Play China Syndrome Online

Game Overview

China Syndrome is one of those Atari 2600 games that makes you feel like you're barely holding things together—in a good way. You're controlling this clunky robot arm inside a nuclear reactor that's just been wrecked by an earthquake, and radioactive particles are bouncing around like crazy. The screen's split into three colored zones (red, blue, yellow), and you've gotta grab those particles before they multiply and everything goes critical.

At first, it seems manageable—just line up the arm and hit the button at the right moment. But then the particles start splitting, the radiation meter creeps up, and suddenly you're sweating because you've only got three robot arms to lose before meltdown. Oh, and later levels throw in these spinning fan blades that'll wreck your arm if you bump into them. It's chaotic in that classic Atari way where you're half-panicked, half-laughing at how fast things spiral.

Beat all nine levels and you've saved the city. Lose your last arm? Well, let's just say Spectra Island's gonna have a bad day.