Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
Platform: Commodore 64
Genre: Adventure, Graphic
Gametype: Undefined
Release Year: 1988
Developer: Lucasfilm Games
Publisher: Lucasfilm Games
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Introduction

It is 1997, and the world is as stupid as never before....Aliens have built a dumbness machine, which slowly lowers everyone’s intelligence quotient. But the worst is that the only person who can stop the aliens is the boulevard reporter Zak McKracken, who invents the most far-out stories about vegetarian vampires and carnivorous cauliflower for his magazine.

They have taken over the telephone company... This sounds exactly like another one of Zak's crazy stories. But while nobody really believes him, he finds three people who he doesn’t need to convince any more: Annie, boss of an archaeological company, and her friends Leslie and Melissa, which have flown to mars with a reconstructed camp mobile. The four of them need to put together the parts of an ancient puzzle, unmask the aliens and destroy the dumbness machine.
And here you come into play.... you take control over the activities of Zak, Annie, Melissa and Leslie, and lead them to exotic places where you will find some very strange things – and even stranger creatures!

To help you solve the many puzzles in the game, there are "Cut-Scenes". These are scenes that play in other places where there is something important going on. As in the movies, you will be shown what goes on elsewhere. Furthermore, there are many hints hidden in the issue of the National Inquisitor, Zak's employer, which also is in the packing of the game.
If this is your first computer adventure, brace yourself for an entertaining puzzle. It might take a while to solve all puzzles. If you are stuck somewhere you might have to solve another puzzle first or use an item you do not have yet. But if you stay persistent and use your fantasy, you surely will accompany Zak successfully through the game.

 The game

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is the second adventure that used the SCUMM engine. It was the indirect follower of Maniac Mansion, but had with regard to the contents nothing in common with it, except for the insider gags.
In this adventure Zak travels around the whole world – also to exotic places as the Bermuda Triangle, the jungle of Lima and Kinshasa or to the temple complex in Egypt and Mexico - and also a side trip through the outer space to Mars is made. Alongside there are lots of interactions with humans and animals (with the right education you can also put yourself into the mind of animals and take them over), so the player should not be shy. 
 
Objects (items) can be picked in two ways. On the one hand you can move the cursor onto the image of the item in the animation window and click. All important items can be reached that way. They also have a name which then appears in the sentence line. On the other hand you can choose objects directly from the inventory list.

To move a person, choose the word "Walk to" from the verb list, by moving the cursor over it and clicking. Then move the cursor to the place where the person should go to and click again. If you click on an open door the person will walk through it. Notice that "Walk to" is almost always written in the sentence line when you have finished an instruction. This offers more comfort, as you will use this word most often.

To prompt a person to execute the instructions, either click a second time on the chosen object or once into the sentence line. If nothing happens, check again what order you have constructed. To substitute a verb or an object without constructing the sentence anew, it is enough to click on the new verb or object. It will appear at the right place in the sentence.
"Cut-scenes" are short film sequences as scenes in a movie. They give important hints. If you watch a cut-scene you cannot control a person, so the verb and inventory list disappear for a short time.

Keys

F1   = Zak
F3   = Annie
F5   = Melissa
F7   = Leslie
Space   = pause
Return   = shorten cut-scene
Shift   + F1   (F2) = load/save
Shift   + F7   (F8) = restart
+   = message line speed faster
-   = message line speed slower

Solution

A few helpful tips
Take everything with you that is not nailed down. Almost every item will be needed in the game somewhen, somehow!
Read the "National Inquisitor", here many hints are hidden. The article about the "Jet-Lag" for example could get you to the idea to get up to something in the plane to occupy the stewardess and so be able to search the airplane unhurriedly. But take the contents of the paper with a pinch of salt. In there are some hints, not the complete solution!

Every creature that you meet has some kind of function. The baker man, the two-headed squirrel and the dosser at the airport belong to them.
If you are really stuck in a blind alley, take again a close look at the inventory list and think of the places and person that you know. With great probability a connection will come to your mind that you can use.
You have to do something really crazy to kill the pawn and then keep stuck in a dead end. Therefore you do not need to save before every action but just now and then.
There are puzzles that need to be approached only by two or more persons at the same time.
Many puzzles have several solutions.
Don’t hesitate to go around and look at Zak’s world. You do not need to play on “win” right from the start!

Fish for the plastic card under Zak’s table. This works by using the phone bill as a help. First choose the verb “use” from the verb list. Then click on phone bill, which can be seen in the dresser drawer. At last click twice on the plastic card under Zak’s desk. Note that Zak is clever enough to first pick up the phone bill and then go to the desk.
If the moneys is short, look for a way to make money!

Walkthrough on Tentakelvilla.de. 

C64Games.de - Game No. 544   under "Lösung" you find the longplay from the 64er, maps and more.


http://c64-wiki.com/index.php/Zak_McKracken_and_the_Alien_Mindbenders
