Kagaku no Jikken (Kutsuwa-mushi Kenkouhou)

Title – かがくのじっけん (Kagaku no Jikken)
System – MSX2 (128k VRAM)
Author – くつわ虫健康法 (Kutsuwa-mushi Kenkouhou)
Publication – Micom BASIC (マイコンBASIC) March 1994
Page Scans – 1 2
Preserved By – TWE
Recommended Emulator – openMSX

Download ROM

Loading the Game –

Files:
kagakujk.wav: Tape recording of the program
kagakujk.dsk: Self-booting disk image of the program
kagakujk_en.wav: Tape recording of the translated program
kagakujk_en.dsk: Self-booting disk image of the translated program

For kagakujk.wav:
– After booting the machine, insert the tape image;
– Type ‘CLOAD’ and press Enter;
– After the game loads, type ‘RUN’ and press Enter to start the game.
For kagakujk.dsk:
– Insert the disk image in the first slot, then boot the machine;
– The game should load and start automatically.

Game Instructions –

Control the top tube with Left and Right;
Mix the drops in the bottom tubes to obtain neutral solutions;
Liquids are more acid the redder they are, and more alkaline the bluer they are;
Neutralising a solution makes it disappear from the corresponding tube.

Article Translation –

MSX2 (128K VRAM or more)
An action puzzler about making strong scientific reactions(?)
Science Experiment
Long-legged Grasshopper Hygiene

Description
This is a so-called falling block puzzler.

How to Play
Water drop-like stuff falls out of the long narrow thing at the top.
Red drops are more acidic the redder they are, whereas blue drops are more alkaline the bluer they are. Skilfully combine them in order to make the substances neutral and make them disappear.
Furthermore, as the level increases the game gets slowly faster. If any of the containers at the bottom overflow, it’s game over.

Controls

Use the left and right cursor keys to control the tube at the top.

About Modding
By modifying the part after the TO inside the first FOR statement in line 160, you can change the falling speed of the drops.

{Table 1} Variable List

A Score
D,E,F Data variables
B High score
I,J,K General purpose
C Level
R(0-4) Container’s amounts
K(0-4) Container’s colours
CO(0-4) Drop’s colours
M(0-4) Drop’s X coordinates
MX Corrdinates before movement
X Tube’s X coordinate
P,Q Contain value given to a container by a drop

CHECKER FLAG
Editor: Hmm, it’s an inventive game, but falling block puzzles are too common, so I can’t give a good appraisal here.
Dr. D: Oh, that’s tricky.
Editor: It’s only natural (clearly). I’ve been checking programs for around 10 years by now.
Dr. D: This game uses drops of alkaline and acidic substances as the falling objects right? That deserves quite some comendation, I think.
Editor: Do try this game out. You’ll be able to neutralise the substances even if you only play competently, see? Though, I still have my doubts about the way the substances change colour according to how acid or alkaline they are.

{Picture 1} Divide the liquid that drops from the top amongst the containers at the bottom
{Picture 2} Distinguish between the acid and alkaline colours to create neutral liquids
{Picture 3} Manage to neutralise a solution and its container will become clean
{Picture 4} You get a game over if any of the containers overflow