| Notes: | [1] Game written using the Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion (SCUMM), originally developed by Ron Gilbert and Aric Wilmunder in 1987 to create MANIAC MANSION for the C64/128.
Game creation/design by David Fox, Matthew Kane, David Spangler and Ron Gilbert; creative input & technical support by Ron Gilbert, Aric Wilmunder, Chip Morningstar, Noah Falstein and Randy Farmer.
Game coding/scripting by David Fox and Matthew Kane; Amiga conversion by Aric Wilmunder, Edward Kilham and Steve Hales.
Graphics (backgrounds) by Mark J. Ferrari, Basilio Amaro and Martin Cameron; character animation by Gary Winnick.
Music by Matthew Kane and sound FX by Brian Hales.
[2] Distributed by Mediagenic in North America, U.S. Gold in the UK/France, Softgold in Germany and Leader in Italy.
[3] Initially released in the U.S. in the latter part of 1988, ZAK MCKRACKEN was released in late 1988 in non-English parts of Europe (e.g. Germany) and delayed until early 1989 in the UK and elsewhere. Presumably, the variation in Amiga release dates by country/region was due to the multitude of distributors handling the game's release in different parts of Europe and other regions of the world.
[4] Game must be launched from WB (or shell/CLI) after booting from floppy (i.e. game does not autoboot).
[5] Game features multiple floppy drive support for disk loading, keyboard/mouse-keyboard/joystick-keyboard control, savegame support and a quit back to WB option (press CTRL-C).
[6] Game manual contains some basic hints & tips for players.
[7] A wealth of info. about game development on the C64 and other platforms along with a FAQ, hints & tips, screenshots and much, much more is available for game enthusiasts on the Zak McKracken Archive website [see HERE].
[8] The original music composed and recorded in 1987 by game designer/coder Matthew Kane, prior to development of the lead C64/128 version of ZAK MCKRACKEN, is available for download HERE in MP3 format from his personal website. [Source: game designer/coder Matthew Kane's website]
TRIVIA: In looking back on their beginnings as Lucasfilm Games for their 20th anniversary celebration in 2002, LucasArts had this recollection of ZAK MCRACKEN—
'Lucasfilm Games's second foray into original adventure games stemmed from another inventive concept. The plot of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders was concisely stated on the front of the game box: "Can One Hack Writer, Two Yale Coeds, and a Stale Loaf of French Bread Save the World from a Galactic Conspiracy?" Players were cast in the role of a tabloid journalist who discovers a conspiracy among aliens to render humans terminally stupid. And yes, somewhere along the way Elvis is discovered to be living among the aliens. Using the SCUMM engine, Zak McKracken also featured the most extensive music and audio library of any product of its time, largely because one of the game's co-designers (Matthew Kane) was a musician.'
[Source: LucasArts' 20th Anniversary (1982-2002) online history article, courtesy of the Internet Archive] |
|
