Make Trax, 1981 Alpha Denshi/Kural Samno/Williams (20 From 1981 #16)
17Tough but engaging maze game-- much like Pac-Man but without dots or energizers to eat. Your goal is to paint (since you are a paintbrush) the whole maze a particular color, while being hounded by 2 increasingly intelligent fish! The concept for this game must come from an alternate dimension or something (or illicit drugs), but the increasing AI of the fish makes for interesting strategy adaptability. Your only defense is pushing the two paint rollers to "squish the fish" (as a Bills fan that's a popular phrase), but they will soon be wary of your intentions and back off. After you clear most of the maze a new creature will emerge and make footprints all over your handiwork! Now I know what you're thinking-- "Damn it! I have to go paint the floor all over again!"-- but, this is a good thing! Painting over the floor only gains you a teeny bit of separation from the fish early on-- painting over footprints gives you more separation and double the points! So don't be in a hurry to squish the critter (cat, bird, mouse, invisible man, devil-cat (?), tire). Expert players find ways to squish many fish (and you get the points increasingly doubled each successive time) and you can get up to 9,000 if you can keep them from running away-- but notice you only go one direction when you push it, you can't back out. And you won't stop till you reach the end of that lane. Simplistic at first glance, but worth a second look. Originally known as CRUSH ROLLER (and that's the title best known worldwide), with licensing for both Kural Samno (Japan) and Williams (US), though "KRL" for Kural Samno is still in the high score list in MAKE TRAX! Both versions can add lame "warp holes" into the gameplay via dipswitch. The only difference between MAKE TRAX and CRUSH ROLLER is that the former has a protection chip; the latter doesn't. Stay cool and put on the sunscreen, folks.. it's gonna get hot!