Brush Roller(NES) FAQ/Walkthrough by Andrew Schultz
[email protected]
version 1.0.0 copyright 2007
Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and
I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I
could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if
you'd like to post it on your site.
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OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS AND SCORING
3. LAYOUT AND STRATEGIES
3-1. HEX CHEATS
4. VERSIONS
5. CREDITS
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1. INTRODUCTION
NES Brush Roller(BR) is based on the arcade game Make Trax(MT). You control a
brush that must paint the entire board, and then you get to paint another one
at a faster speed. Two fish that wait in tanks a bit before running after you
are pretty smart and can trap you, but the key point in your favor is that
they are never faster than you. Also an object may walk out on the playfield
and mess up your work with footprints, in which case you'll have to repaint.
There are also big rollers that look like combs that you can use to run over
the fish. Each level has a time limit, which is rarely a factor. The game
loops continuously through eight levels that get gradually faster, then they
go back to the slowest, etc.
BR is much easier than MT, and while it's still not inspiring, at least it's
a bit fairer, and if MT annoyed you then this will be somewhat cathartic, as
if there are any unfair breaks, they probably go your way. As with so many
other arcade to home ports, the programmers already got your money, so they
don't need to frustrate you any more. Here is a list of advantages:
1. monsters don't outrun you
2. monsters don't wise up fully to the big roller
3. monsters step slightly back INTO the roller if they outrun you. A sort of
"tie goes to the runner" deal in your favor. In the arcade, the game is
ruthless if you just mis-time something. Here it's over-generous.
4. footsteps guys 1/2 as fast as you, not 3/4
5. places where you turn and miss a small part are easily visible--big line
instead of small triangle
6. you start with 10 lives("x9"=# extras left,) not 3. There's no way to get
an extra life.
7. this is a step down, but the opening tune is much cooler in the arcade
game, and so is the background music, and the level-morph screen(quicker too)
and you can't really discern separate footstep guys either.
2. CONTROLS AND SCORING
Your brush never stays still unless you push it into a t-intersection, of
which there are only a few in the board(next to the bottom roller, under the
right tank and left of the bottom roller.) Moving back and forth is not
necessary on the earlier levels, and you probably can't do it quickly enough
for any real strategy on the later levels where you might use it. Your brush
goes a bit faster when it takes the big roller along. As the levels advance,
you will need to preempt your moves a bit quicker. You can reverse before you
get to the next intersection, but the bad news is that so can and do the
fish.
Scoring is fairly simple. You get 1 point for your first positive incident,
then 2, then doubling up to 8192, after which each incident gets 9999 points.
An incident is 1) rolling over a fish with the big roller or 2) grabbing the
footsteps guy. You also get 100*(# of seconds) points left. Time is reset if
you lose a guy. You get no points for whatever you paint or if you repaint
footsteps.
To maximize your score, you leave a small area unpainted, then sit around and
wait right of the lower brush and roll back and forth when enemies get VERY
close. You have a bit of a bunker there to wait for enemies. It's not
practical on later levels but for 0-2 you can really pile points up, if
you're into that.
3. LAYOUT AND STRATEGIES
level 8x+0: rust brown to orange
level 8x+1: dark green to light green
level 8x+2: blue to purple
level 8x+3: black to gold
level 8x+4: light green to grey
level 8x+5: dark purple to light purple
level 8x+6: dark brown to orange
level 8x+7: blue to light blue
The board:
^
+--+--+--+--+
| | | | |
| +--+--+--+
| | | | |
<++-+--=--+--+>
| | | | |
| | | | |
+-+--=-+++-+
| | | | |
++-+--+-+-+
| | | |
<+-++--=--++-+>
| | | | |
| | | | |
+-+---+--+--+
v
As you can see it is not quite symmetrical. The clearest thing to do is to
paint the corners, where you can get trapped by the two fish, ASAP. First,
remember you can start moving as soon as the level music starts. Go left, up,
left off the screen, down and left. That makes the bottom mostly irrelevant.
Go up the center and then try to clear out the remaining vertical strips on
the bottom. Use the big brushes to buy time to get enemies off your case.
The main thing to avoid is getting trapped, as one fish tends to hang out
away from you while the other is chasing. The game is an example of the adage
about keeping your enemies closer. If the two of them are tailing you
directly, you're in good shape, because you know what they are going to do.
You really have to watch out if an enemy is on the other side of the board
because the fish are smart and they go through the tunnels. If this happens,
run perpendicular to the other enemy. You'll need them both chasing you
futilely, or you'll need to have run one over with a big brush, in order to
get the upper corners. In fact it is probably good policy to run someone
over, take out one corner, and take out another corner.
Note that no matter what happens, you will probably leave a small thin line
from turning off i.e. if you go down below the blue guy and then R U L U,
you'll see what I mean. You have to cnver that. You can only escape this by
going quickly right and then left, which is advisable if you are not followed
closely.
Also note that running back and forth with the big brush does nothing much,
but you can turn quickly on an enemy breathing down your neck, and it is not
hard to turn ahead of time so he does not catch up to you. The brush can also
be used to disperse the fish for a few moments before you clear one patch.
This is worthwhile and time-efficient.
The footsteps guys aren't too much of a threat. Don't follow them directly,
as this may let enemies trap you, but remember they can't reverse. So you can
pin them down easily that way and be nearly waiting for them, without walking
into a trap.
In general because the fish's moves are semi-random(i.e. they see if you are
up/down and left/right and choose a direction based on that) you want to wait
before turning into a corner, especially if you are near the top. You are
probably better off approaching any fish not directly chasing you from the
other side and turning off.
The area above the fishes' dens seems like the toughest to get rid of,
because it is the longest straightway where you can get trapped, but if you
can't get enemies to follow, you can quickly run over one enemy vertically
then paint under the rest.
Finally, keep your eye on the enemy near you and be prepared to move away if
he changes direction unexpectedly. Fish can change before getting to the next
intersection. Always have an out-route where you can detour before painting
what you need to later.
3-1. HEX CHEATS
Values in memory:
0x215 contains the lives, ORed with 0xe0. So if you want to freeze at 9 lives
left, set byte x215 to 9.
0x7fb is the level, and it's only really relevant mod 8.
End of FAQ proper
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4. VERSIONS
1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 6/20/2007 complete, should be no real need for
revision
5. CREDITS
Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they
are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done.
Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow
Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog and
others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message
board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of
mine.
Thanks to the NES Completion Project folks for keeping it going.
