The plot follows Zak, a writer for the National Inquisitor, a tabloid newspaper; Annie Larris, a freelance scientist; and Melissa China and Leslie Bennett, two Yale University students, in their attempt to prevent the nefarious alien Caponians (who have taken over "The Phone Company", an amalgamation of various telecommunication companies around the world) from slowly reducing the intelligence of everybody on Earth by emitting a 60 Hz "hum" from their "Mind Bending Machine".

The game was consequently heavily inspired by many popular theories about aliens, ancient astronauts, and mysterious civilizations.

The many places visited in the game are common hotspots for these ideas, such as the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, Lima, Stonehenge, the Bermuda Triangle, and the Face on Mars.

The box art was redrawn for the Japanese market by artist Yuzuki Hikaru (弓月光), otherwise known as Nishimura Tsukasa (西村司).

In March 2015, Zak McKracken was re-released on the digital distribution platform GOG.com after years of commercial non-availability.

"[3] Many reviews, both online[4] and in print,[5][6] rate Zak McKracken as among the best adventure games ever made, but others disagree.

favorably reviewed Zak McKracken, but wished that Lucasfilm would next produce a game that did not depend on jokes and puzzles to tell its story.

[10] Other critics complained about the need to enter copy protection codes not once, but multiple times whenever the player flew out of the US.

It received 90 out of 100 in several reviews, such as of Zzap!, Power Play, Happy Computer, HonestGamers, Pixel-Heroes.de, Jeuxvideo.com, ST Action, and Quandary magazines.