.The game also has some randomized codes and mazes and , which I assume is there to drag out the time. This is something the game could have done without. It's also one of the early titles of LucasArt, which means you can make mistakes and end up locking yourself in; like the Sierra point n clicks. Playing the FM Towns version makes the game look much better and the environments are quite goodlooking, although I feel they could have done a better job making each airport a bit more unique, like seriously? In conclusion, while it might not be good as someone's first point n click; it's definitely a fan favorite and worth a playthrough!

You cant beat the old great classics. :) This is one of my all time favorites. I highly recommend this game. If you like Maniac Mansion you will like this one too.