Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders

Ronnie_ASA 2021-06-02
I could never finish this game as I found it a little too difficult for me but I did enjoy playing it.
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mailman 2021-06-02
(10/10)
Considering it was released in 1988 everything in this game is way ahead of its time. An excellent, intriguing story and several characters to interact with make this title a really great fun for all adventure games fans. Of course those boring mazes where crammed everywhere and spoiled the game a bit but in 1988 no one cared.
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Chuckles 2021-01-10
(10/10)
This is one of the first I played, and played obsessively to the end!
Zack for President!
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PortugueseWarrior 2012-05-23
(10/10)
One of the greatest graphic adventures ever made. This is the stuff of legends! Not as good as Maniac Mansion, but pretty close...
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Spider 2012-02-12
(10/10)
When we talk about "Point-and-click"-adventures fans mostly think of 'Zak McKracken' or 'Maniac Mansion'. It's a classic !
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sverdrupjahn 2011-02-03
(10/10)
Ah, my very first adventure game! I really enjoyed this game, and played it over and over.
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vpiezsak 2011-01-25
(1/10)
Confusing and boring.
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msghomemaintenance 2010-11-07
(10/10)
I can't believe this game is only ranked 80th I think its much better than that.
Very funny and you can lose hours of your day just wandering around.
One of my all time favourites 10/10
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Lord_Maletoth 2010-08-12
(10/10)
The first Lucasfilm adventure I played. Hilarious and fantastic plot, the joy of every aliens and mystery-addicted. Not easy at all to complete it, especially because it's easy to find yourself in a deadend, running out of money to travel around the world or accidentaly losing one important item while looking for a new hint. Still love it after all these years.
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Roe 2010-07-30
(9/10)
I had this game when I was a kid but never got through it. Thankfully there is a fanmade release called The New Adventures Of Zak McKracken that is a faithful re-release.
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sepp 2010-01-10
I support Haplo on this one.
The game is pure crap. Simple graphics, sound that has directly been converted from the C64 and the game consists mainly of "click on everything, take everything and click everything you have on everything jo see to continue the story".
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ricky500 2008-08-30
(9/10)
Great game! My first point and click game I ever played! Playing text adventures would never be the same after playing this, Lucas Arts point and click kicks text adventure butt! I don't know why people make such a big deal out of the mazes, as there are lots of solves and even charts of the maps online that will help out for those who don't like mazes. Even without help, the mazes can be gotten through in a matter of less than 10 minutes or even 5 minutes or so, by just wandering around "willy-nilly", just keep walking through doors at random and you'll eventully stumble upon what you need to find. As Guybrush says in Monkey Island 2 "Maps are for sissies." Oh by the way, all those jungle mazes aren't really mazes, the game just looks for you to go through a "new" door to get deeper into the jungle. By "new" door that means just go through a door that isn't the one that you came through, simple as that! To get through the maze in the sphinx just go through the doors that have a sun over it. Bottom line: Play this game!
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Andrew McQueen 2008-04-30
(10/10)
Best game I've ever played, and I am in full agreement with all the positive reviews here. However, I'm surprised that it only got 118 votes and even more surprised that it only has a current score of 8.56.
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Lord_Santa 2008-04-07
(10/10)
Thanks for the great review of this great game.
The second PnC game I played (Maniac Mansion, being the first)
Although I started playing it on the C64, I later moved on to the Amiga, but the FM-Town version is by far the best (Graphics Galore)

I spent hours... If not days, during my "innocent, ignorant" childhood, trying to copy the disks onto Maniac Mansion, in order to get the Gas Can on Mars into the world of Maniac Mansion, so that I could fire up the Chainsaw.

Worth playing; every minute and every second.. Sure the mazes are a pain, but come on.. Zak McKracken wouldn't be the same without them.

I'd say this is THE game to define LucasFilm Games.

A perfect 10
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Steve Wilkins 2008-02-08
(10/10)
After 'Maniac Mansion' my second adventure...

At first I'd played it on the C64, but the Amiga version was so much better...

The plot was very good. Particularly the dark mazes on Mars and the continuous loss of oxygen (the word 'goldfish bowl' comes to my mind) gave me the heebie-jeebies...

A few years ago, I'd read an interesting internet article: this article said, that even Erich von Däniken - the well-known ufologist - had played the game. By his own statement, he took a great shine to the game...

Why on earth Lucas Arts had never released a sequel? After all 'Zak McKracken' was a huge success...
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SquawkBox 2007-11-13
(10/10)
Certainly the most thrilling and captivating LucasArts game (in second place, I would put Grim Fandango, done many years after Zak). Interaction, dialogues and humor are top notch. The intro brillantly suggests how Zak will have to deal with the Mindbenders.

Such an original plot is always refreshing for a point and click adventure. I fancy games when dreams have a direct influence on the reality of a character, while he is trying to control his destiny (check Weird Dreams, Sanitarium)...
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Little Monkey Lost 2007-08-08
(10/10)
An absolute cult classic. It even had some digitized sound on Amiga version even though it was by US designers and year was
1988
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Makke 2007-05-11
(9/10)
If it wasn't for the boring mazes, which to me seems like they were put in the game just to give it another couple of hours worth of game play, I'd give it a 10. Because this is a fantastic game, with great plot and humour.
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Yure 2007-05-07
(10/10)
IMHO, the best game design and plot ever for an adventure game. Thrilling, fascinating, challenging. Visionary.
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df0 2006-12-14
I missed a "Skip This Maze"-Button. What is challenging about walking through a maze, especially when it is changing every time (like the jungle-sequences)?
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den 2006-08-30
(10/10)
The very first point-and-click adventure game I played. Certainly made me keep an eye out for future Lucasfilm/LucasArt games.

Very funny and still hugely playable today (if you can look past the dated graphics). 10/10 for me.

See Ya!
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Sebatianos 2006-07-14
It's a great game that makes you think beyond your narrow logic. If you fancy alternative ways of looking at the past, then you'll simply love this gem! It covers some of the greatest archeological, astrological, sociological, esoteric... Mysteries our planet has to offer (and then some).

But if you're not prepared to abandon your dry daily thinking patterns (btw, what's the point of playing imaginary games if you're not ready to do that anyway) then you better stay away from this game. It's actually capable of making you think outside your pre-set mind-frame
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Guybrush Threepwood 2006-03-03
(10/10)
Good little adventure game, although GFX are nowt compared to games like monkey island and simon the sorceror yet this was great to play, it started the adventure game genre off I think back then on the Amiga scene
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Gary_Oak 2006-02-20
(10/10)
Another one of LucasArts most treasured masterpieces!
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stooart 2005-12-03
(8/10)
Another cracking release from Lucas Arts, very Maniac Mansion which is no bad thing. The only thing that annoyed me was the trail and error of certain plane trips that could leave you totally stuck but still a classic.
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Zagrebo 2005-07-11
(9/10)
Large, involving, humourous and fun graphic adventure that managed to fit happily on two floppy disks. Only real criticism is that it was maybe a bit too easy.
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starvingwriter82 2005-02-11
(9/10)
This game is everything that King's Quest and other such games wish they were. Yes the atomosphere was incredibly wacky and unique, but I appreciate that in a game when it's well done. Unlike other games that can blur together, the events in Zak McKracken will always stick out in my mind. The interface is also quite smooth - in a lot of the early pick and click games it often felt like you were stuck, only to realize later that you'd already figured the puzzle out, but you typed in the action wrong. McKracken never has that problem, and whether you're whacking two-headed squirrels with a golf club or making a space suit out of a goldfish bowl and a wet suit, Zak McKracken is as hilarious as it is engrossing.

By the way, don't forget the duct tape.
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squirminator2k 2005-02-03
(3/10)
Perhaps the most overrated SCUMM game of the lot, next to Maniac Mansion. Interesting, and occasionally humorous, but not LucasArts' finest.
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Predseda 2004-12-15
(4/10)
I really didn´t like it. It was good in its first few stages, but become boring in later. Especially Egypt was a huge boredom. No, my ranking is low for this game.
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steef-online 2004-12-14
(10/10)
OK. In my top 10 of games of all time on any computer, this game is present. I have to say that I never actually played it on the Amiga; I only played the C64-version (uncountable hours on end!) and recently I played the PC-version. But still, the basics are the same. I looked at the Amiga version today and the graphics are (ofcourse) slightly better. I am a huge adventuregame-fan and this one is on top of that list, together with Monkey Islands. The game is so original, the plottwists are so refreshing and they keep you playing more and more to find out what's around the next corner. The weird aliens, the unique humour (!!!), all add up to the Zak-experience. This is one of the very best adventures ever made in my opinion, which I used to play for months on end. Brilliant!

Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 6/10
Playability: 10/10

Overall: 10/10
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Roll8or 2004-12-11
(9/10)
I loved this game. It was the first pick-click adventure I played.
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riccofl 2004-12-09
(10/10)
Try a quick search in a search engine and you will find a lot of fans of this game. Some people are even creating a sequel. Zak McKracken rules. Brilliant game.
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Paradroid 2004-12-08
(9/10)
Classic adventure. Plays the same as the C64 version, but I feel the game stretched the C64 to its limits, so I prefer that version.
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DeAdLy_cOoKiE 2004-12-08
(8/10)
Excellent adventure game. An early classic.
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thechap 2004-12-04
(10/10)
Fantastic game, still as fresh today as when it was released. The game cries for a follow up. Top marks!
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mcm 2004-12-04
(10/10)
One of the greatest adventures ever, absolutely brilliant...don`t miss it!
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