Hucard (PC Genjin2) corrupted graphics problem

[Winniez]

I encountered the following strange problem with PC Genjin 2 hucard. 
The game loads fine, doesn't freeze, music/sound are normal, menus are all as they should be but when I start the game and load the first level graphics are all corrupted. Sound effects and music are still fine and the game doesn't freeze but graphics are all over the place.

Needless to say I have cleaned the contacts multiple times (on the console aswell). I'm using the original white PC-Engine system with a makeshift AV-cable connected to the expansion port. Could that AV-cable be the cause of the problem? Every other Hucard (over 50) in my collection plays fine.
Unfortunally I don't have any other system to try it on.

I bought the game online like 6 months ago, I was very busy at the time so I didn't have time to play it and stupidly tested it just briefly to see that it booted fine.

Any suggestions?

[Black Tiger]

This seems to be the most commonly defective game in the library.

[Winniez]

Thanks for the reply. Aww, really? I tried to google the problem but didn't find anything.
If the hucard really is defective then this serves as a good lesson. Always test the game properly.
Kind of sucks since I was really looking forward to playing it. The only Bonk game I haven't played and many consider it to be the best in the series.

[Arkhan]

Microwave it!

dont do that.

or maybe do that since it is broken.

film it too so we can see.

[soop]

This seems to be the most commonly defective game in the library.

Agreed.  At least OPs is working, a lot of them are straight up dead.  Years ago I bought a dud for a couple of £, drilled a hole in it and made it into a keyring.  The print rubbed off after a while, but it was neat as a conversation piece.

[Winniez]

Well its working but totally unplayable. The next step would be to try it on another system but I doubt it will help since every other hucard works fine on mine. I suppose there is not much that could be done with a malfunction hucard since the PCB is enclosed.

The keyring is a neat idea, in retrospect some kind of lamination or varnish is propably required  to keep the printing from rubbing off.

[esteban]

Well its working but totally unplayable. The next step would be to try it on another system but I doubt it will help since every other hucard works fine on mine. I suppose there is not much that could be done with a malfunction hucard since the PCB is enclosed.

The keyring is a neat idea, in retrospect some kind of lamination or varnish is propably required  to keep the printing from rubbing off.

Yeah, just to further corroborate what Black_Tiger and soop already established: I was surprised, myself, because I had hundreds of TG-16/PCE HuCARDs over the years and for a long time I *never* encountered a Huey that didn't work after basic cleaning/repositioning card in slot.

But, when I got a glitchy PC Genjin 2 and several bad Arcade Cards (both types), suddenly I realized that it was a legitimate problem, though thankfully only a small (I hope!) number of HuCARDs actually fail.

Now, my PC Genjin 2 looks *perfect* and is in excellent condition.

But the crappy, beat up replacement Huey (seriously abused) works fine.

Submerged in water?
Entered a wormhole?
Exposed to Chernobyl?

Who knows?


FINAL: My card is identical to yours, it plays, but with glitched graphics. I tried to play it (since I know the game so well)... and I was able to get pretty far...but a normal human probably wouldn't make it all the way up the waterfall.

IF YOU ARE SILLY LIKE ME, AND WANT TO GET MONEY'S WORTH: It might be fun to try to see if either one of us can beat the first world or two. If you can run emulator as a guide...it would work.

I'm not joking.

Now, when I did this years ago (before YouTube existed), I had TG-16 w/Bonk's Revenge running at same time as PCE w/PCG2 two monitors side-by-side.

At the time, I was taking photos of the two screens with a camera (ha!) and the results were pretty good (considering my no-budget)...

Sadly, I lost a lot of silly things like this when old laptops + harddrives were lost to fire/flooding.

Local backups need to be in a safe place. I was dumb.

[Winniez]

Interesting, very strange that its specifically the PCG 2 that seems to fail most often.
I wonder why, relatively large ROM size, the year of manufacture (in the early 90s Japan there were some dodgy PCBs due to massive demand), being played more than many other games, some design flaw etc. ? Propably some combination of above.

I really hope that this doesn't get more common in the future when Hucards get even older. Scary thought of Hucards beginning to selfdestruct slowly!

I got it for a pretty good price and complete with case and manual so its not a complete waste.

Esteban sounds cool but I'm totally unfamiliar with the game, I have only played it briefly on emulator many moons ago. When I tried I could hardly find the waterfall let alone climb it
After some practice with the normal game I'm sport.

Your contraption sounds interesting, growing up with the NES I used to make lets play videos on VHS, I use the term lets play very loosely. I basically just recorded the footage directly from TV. I only used few tapes and usually taped over but it was kind of neat to have some strange glitch or good performance on tape.

[soop]

That's another thing.  I'm amazed that there aren't more boxes/manuals for sale given the amount of dud cards. I must have spent a good year looking for them for my copy, and I've never found one at a decent price

[Addicted]

@esteban: Are there any other HuCARDs that are known to go bad?  This is the first I've heard of this issue.

[SignOfZeta]

I mainly only remember people mentioning this game and the ACs, maybe only one of the ACs, I can't remember.

I wouldn't worry about it. While HuCARDs look different from other OG cartridges the data is stored the same way. It's a real ROM, not flash or anything. It's one of the most reliable methods of data storage ever made.

Maybe Bonk 2 just seems like it's failing more often because it was a huge seller. Maybe they used an additional supplier who's place wasn't clean that day. The failure of the AC/ACs could be a number of factors since that was kind of a fancy piece and it was quite delayed and doomed and whatever when it finally got released. It could be that 25 year old RAM just isn't reliable or it could just because people keep pressing on that bubble!

[csgx1]

The only game I've come across that seems broken is a Super Star Soldier PC Engine Hucard.  Totally dead and doesn't load anything.  I bought it complete in the case with sponge and everything is like new condition.  The Hucard itself looks brand new too, so I am really surprised it doesn't work.

[SignOfZeta]

Bad ROM chips usually fail because of defective manufacturing processes. The condition of the sponge is not a contributing factor.

[Vecanti]

The condition of the sponge is not a contributing factor.

Unless your using it to try to keep from getting pregnant.

[ParanoiaDragon]

BITD I had an extra copy of Altered Beast for Genny, & I actually tried to mess with the pins & what not to see if  I could get the graphics to be jacked up.  Even gave it the name Altered Yeast!