Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders was the second game built on Lucasfilm Games' SCUMM engine, following Maniac Mansion. Directed by David Fox alongside Matthew Alan Kane, it launched in 1988 for the Commodore 64 and DOS, reaching the Atari ST and Amiga in 1989. The hero is Zak, a tabloid journalist who discovers that a bunch of ridiculous aliens are dulling humanity's minds with a telephone hum.
Ron Gilbert talked Fox out of the initially serious tone and into embracing comedy, and the result is a feast of ancient astronauts, supermarket-tabloid mysticism, and trips from Seattle to Mars for two coins. It was a massive hit in Europe, especially in Germany, and the 16-bit version remains the best-loved way to rediscover it today.
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