Gargoyle's Quest II NES PAL Grey screen only

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.

 

So despite opening the cartridge and cleaning it the game still isn't working can't see any faults on the PCB only slight concern is one of the cart pins is quite heavily scratched, on a closer looks. Anyone spot anything that is missing or shouldn't be there from the photos?

Sorry the quality isn't as good as I would like:

PCB Front:


PCB Back:

 

What product did you use to clean it? You could try to clean the contact with a special electronic contact cleaner spray or pen, from the picture it seems there is a lot of corrision.

 

Just used a cotton bud to get off any dirty, which pins do you think are corroded? some on the front or back of the PCB or both? Do you have a contact cleaner you would recommend to reduce the corrision? Is WD40 any good?

 

I doubt anyone would recommend WD40 would be good for that purpose.

 

Back in the day when I bought an Nes console I would get gray screen on the two games that I had at the time. I ended up adjusting the pins, bending them towards where the cart pins go in and connect so there's better contact

 

Any contact cleaner that is specifically designed for electronic components and pcb is fine, one like this for example:



You just spray a bit on the contact pin, wait a little bit and then gently wipe the excess away with a cotton swap. Usually the cotton will be completely dirty and that is a good sign.

ps: use gloves you don't want any of this on your hands

 

Thanks for the thread. Im having the same issue with my ntsc copy but after numerous cleanings, I still cant get it to work. Ive tried 2 toasters with aftermarket pins, a toploader, and a famicom with an NES adapter. I guess Ill clean it once more and pray to the 8bit gods.

 

Thanks Skarpo01 I'll pick up some in the week, odd that brainpann is also having a problem with the game, makes me wonder if it's a hardware revision issue of the NES?

 

Yeah-after so many failed attempts to get it working, i thought that the cart was busted but this thread gives me a little hope.

 

Any updates?

 

Not at the moment only just managed to get some contact cleaner, will give the cart a heavy going over in the next few days and see if that can bring it back to life. Otherwise the NES pins are my only hope!!!

 

Gave it a good clean but no luck, the pictures for the pins picks up the light wrong so they look discoloured when they aren't, however a number of them are heavily scratched which you can't see in the picture.

Interestingly after cleaning it I did get an all yellow screen and then another boot got me a blue, purple, white screen which lead me to this thread.
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/159105-nes-repair-different-colored-flashes/

So as I mentioned in my opening thread it might be time to give the 72pin connector a full clean and pin bend, I can only hope the thin PCB board of GQ2 is the main issue here now. But it's concerning only one game is effected by the pin connector. That said the PCB board is smaller than every other NES game I have and makes me wonder if the game had a proudction issue. Was the game recalled in anyway are there reports from the early 90s of problems in NES magazines at the time? This could in part explain why the game is so hard to come by these days in the west?

I've seen some people mention cutting the lockout chip but that shouldn't really cause an issue with retail games and is more likely to do with the fact that the 72 chip pin to the lockout chip isn't linking correctly.

Worse case scenario does anyone in the UK do repro cartridges.