AAAAAAaaaaaarrggghh, so having spent years trying to get a copy Gargoyle's Quest II for the NES, I managed to get one in near mint condition the cartridge looks utterly untouched. There's just one problem it's refusing to load in my NES and is just giving me the standard grey screen, problem Is every other game I've tried so far in my NES is working perfectly! However what I have noticed is that the PCB board for Gargoyle's Quest II is slimmer than just about every other game I have, some of the earlier PCB NES boards are actually quite thicker. I've seen the same thing in Sega Game Gear cartridges and the thin PCBs are the first games to stop playing on a worn system. I've noticed there is absolutely no resistance from the cartridge when you insert it into the NES, which suggests the issue is the pins, as every other game offers some if slight resistance. So I'm hoping it's just the 72 pin connector than need a clean and a tweaking of the pins. However has anyone else seen this issue with Gargoyle's Quest II PAL NES? Or another game that has a thin PCB? I wish I had access to another NES but don't and I don't want to think the cartridge is dead just yet, but the grey screen usually means some but not all the pins are connecting. I've tried moving it around in the NES but no luck. The cartridge itself is super clean, but I have given it a quick going over with a cotton bud. Does anyone have any tips to see if I can get the cartridge to fire just once so I know it's not dead? I'm guessing the next step will be to clean the NES and take the cartridge apart as well. Saying that does anyone know of a good Nintendo Security Screwdriver Bit Set 3.8mm for the back of NES cartridge as the holes are so tight for MY current Screwdriver that I will end up shaving some of the plastic off in order to get the screws outand I would prefer not to do that.
Seems like not that many people have the game, however a thin PCB might explain why it's so hard to find in the first place as for a lot of NES gamers I suspect it didn't work out of the box on release. So as a very quick fix I've purchased a Game Genie to see if it will work with that, hopefully it's not a game that block the genie. If that works then the faults with the 72 pin reader in the NES. I've read up about how bad the Game Genie is for the NES so I'll only be using it the once.
I do have this game. Always worked perfectly fine on my US NTSC Toploader NES. If I remember correctly it was the PAL UK game. On my other PAL regular NES it had color, but because of PAL A / PAL B incompatibility it loops and always plays only the first 2 seconds of the game. don't know if my Toploader is modified to play PAL or if it always is region free...
Cheers for the information, I discovered the toploader version of the NES, has a lot tighter pins than the original NES. Which backs up my idea that the NES pins are shot. Should mention that my copy is PAL A and is being played on a PAL A NES. Tried it with the Game Genie, but no luck, the Game Genie code screen appears but after you press Start you just get a black screen for the game, as it's a 1992 NES (PAL 1993) game it maybe incompatable with the game genie. But it's clear the Game Genie can read the cartridge otherwise the code screen shouldn't appear at all I don't think. Unless anyone know if the PAL A version should work with the Game Genie it's time I start to think about taking the cartridge and NES apart.