Meltdown [Model 11029]

Meltdown © 1983 20th Century Fox.

Meltdown is basically a game of hide and seek that place on a 4x4 grid of atoms. At the start of each round you will see a rogue quark move about the reactor agitating the atoms. Each time the quark touches one of atoms it will strip off some of the electrons and atom will shrink. Once an atom has lost all it's electrons it will become unstable and will begin to glow. If all the atoms destabilize the reactor will blow!

As the only remaining scientist, it is up to you to destroy the quarks and cool down the reactor. To accomplish this you will have to make use of the only two tools at your disposal: an atomic stabilizer and Cadmium rods. When the quark jumps to an atom you must line up the stabilizer (on the X axis), line up the Cadmium tube (on the Y axis), and quickly insert a Cadmium rod by pressing the fire button. However as soon as you destroy one quark another one appears to take its place, so be vigilant and don't let your guard down for a moment.

The core temperature is represented by a bar displayed at the top of the screen. As the core cools down, the bar will grow longer, once the bar reaches the center of the screen the reactor will come back under control and the reactor will be saved (for the moment). Each time you successfully save the reactor the action will get more intense; the number of quarks will multiply, they will begin to move faster, and the electrons will strip off more easily. Once you reach the 10,000 mark, missing even one quark will likely blow the reactor.