TRIVIA

- Technical specs according to the label: PC, XT, AT, PS/2™, TANDY^®, EGA, CGA, VGA, MCGA, and Hercules, Joystick, mouse optional. 3.5″ and 5.25″ disks enclosed. 256K RAM.

	IBM DOS v1 version

- Essentially the same box also came out for IBM DOS v2 (384K RAM), C64, Amiga, and Atari ST (with different spec labels).

- Already it’s hard (and very pricy) to get your hands on this box but the IBM DOS v2 (384K RAM) is even rarer.

- Two variations exist for this box regarding the screenshots on the back cover: One with hi-res screens (mine), one with lo-res screens (see further down).

- The dimensions of the box regarding the spines are similar to those of the first and second release of Maniac Mansion. No "real Big Box" was ever produced.

- This one-piece box was not as solid as the classic Big Boxes and was extremely sensitive to wear and tear.

- It features the “swirl paint” background in green.

- Responsible for the box cover art was Steve Purcell: “For Zak McKracken I hadn't worked on the game so was guided by Gary Winnick and David Fox as to what the key elements should be. I worked with a design firm as to the proportions and type placement.”³

- The front cover art shows Annie, Zak, and Sushi as well as as lot of objects from the game and a Caponian inside the Great Chamber of the Face on Mars.

- The front cover mimics the original (disturbing) Lucasfilm's Star Wars poster; with Zak as (He-man-like) Luke, Annie as (lascivious) Leia, and the broom alien as the droids:⁴

	Star Wars poster from 1977

- Zak is modeled after Steve Purcell himself, Annie after Annie Larris (who later married game designer David Fox).⁵

- The crayons’ brand is named after the covers’s illustrator: PURCELL. Non-toxic, with built-in sharpener!

	"Purcell" crayons

- Annie is depicted in the Great Chamber of the Face on Mars but doesn’t go to Mars in the game. Neither does most of the other stuff.

- The back of the box shows a newspaper rip that is a more "serious" version of the article in the National Inquisitor that came with the box.

	Newspaper rip from the back cover	Article from the printed newspaper inside (p. 2)

- The newspaper is from March 29, 1997. Nine years after the game was published.

- The newspaper is 12.50 Dollar. Who could afford this?

- The space cowboys? The game’s designers Matthew Alan Kane and David Fox!⁶

Matthew Kane (left) and David Fox (right)

- The word “zany” comes up again: “Zany humor, off-the-wall one liners.” It was used on the back of Maniac Mansion’s box as well: “Meet all sorts of zany characters.”

- The back cover on my box features screenshots from the IBM DOS v2 version (below as GIFs).

	Screenshot 1: Zak entering Lou's Loans.		Screenshot 2: Zak getting locked up by a Caponian.		Screenshot 3: Zak and the Yak ride.

- The alternative box comes with screenshots from the lo-res version (C64, IBM DOS v1) with Stonehenge replacing Katmandu⁷:

	Alternative screenshot 3 (lo-res box): Zak and Annie at Stonehenge

- The screenshot captions resemble news headlines: “Porky Pawnbroker Pays Princely Price For Puny Possession” (Screen 1), “Man Gets Stuck In Alien Gridlock (Screen 2), “Timid Tourist Takes Hairy Ride on Airport Shuttle” (Screen 3). The Stonehenge scene of the lo-res box: “Secrets of First British Rock Group Revealed”.

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References:
(1) https://www.mobygames.com/game/maniac-mansion/cover-art. 2020/01/19.
(2) Images taken from https://headgiantmonkey.wixsite.com/collection/projets. 2020/01/19.
(3) Retro Gamer. No. 116. 2013. P. 30.
(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zak_McKracken_and_the_Alien_Mindbenders. 2020/01/18.
(5) https://youtu.be/xqKf0Lu_EDU?t=3502. 2020/01/14.
(6) https://twitter.com/DavidBFox/status/1010554183764733952. 2020/01/14.
(7) https://www.mobygames.com/game/zak-mckracken-and-the-alien-mindbenders/cover-art/gameCoverId,22124/. 2020/01/19.