Odd problem with an Intellivision game

[Scrimble]

Hey, I have a Super Pro Decathlon cart that has an odd problem. At first the game plays fine but when I get to the javelin event, the screen goes crazy and flickers really fast. When I start running it goes away but comes back if I stop. It goes away entirely when I throw though. Same problem occurs whether its in practice mode or not. Any idea what the problem is? I cleaned the contacts but it did not help. I'm guessing it's a bad cart but why would only that one event be screwy? Any help is appreciated, Thanks.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Are you running the game in an Intellivision 1 or 2?

If it's a model 2 unit - perhaps it's a compatability issue with the newer model hardware, though that's just a guess based on pretty standard hardware revision activity.

[Scrimble]

I'm using an Intellivison 1 right now since that's all I have. I'm going to try a friends Intellivision 2 and see how it goes. I noticed a graphical problem with another game (Thin Ice). At first it plays like normal and then the screen gets scrambled but the audio still plays. I actually hope it's the system since these games are probably more to replace than the system would be.

[InsaneDavid]

Take a cotton swab and dip it in rubbing alcohol, then apply a wet coat to the contacts of a cartridge. Take the cartridge and insert / remove it into the console about a dozen times with the power off. This will give a basic cleaning to the contacts inside the system. Intellivision systems seem to be pretty damn picky if there's any dust or dirt in the cartridge slot, causing all kinds of odd glitches.

[omnedon]

You could have a bad memory chip. Not all games use all of the memory. In that case, the failed chip will only show issues in some games, or only in a certain point of some games.

I've seen this with an Inty 1 that seemed perfect, until after turn 30 or so on Utopia, and then the screen would become partially obscured an unplayable. It did this EVERY time.

My MTE-201 cartridge failed it with an IC memory failure. This could be what's at play here.