After the colorful, strategic duels of Twinkle Star Sprites and its explosive combos, One Credit Challenge #09 takes us this time into a gentle arcade platformer! Liquid Kids (Taito, 1990) leaves behind split screens and competition to offer a charming solo adventure in a threatened aquatic world.

This delightful platform game puts you in the role of Hipopo, a small hippopotamus armed with a very special power: shooting water bubbles to trap enemies before turning them into juicy fruit. The villain Rubber Duc and his henchmen have kidnapped Hipopo’s friends, and our hero must travel through seven varied worlds to save them, from lush forests to mysterious castles.

Developed by the same team behind The NewZealand Story, Liquid Kids stands out thanks to its smart level design that rewards exploration, its creative bosses, and its joyful atmosphere driven by an upbeat soundtrack. Less well known than other Taito titles of the era, this little gem unfortunately never received an official console port, making it today a hidden treasure of the early 90s arcade catalog. A perfect challenge to enjoy a technical and generous platformer!

🏆 Challenge rules

Your objective is to achieve the highest score on a single credit.
The challenge runs from January 1st to January 15th at 11:59 PM.
You may attempt it as many times as you like.

📢 How to participate?

• Launch the game (ROM: liquidk)
• Play and try to beat the best score
• Take a screenshot or photo of your final score
• Share your score on the Discord #challenges channel, indicating your nickname and your score.

⚖️ Rules to respect

To ensure a fair challenge:

The score must be achieved on a single credit, with no save states, rewind, cheats, or auto-fire (unless provided by the game).

Gentlemen’s agreement: the use of glitches that artificially inflate the score is also forbidden.

🎁 Rewards and fair play

The challenge above all aims to discover games, share tips, and of course have fun, all in a spirit of friendly competition!

The winner will receive a game key (GOG, Steam, etc.) to choose from a list of around 100 titles.
If you have won a challenge in the last three months, the reward will go to the next player.

Your ranking will be added to the One Credit Challenge leaderboard.
The champion of the first season will receive, at their choice, an RGB Dual 2 or one year of Recalbox Patreon membership.

Good luck to everyone, and may the best score win!