Make Trax
Make Trax, originally released in Japan as Crush Roller, is a 1981 maze game developed by Alpha Denshi and published as an arcade video game by Kural Samno Electric in Japan. It was licensed in Europe to Exidy, which released it under its original title Crush Roller, and in North America to Williams Electronics, who released it as Make Trax.
Also recorded as Crush Roller · Korosuke Roller
Make Trax
- Date
- 1981
- Publisher
- ADK
- Genre
- maze video game
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Make Trax, originally released in Japan as Crush Roller, is a 1981 maze game developed by Alpha Denshi and published as an arcade video game by Kural Samno Electric in Japan. It was licensed in Europe to Exidy, which released it under its original title Crush Roller, and in North America to Williams Electronics, who released it as Make Trax.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q3005628 · wikipedia · Make Trax
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Make Trax • Developer — Alpha Denshi • Platforms — Arcade • Released — October 1981 • Genre — Maze • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer
Gameplay
Gameplay
• Illustration — The goal is to paint the entire maze green. The player controls a paintbrush, reddish-orange in color, and must paint the entire maze in order to advance to the next stage. Two fish — one yellow, the other light blue — emerge from separate aquariums to pursue the paintbrush around the board, and if either of the fish succeeds in making contact with the paintbrush, the player loses one of three lives. The player may use two "rollers" to attack the fish. They are located on overpasses, one vertical in its orientation, the other horizontal. To use them, the player positions the paintbrush on its forward end, waits for either or both of the fish to approach, then pushes the paintbrush along the roller, attacking the fish. The fish is removed from the maze for a few seconds, then returns to one of the aquariums and resumes its pursuit of the paintbrush. Killing fish in this manner scores bonus points. The fish initially are dumb, but as time goes on they get "smarter" learning to avoid the roller when the paintbrush nears it, and develop strategies to trap the player between them. A third character, appearing to be an animal, rolling tire, or invisible man depending on the level, may enter the maze and leave tracks that must be painted over in order for the board to be completed. The player can limit the damage by running over the figure, which not only stops further tracks from being left but also awards the player a score, which progressively increases as more boards are cleared.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Japan
Named but not plotted · 1
Make Trax is associated with Japan.
Country
Reception
Reception
In Japan, Crush Roller was the ninth highest-grossing arcade game of 1981.
Legacy
Legacy
ADK remade the game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color which was released worldwide by SNK under its original name Crush Roller in 1999. The game mechanics are largely the same as its arcade counterpart, though the level design was adapted to fit the smaller screen size. Graphics and sound were also improved thanks to the more powerful hardware. This version was later re-released as part of the Windows port of Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 in 2021. A clone called Brush Roller for the Famicom/NES was programmed in 1990 by Hwang Shinwei and published by RCM Group. This game was later hacked by NTDEC to make Bookyman, which was released on the Caltron 6-in-1 and the Asder 20-in-1. It replaced the title screen, some of the graphics, and revamped the sound and music. It also fixed the bugs that cause music temporary stops when the roller died or crush enemy and eliminated corrupted sprites at left maze scoreboard when completed stage which are replaced by some hollow squares. The original NTDEC release and Asder version retained the original sounds from Brush Roller, despite the Asder version released a year later. A "speed-up" modification named Make Trax Turbo allows the paintbrush to move faster (but not the fish).
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Akagi, Masumi. アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971–2005). Amusement News Agency. 17. October 13, 2006. 978-4990251215.
- 2.Manufacturers Equipment. Cash Box. 35. 5 February 1983.
- 3.Thorpe, Nick. Make Trax. Retro Gamer. Future Publishing Limited. 24 February 2017.
- 4.Amusement Press, Inc. Overseas Readers Column - Mfg. and Licensing System for Video "Crush Roller" Unveiled. Game Machine. 176. 34. 1 November 1981.
- 5.Video Game Flyers: Crush Roller, Exidy, Inc. (EU). The Arcade Flyer Archive.
- 6.Harris, Craig. Crush Roller. IGN. 1999-08-12.
- 7.Amusement Press, Inc. "Donkey Kong" No.1 Of '81 — Game Machine's Survey Of "The Year's Best Three AM Machines" —. Game Machine. 182. 30. 15 February 1982.
- 8.Mobygames.com. Crush Roller for Neo Geo Pocket Color.
- 9.Arcadecollecting.com. Make Trax Turbo.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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