R.I.P. Sonic The Hedgehog 2

[Timstuff]

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2919/photo12copyqf8.jpg

Last week I dug out my legacy game collection from the attic. I cleaned all of the cartridges, including Sonic 2, but it seems that it no longer works. When I try to boot up the genesis, I only (sometimes) get the license screen, and then nothing but black. I'm not sure how a cartridge can "die," but it looks like poor Sonic 2 has stomped its last badnik.

Goodbye Sonic 2, we barely knew ya. :rip:

[Rusty Venture]

Replace it with one that doesn't say "Not for Resale".

You will feel better and women will find you more attractive.

[Mr Smith]

It's not like these things are ult@ r@re. Go and buy five copies and then rejoice. Sonic 2 is an awesome game!

[jesus.arnold]

Blow into the cartridge :)

[0x15e]

It was in the attic? Could be it just baked to death.

But yeah, they grow on trees. I could walk outside and step on 3 of them in the parking lot if I wanted to.

[TheEdge]

Use canned air on the cartridge and console then try it again., Happened to me a few times they both may be dusty. Also use a swab dipped in electronic cleaning solutions if the canned air doesnt work.

[Bablefish]

I am also on the Atari Age board and as you can imagine they sometimes talk about carts that are way older than the ones from 1992. I use WD 40 and it works even on my Game Boy carts. Of course if this does not work for you, some have suggested using an emery board, and even fine grit sandpaper. But I would be very careful if I had to use that.

[Masked Avenger]

If it makes you feel any better, I threw away my Sonic 2 cart, along with other perfectly working Genny & SNES carts, about 4 years ago.

[Lord Dilks]

Unless that particular cartridge was presented to you on a bed of rose petals by Yuji Naka himself, I would just suggest getting a new cart.

How hard can it be to find another copy of that game?

[17daysolderthannes]

it could be corroded if its been in an attic, in which case there is nothing you can do. Sometimes games really can be dead if they have been horrendously mistreated (like storing them in an attic) like a copy of Mega Man 6 I ran into that upon opening I discovered some white slightly foamy (but dried hard) stuff all over the PCB. Needless to say, it didn't work, and it pissed me off. DO NOT STORE ELECTRONICS IN THE ATTIC!!!!!

[Timstuff]

Use canned air on the cartridge and console then try it again., Happened to me a few times they both may be dusty. Also use a swab dipped in electronic cleaning solutions if the canned air doesnt work.

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/2526/0871jesusresurrectionchhu3.jpg

It worked! My copy of Sonic 2 lives! You're a life saver. :notworthy:

[djtwok]

Blow into the cartridge :)

Thats what i said to my girlfriend yesterday but it was nothing genesis lated.

[seismiczonk]

I AGREE WITH MR SMITH ! IF YOU YOU HAD TO SAY R.I.P. TO A M.U.S.H.A. CART, THEN IT IS TIME TO POUR OUT SOME OF THE 40OZ FOR YOUR DEAD HOMIES (RIP SEISMIC RIP COMPILE)

[Segs]

Yeah guys if a game doesn't seem to work just clean it, I use a Cotton bud and some Metholated spirits, dip the tip into the spirits then wipe the bottom that pokes out then use the other side to dry it up, works fine after that :)

[Mark Robert]

Yeah I was skeptical when you claimed your cart had died. They're nearly indestructable and usually just need a good cleaning with alcohol along the connectors.

[SuperMonacoGP]

I bought some games off Ebay and a Mega Drive a few weeks back and at first most of the games wouldn't work, but I remembered from when I was a kid that you have to blow them and wipe where the metal connectors are at the bottom of the cart. They usually gather dust and need cleaning, I cleaned them all and they all work perfectly now :)

I'm glad you got Sonic 2 working again.

[Chris]

Blowing on the game just corrodes the connectors from the moisture in your breath. Rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip work the best for me.
I have 3 Genesis games that I beleive are truly dead. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers:The Movie, Gauntlet IV and Streets of Rage. All were given to me.

[Mark Robert]

It seems like Genesis carts are more sensitive to dust and build-up. Almost all the SNES carts I buy work straight away without any cleaning needed whatsoever. The Genesis games I buy including the boxed ones about half the time don't work unless cleaned first with alcohol along the connectors.

[johnnyb]

Blowing on the game just corrodes the connectors from the moisture in your breath. Rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip work the best for me.
I have 3 Genesis games that I beleive are truly dead. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers:The Movie, Gauntlet IV and Streets of Rage. All were given to me.

You have been done a favour with the power rangers, but you need to breath life into the others!:)

[Baloo]

It seems like Genesis carts are more sensitive to dust and build-up. Almost all the SNES carts I buy work straight away without any cleaning needed whatsoever. The Genesis games I buy including the boxed ones about half the time don't work unless cleaned first with alcohol along the connectors.

Now, I've always had it the other way around most of the time, but neither carts for either system give me much trouble.

NES is a different story though...

[kool kitty89]

I highly suggest disabling the NES lockout chip, it's simple and pretty much fool proof. (it's about as difficult as changing the 72 pin connector)
If your contacts are in good shape (or well cleaned, same for cartridges), it will solve virtually all the problems. (it is the direct cause of the "blinking" problem)

Problems with graphic garbage, no start-up at all (with a black, or pastel -pink/green/blue) screen, are pure connection problems and will not be affected. (this requires cleaning the cartridge, or cleaning/polishing or replacing the 72-pin connector)

[muchomojo]

Maybe I'm just lucky, but out of the 300 or so carts I've picked up in the last couple years all of them have worked except for a couple of 2600 carts. I think I had a SNES cart with a dead battery too. Some of them were absolutely filthy also, I just keep cleaning them until they work.

[Chris]

You have been done a favour with the power rangers, but you need to breath life into the others!:)

HA HA HA !

[gamegenie]

I had issues like that with Sonic 2 on my Genesis 2, and a lot of my 32X games but not anymore, perhaps you need to clean the cart.

[jesus.arnold]

I actually bought my first seemingly proper dead Mega Drive cartridge last week :(

and to make it worse it was Gain Ground which I have wanted to get back for a while cos I had it when I was a kid.

The game absolutely will not start up at all, I ended up replacing the Resistor and Capacitor just in case too (i've heard that replacing the capacitor will usually fix carts that are totally dead) but no luck at all unfotunately.

Meh, maybe I'll just buy an over priced copy off Ebay (when they actually have some on there, only import versions at the moment)