Any love for Make-Trax?

matthew180

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
84
Reaction score
2
Location
Winter Springs, Florida
I have an original Make-Trax machine, complete with the original screen-burned monitor. I bought it as part of a larger purchase and have never touched it except to move it. I had actually never even heard of the game, and trying it out on MAME left me less than impressed, and actually a little bewildered.

Does anyone out there like this game? Is there something I'm missing about it? Give me a reason to even clean the dust and dirt off of the cabinet. Can it be converted into something good? :)
 
Is it only for the die hard Williams cabinet collector? I say cabinet, because I hear the game kinda sucks, but the cabinet and art package look really nice.
 
Unless your name is Walter, I doubt you'll find much love for Make Trax.

I have 2 spare marquees for that game if you need em :D
 
I had a Make Trax. I was lucky enough to eventually sell it for $280. And it was in darn nice shape. I couldnt get into the gameplay, and it was going to be very hard to convert it into a MultiWilliams because of the monitor orientation.
 
Once you figure out how to play the game, it's a lot of fun. I'm a big fan.

I'll take a game of Make Trax over Pac-Man any day. It's got a weird asthetic to it and a learning curve that sets it apart.
 
I am a die-hard Make Trax fan, but I'm learning through the hobby that not everyone loved the game BITD! :)

I wonder if our love for many games depends if we played them 30 years ago? Make Trax is one of those games that instantly transports me back to the arcade. I wasn't very good at the game then, and I'm still not very good now, but if I could grab an original, I would.

In terms of game play, try focussing on the entire play field at once, and performing lots of turns and tunnel use to keep the fish at a distance until you're ready to roller them on the overpasses. When I started to do that, I found my games lasting a little longer. Initially I found myself treating the fish like the ghosts from Pac-Man, but they don't behave in the same way; the fish more-or-less act like they have a birds-eye view of the play field, and will move to corner you/cut you off in tandem. As well, you can't lose the fish by taking "fast corners" like in Pac-Man, so if you have to keep the roller overpasses in view to get that burst of speed when they gain on you.
 
In terms of game play, try focussing on the entire play field at once, and performing lots of turns and tunnel use to keep the fish at a distance until you're ready to roller them on the overpasses. When I started to do that, I found my games lasting a little longer. Initially I found myself treating the fish like the ghosts from Pac-Man, but they don't behave in the same way; the fish more-or-less act like they have a birds-eye view of the play field, and will move to corner you/cut you off in tandem. As well, you can't lose the fish by taking "fast corners" like in Pac-Man, so if you have to keep the roller overpasses in view to get that burst of speed when they gain on you.

^^This.

It reminds me of the Dig Dug II dilema. It can be argued that a game isn't as good if it takes a sizeable learning curve to figure out - and that's true for operators looking for repeat quarters. But, in terms of game design, Dig Dug II truly is awesome; it's just a matter of, as they say, knowing how to play it.
 
i love make trax, could never got the monitor working right, and sold it to a friend who collects williams games. No other game came in that cabinet, so it's not a real easy swap over to something else. I'm even close enough to come grab it lol. I got my first one on ebay, 20 minutes from my house for 107.00
 
My Make Trax cocktail had what looked to be an original harness that accepted Konami-classic pinout. I could swap all sorts of boards into it without modifying anything.

Is that not true with all Make Trax machines?
 
I played it back in the day, but never intended on hunting one down. I ended up getting one cheaply in a bulk deal. Got it cleaned up and running and everyone in the house enjoys it.

So put me in the love category.

-JM
 
Is it only for the die hard Williams cabinet collector? I say cabinet, because I hear the game kinda sucks, but the cabinet and art package look really nice.

+1

The stenciled cab and pretty marquee/cp are way cool. In the end, it's just Make Trax though.

Kerry
 
I picked up my mini because it was fairly inexpensive, local and thought it would look cool next to my Stargate mini. (and next to my someday, mythical Robotron mini)

I actually enjoy playing it now that I have it and so do a couple of friends so I'll be keeping it in the lineup for a while.
 
I never much liked Make Trax until I played it a number of times as "Crush Roller" on one of my multigame boards. I am now a fan. It's a fun game if you give it a couple dozen games to learn how the mechanics work.
 
Hmm, maybe I should fire it up and see if it even works. The cab is in pretty good shape (I think, under the grime). I didn't think Make-Trax was the same (or similar) hardware as Pac-Man?
 
Unless your name is Walter, I doubt you'll find much love for Make Trax.

I have 2 spare marquees for that game if you need em :D

What's the story behind his love for the game? I did see the thread where a game was restored and given to him, but I didn't see why.
 
I remember this game fondly. I bought a non-working cocktail version at the last auction I went to. I think I was the only one there who had any fond memories of it and that anyone else bidding on it was planning on converting to to a Robotron. I plan on keeping it a Make Trax and hope to gt an upright Robotron sometime. I guess there is a chance that once I get it running and play it that I will be disappointed. I know I've started to watch plenty of movies I thought I remembered loving as a kid and said "What the hell was I thinking". But I have a feeling I will still like Make Trax a lot as an adult.

I haven't played or even seen this game working in probably 30 years but I can still hear the sound the roller makes when you push it. ;)
 
Last edited:
I've only played it a few times on a 60n1 board, but I dig it. There was an old Timex-Sinclair 1000 game called Graffiti or Grafity or something similar, which I realized was a clone of Make Trax with the very limited facilities of the TS1000.
 
Back
Top Bottom