Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (Commodore 64)

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
Developer: Lucasfilm Games Publisher: Lucasfilm Games Platform: Commodore 64 Released in US: October 1988 This game has revisional differences.

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is the third graphic-adventure game published by Lucasfilm Games (later known as LucasArts), and the second they published themselves, after Maniac Mansion. It is notable for being extremely hard by the standards of later LucasArts games: it features numerous mazes, and you can die or softlock yourself at several points.

Revisional Differences

The original Commodore 64 version has several graphical differences from the DOS V1 release.

Graphical Differences

As with Maniac Mansion, in the Commodore 64 version, the cursor passes behind character sprites, while in the DOS version it passes in front of them.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The GUI and dialogue text are laid out slightly differently in the Commodore 64 version than they are on DOS.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

On Commodore 64, the ellipsis character in the game font has dots only one pixel wide. On DOS V1 the dots are two pixels wide. This difference carries over from Maniac Mansion, where in the Commodore 64 version there was only one line of text visible at a time, and the thinner ellipsis was used to save space.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Background Palette Changes

The backgrounds in the original release were developed to take advantage of the Commodore 64's 16-color palette, which is different from the palette used in EGA on DOS. As a result, the palette in many scenes in the DOS V1 port went through a graphical downgrade in comparison to the original C64 version.

A striking example of this is the starting screen in Zak's bedroom, where on C64 the walls were a reddish-brown. This reddish-brown color isn't featured in the DOS EGA palette, so the DOS V1 release made the walls the same pink as Zak's skin, causing him to blend in with the wallpaper.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

In the Commodore 64 version, the shot of the planet Mars in the intro has two different red hues. On DOS V1, one of the hues was changed to purple for some reason.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Other rooms have the reddish-brown hue on Commodore 64 shifted to pink in DOS V1 as well: the two streets in San Francisco, Annie's office, the rural airports, the street in Kathmandu, and most of the areas in and around the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Commodore 64	DOS V1

In San Francisco, this change results in the bus driver's skin being a different color.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The interior of The Phone Company offices have a different look in DOS V1 as well.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The telephone keypad in Zak's bedroom has white buttons on Commodore 64, but light gray buttons on DOS V1.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Some characters, such as the Hare Krishna, the bum in the airport, the biplane pilot, and the guard at Stonehenge, have brown dialogue text on C64, but pink text in DOS V1.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The airport destination menu has a blue background on C64, but a purple one in DOS V1.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The interior of the ashram in Nepal has the red and brown hues from C64 swapped in DOS V1 for some reason.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The exterior of the shaman's village in Kinshasa has brown huts on C64, but red ones in DOS V1. This was probably a change made so the huts didn't blend in with the brown skin tones of the inhabitants, which they do on C64.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The shaman's "The Doctor is OUT" sign that appears after he teaches Zak how to use the yellow crystal is always red, though.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

A similar change from red to brown occurs with the soil on the surface of Mars outside the hostel.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The interior of the shaman's hut goes from a purple color on C64 to a soothing blue in DOS V1.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The interior of the Mars hostel has reddish-brown walls on C64. On DOS V1, rather than make the walls pink (i.e., light red), they're a light purple instead, perhaps to avoid clashing with Leslie's pink spacesuit.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The ankh chamber inside the Mars Face, and the room where Zak arrives on Mars, are red and brown on C64, but red and gray on DOS V1.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The wide shot of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid is notable on C64 for featuring both the reddish-brown hue and the other brown color in the Commodore 64's 16-color palette.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The door to the Great Pyramid at Giza is unusual in that the regular brown hue, rather than the reddish-brown variant, was the color changed to pink in DOS V1.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The tram stop by the pyramid on Mars, and the door leading into that pyramid, also had their brown areas changed to red. As a result, the terrain around the tram stop became the same color as the pyramid visible to one side in DOS V1, when they were different colors on C64.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

In the Commodore 64 version, the doors to the Martian pyramid and the Great Pyramid on Earth actually have the same color scheme, but they were differentiated in DOS V1.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

The sarcophagus room inside the Martian pyramid has pink walls on C64, but gray walls in DOS V1.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Finally, the view of the Great Pyramid in the ending cutscene provides one last example of the C64's reddish-brown color being changed to pink.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Using the Flashlight

On C64, when using the flashlight or the lighter, the character sprites are partially illuminated, and the hotspot of light around the cursor is rectangular. In DOS V1, the character sprites light up completely, and the hotspot of light has round edges. The DOS V2 port works similarly.

Commodore 64	DOS V1	DOS V2

Commodore 64	DOS V1	DOS V2

When Zak is wearing the wetsuit, his highlight color while using the flashlight on C64 goes from green to black, making it look like he's wearing a black shirt, even though it's supposed to be a full-body black wet suit.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

While Melissa's partial highlight color on C64 is the teal of her spacesuit, Leslie's partial highlight color is whatever color her hair happens to be at the time. This means her spacesuit is almost pitch black in dark rooms on C64 even when the flashlight is on.

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Commodore 64	DOS V1

Saving and Loading

The Commodore 64 version allows only one save file per floppy disk. When saving and loading, an "OK" button pops up, requiring you to click it before the save or load operation is carried out.

• 

  The "OK" button on C64.In DOS V1, the pendulum starts off in the same place the first time you enter...

• 

  Make sure you click it before closing this menu!

The DOS V1 version allows ten save files per floppy disk, and the "OK" button is absent. Instead, you click on the name of one of the save slots.

• 

  Ten save slots! That's like infinite slots!

Other Differences

On the C64 version, the intro ends after Zak sees a giant pair of nose glasses in his dream and turns toward the camera in shock. In DOS V1, after looking at the camera in shock, he turns left and exits off screen.

As with Maniac Mansion, on C64, the flickering cursor pulses back and forth between white, light gray, medium gray, and dark gray. On DOS V1, it uses only the two hues of gray that are available there.