How to play China Syndrome online
- Move the robot arm: arrow keys
- Pick up a particle: Space bar
- Choose a game: F11 (the consoleās Select switch)
- Start a new game: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
- Faster or slower robot arm: F4 toggles the left difficulty switch
- Five or three robot arms per game: F9 toggles the right difficulty switch
- Pause: F2 switches the TV type to black-and-white, which freezes the game; press it again to continue
Gameplay
Each level of the reactor is split into three radiation zones, red, blue and yellow, and a panel at the bottom of the screen shows the radiation reading for each. Escaped particles bounce around the zones. Every time one bounces off the reactor wall it splits in two, up to three particles per zone, and the more particles there are, the higher the radiation climbs. You move your robot arm onto a particle and press the fire button to pick it up.
Clear every particle in all three zones and you are lowered to the next level, closer to the core on level nine. Each new level gives you an extra robot arm, up to nine in reserve. Each zone also has a core vent, drawn as a fan, and touching it destroys your arm. Lose all your arms and the meltdown sequence plays out. The manual warns that once it starts you cannot reset until it has finished.
Games and safety rating
- Game 1: practice
- Game 2: the full certification test
- Game 3: the test starting at level 5
- Game 4: an easier version for young children
Instead of praising a high score, the game rates how deep you got: levels one to three earn the verdict ātry another professionā, while level nine makes you a fully certified plant manager. The manual adds that the fewer particles you need to collect, the better your efficiency, so catching particles before they split pays off.
Tips
- Catch particles early. A particle splits every time it hits the wall, so one quick catch saves you chasing two or three later.
- Clear one zone at a time. A zone can only hold three particles, so an emptied zone stays calm while you work on the next.
- Give the fans room. Any contact with a vent costs an arm, so go around them rather than squeezing past.
- Start with the right switch on A. Five arms instead of three give you more room to learn the deeper levels.
History
Spectravision was the video game label of the company Spectravideo. China Syndrome is one of its rarer cartridges today. The title uses the popular nickname for a reactor meltdown, which was also the name of a 1979 film. The manual keeps the tone light, reminding players that it is only a simulation, and invited anyone who cleared all nine levels to photograph the screen and send it in for recognition.
