History VideoGame / ZakMcKrackenAndTheAlienMindbenders

** You can also have Leslie, Melissa or both get back in their VW minibus-turned-spacecraft, turn the key and launch into space. Once you do this, whoever is in the spacecraft will effectively be out of the game for good (and will make a comment about it taking months to get back to Earth).

** Washed the bread crumbs down the drain? Spent your money and got stuck at a place where you can't win the lottery to gain more money? Accidentally killed someone by removing their helmet on Mars? Got Zak and Annie stuck in jail? Then you can't beat the game.

** On Mars there is [[Film/ASpaceOdyssey a black monolith]]... which is actually a vending machine.
** Zak can play the Indiana Jones riff in his kazoo. Posters of ''Maniac Mansion'' and ''Videogame/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade , the Adventure Game'' can also be seen.

* UnwinnableByDesign / UnwinnableByMistake: There are only certain courses one can take to save the world, so if a previous action has made them impossible...[[TheQuisling I for one will welcome our new Caponian overlords]]. The game was released early in Creator/LucasArts history, when they were still in the process of figuring out their design philosophy. ''Zak'' is much more unforgiving than the previous ''Maniac Mansion'' where Creator/RonGilbert, designer of the gentler philosophy, played a larger role than in this game.

** You can also have Leslie, Melissa or both get back in their VW minibus-turned-spacecraft, turn the key and launch into space. Once you do this, whoever is in the spacecraft will effectively be out of the game for good(and will make a comment about it taking months to get back to Earth).

** Near the beginning, you pick up a scrap of wallpaper, which you eventually need in order to draw a map. Some time before this, you have to light a bonfire, and can, if you choose, use the wallpaper as kindling. The game doesn't try to dissuade you, and you can continue unhampered until you realise what you were supposed to hang on to the paper for... (You could also have
used the crayon on the phone bill, but you could lose that too later on in the
game)

* VideogameCrueltyPotential: Leaving aside what Zak ''has'' to do to the stewardess, he can also kill animals in inventive ways (''e.g.'', bludgeoning the two-headed squirrel, running his goldfish Sushi through the garbage disposal, putting Sushi in the lamp and turning it on). '

* VideogameCrueltyPotential: Leaving aside what Zak ''has'' to do to the stewardess, he can also kill animals in inventive ways (''e.g.'', bludgeoning the two-headed squirrel, running his goldfish Sushi through the garbage disposal). '

The game tells the story of a tabloid journalist named Zak, who has a dream about space aliens on Mars, who wear ten-gallon hats and [[TheMarxBrothers Groucho Marx]] nose glasses. When he awakens, he finds himself uncovering a conspiracy by the alien Caponians, who are using the Phone Company in a [[RevealingCoverup not very hidden plot]] to try and TakeOverTheWorld.

* OddballInTheSeries: Apart from the humour, this game is pretty much this to the rest of LucasArts games. It's a lot more unforgiving, since there are only a handful of ways to beat the game, and a lot more ways to die or screw up. It's much ''much'' longer and less straight-forward than its predecessor (''ManiacMansion''). No DialogueTree there too, but while you ''can'' die in Maniac Mansion (Since this was before they brought up their "No die" and "Can't screw up" policies), there are multiple ways to beat that other game. Gameplay wise, definitely. Writing-wise? ''Far from it''.

* {{Feelies}}: The game came with a free issue of ''The Daily Inquisitor'', the tabloid the protagonist works for. Several of the articles provide vital hints, such as how lightning can mend crystals.

* UnwinnableByDesign / UnwinnableByMistake: There were only certain courses one could take to save the world, so if a previous action made them impossible...[[TheQuisling I for one will welcome our new Caponian overlords]]. The game was released early in Creator/LucasArts history, when they were still in the process of figuring out their design philosophy. ''Zak'' is much more unforgiving than the previous ''Maniac Mansion'' where Creator/RonGilbert, designer of the gentler philosophy, played a larger role than in this game.

''Zak [=McKracken=] and the Alien Mindbenders'' is an AdventureGame by Creator/LucasArts, released in 1988. It was the second SCUMM adventure game, preceded by ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion''. Originally released for the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}, it was ported to the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer, UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, UsefulNotes/AtariST and UsefulNotes/FMTowns.

* UnwinnableByDesign / UnwinnableByMistake: There were only certain courses one could take to save the world, so if a previous action made them impossible...[[TheQuisling I for one will welcome our new Caponian overlords]]. The game was released early in Creator/LucasArts history, when they were still in the process of figuring out their design philosophy. ''Zak'' was much more unforgiving than the previous ''Maniac Mansion'' where Creator/RonGilbert, designer of the gentler philosophy, played a larger role than in this game.

** Zak can play the Indiana Jones riff in his kazoo. Posters of ''Maniac Mansion'' and ''Indiana Jones'' can also be seen.

** Washed the bread crumbs down the drain? Spent your money and got stuck at a place where you can't win the lottery to gain more money? Accidentally killed someone by removing their helmet on Mars? Got Zak and Annie stuck in jail? Then you can't beat the game

* ShoutOut: A Hare Krishna sells Zak a book on how to find enlightenment in life. The book costs a [[CrackIsCheaper whopping]] $[[Literature/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy 42]].

* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: You ''have'' to make the stewardess's life a living hell to continue.

** To elaborate, during a regular flight, Zak floods the toilet, uses the distraction to explode an egg in the microwave, then uses ''that'' as a distraction to steal a seat cushion, an oxygen tank, and a lighter. The stewardess has to clean up both messes.

'''''Zak [=McKracken=] and the Alien Mindbenders''''' is an AdventureGame by Creator/LucasArts, released in 1988. It was the second SCUMM adventure game, preceded by ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion''. Originally released for the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}, it was ported to the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer, UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, UsefulNotes/AtariST and UsefulNotes/FMTowns.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale:Leslie and Melissa somehow managed to convert a VW minibus into a single stage to Mars and return to Earth spacecraft. Somewhat justified because it's a comedy game which involves aliens wearing Groucho glasses and new age science fiction tropes.

'''''Zak [=McKracken=] And The Alien Mindbenders''''' is an AdventureGame by Creator/LucasArts, released in 1988. It was the second SCUMM adventure game, preceded by ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion''. Originally released for the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}, it was ported to the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer, UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, UsefulNotes/AtariST and UsefulNotes/FMTowns.

* ICantUseTheseThingsTogether: "That doesn't seem to work."

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale:Leslie and Melissa somehow managed to convert a VW minibus into a single stage to Mars and return to Earth spacecraft. Somewhat justified because it's a comedy game which involves aliens where Groucho glasses and new age science fiction tropes.

** You can also have Leslie, Melissa or both get back in their VW Bus-turned-spacecraft, turn the key and launch into space. Once you do this, whoever is in the spacecraft will effectively be out of the game for good(and will make a comment about it taking months to get back to Earth).

'''''Zak [=McKracken=] And The Alien Mindbenders''''' is an AdventureGame by Creator/LucasArts, released in 1988. It was the second SCUMM adventure game, preceded by ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion''. Originally released for the {{Commodore 64}}, it was ported to the IBMPersonalComputer, {{Amiga}}, AtariST and FMTowns.

The game featured many technical improvements on [[ManiacMansion its predecessor]], including a storyline that takes Zak all the way around the world, and an interesting system whereby the various characters have adventures independent of each other (two of the playable characters are introduced as space adventurers on Mars, literally a world away from the bits with Zak).